This paper contains what is known of John Maitland, the progenitor of the
Jamaican family and his father, Richard Maitland.
The Jamaica branch of this family, the Wrights and their antecedents, are to be
found in their own volume.
Issue Date: 18/01/2024
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1 The Maitlands of the Caribbean
2 RICHARD MAITLAND of Shadwell
Recorded family of Richard Maitland:
Captain Richard Maitland’s Life
2.1 Richard Maitland Maritime Career
Richard Maitland as Master, Summary
Charleston 1773: (Library of Congress)
Magna Charta, later Philippa (2nd).
The Tea Party - Jan 1774-June 1774
2.1.1 Philippa, formerly Magna Charta
2.2 Richard Maitland’s Tea Party - 1774
2.3 Richard Maitland in Florida
Florida: Possession by Britain
London Land Tax Records, 1692-1932
The South Carolina Gazette, 28 January 1773
Hungerford Privateer Letter of Marque
4 Richard & John Maitland – Additional Notes
4.1 Richard Maitlands Ships, Additional Notes
PRO ADM 51/385, HMS Garland Captain’s Logs
PRO ADM 1/235, Admiral's despatches, Jamaica 1713-1789 (re Duke),
Phillippa Privateer Letter of Marque – Richard as Commander
4.1.6 Ship Magna Charta & Phillippa (2)
Richard & John Maitland, other Parish Records
London Land Tax Records, 1692-1932
5.1 Letters re Maitland & Laurens Parting
5.2 Maitland-Grubb-Laurens Affairs:
6 RICHARD MAITLAND GUNPOWDER PLOT 1775
Journal of the American Revolution (re Savanna)
Hijacking Gunpowder for the Colonies
Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 4 P588
ESP 952 Richard M letter – 5/1/1777:
ESP 998 Richard M to Wm Chamberlain 30/01/1777
920 – Richard M to Chamberlain - 6/1/1777
924 – Platt to Capt Hughes, Cantaur - 4/12/1776
926: - Admiral Gaydon to M Stephens - 25/7/1776
934-5-6 – Bensted to Chamberlain - 13/1/1777
Ebenezer Smith Platt to the Commissioners
Matthew Ridley to the American Commissioners
7.1 Sarah Maitland’s Loyalist Claim - Notes:
(Richard) Maitland & Boddington, Mark Lane, D 1775
HL V7 P 417, 28 December 1770.
London Land Tax Records, 1692-1932
Antigua, re Richard Maitland, merchant
Ships Built and Registered in Shoreham
Richard Maitland, Jamaica & London, will 1763
9 DUNDRENNAN & OTHER MAITLANDS IN LONDON:
John Hyde, George Healey to Ebenezer Maitland – 1783
Tea at Charleston – the “London”
A detailed history of St Paul's Shadwell
12 The PARCHMENTS of Southfield Penn
14 Maitlands of Pittrichie, a possible origin:
15.1 LETHINGTON EASTMUIR Maitland of Australia
17.3 ALLEGED SPANISH GRANTS IN BRITISH WEST FLORIDA
The following sources are indicated in superscript; there
are so many pieces of data that only the general source is shown: detailed
references are on a dedicated list (XL):
NP: http://newspaperarchive.com/
Extensive collection of English (mainly London) 18thC newspapers. Searchable by
name.
LL: http://www.maritimearchives.co.uk/lloyds-register.html.
Lloyds Register & Lists. Searchable by name.
SCG South Carolina Gazette (SCG) and
SCAG South Carolina and American Gazette,
London Metropolitan Archives
Genesreunited Newspaper Archive shipping intelligence
Newspaper archive records (British) (http://newspaperarchive.com/)
ACi as suffix: ancestry.com image
(Or how Privateer Maitland founded a Jamaican family.)
This branch of the Maitland’s have been a particularly colourful roving, lot.
There has been no-one in the male line who has been “standard” British born,
raised and employed since, at the latest, 1710. How they connect to the “main” Scottish
lines is not known. DNA evidence now indicates that he could have been from
Fyvie, north west of Aberdeen.
They began with an 18th century Richard Maitland, of which
there were several, who was granted Letters of Marque as master of an armed
merchant ship twice in his career, the first time during the Seven Years War,
and again during the American War of Independence (or Revolutionary War as the
other side insist on calling it). As such, he could be viewed as a licensed
pirate, although in reality the armament was defensive. His son, John, later
settled in Jamaica: more on him and his mixed race family later.
Richard’s origins are unclear but his wife called him a native of Ireland,
although this seems unlikely, and must have been born no later than 1720, most
probably earlier; he seemed from surviving papers to have been an educated man.
He was a resident of Shadwell (where Captain James Cook also lived for a time)
in Essex from 1740, and his wife was still there in 1784. He appears on the
scene making his will in 1740 as a merchant sailor “because of the perils of
the sea”.
His seagoing career covered a turbulent time in English maritime history:
the first ship he was quoted as being commander was a French Prize taken in the
War of the Spanish Succession. He subsequently survived the Seven Yeas War,
finally finishing his time freighting for the Army in New England during the
American War of Independence and dying in New York at the end of 1778 “of a
broken heart”.
Professionally, he first appeared as the master of a ship being sold as a
prize in Wapping, near Shadwell, in 1744. The 18thC was punctuated by wars, and
this time it was the War of Spanish Succession, during which the English took
over 3500 prizes from the French, each of which went to a prize court to pay
out the captors (the French only took about 2500, so we won). The prize court
papers on all these are still preserved in the National Archives.
Richard for the next 35 years or so sailed as master on a variety of ships,
and from 1757 onwards on the American Trade: he had an adventurous time, the
1757 voyage ending in shipwreck off Virginia. He settled down as a regular on
the Carolina Trade to Charleston, becoming a partner in a ship with one Henry
Laurens, the biggest merchant in the Carolinas: Laurens later became President
of the Continental Congress. Laurens’ letters often mentioned Richard, and he
made a telling commentary about Richard (& Boddington, a London Merchant):
“...are good natured people who propose, or accede to, a Plan, with designs of
Executing it, but their good Nature, unaided by proper diligence &
fortitude, leads them to accept new proposals from Day to Day, which militate
against their first Resolutions & their "Immediate," becomes Time
Uncertain...”. In another letter by Henry’s brother in 1774 describes Richard
as a “poor Old Greyheaded Ratling Captain”.
We all know about the Boston Tea Party, but there were 2 others, one in
December 1773, and one in Charleston in June 1774: our hero was the villain of
the piece in the last one! He only carried a few cases of tea, and claimed he did
not know of it. At all events, the locals became very upset, and demanded he
should dispose of the tea, to which he agreed. Unfortunately red tape
interfered (nothing changes!), and customs had impounded the tea. Richard had
to flee to a British warship in fear of his life. Reading between the lines, he
was shafted by his business partners, who declined to help. He got his ship
out, but lost his cargo, in which he had a financial interest (an “adventure”),
also losing money owed to him by Charleston traders from previous voyages.
The system of trade at this time, before real banking had started, was to
take a cargo from one end (London) on credit with a home supplier and deposit
with a merchant at the other end, who would sell it on. It was often the case
where the goods were left on credit, the merchant paying for the previous
cargo, which would pay the debts in London. So by loosing the inbound cargo and
not receiving the cash for the previous voyage, Richard lost out twice over in
this incident. All this is laid out in Sarah’s Loyalist Claim after the end of
the War (of Independence).
With Charleston out of the frame, his next voyage the following season was
to Savannah, Georgia with a cargo of gunpowder and shot for a Florida merchant,
and one supposes for the British forces. As he approached the Savannah River, a
ship crewed by the rebels came out at night to meet the Philippa, Richard’s
ship, and after a while boarded her and took off the gunpowder. The initiator
of this action, one Ebenezer Smith Platt, was later arrested in Port Royal and
taken to London in chains and charged with High Treason, a charge later dropped
on some swap basis. Again Richard was substantially out of pocket; his comments
in the pre-trial papers to this case make interesting reading: he was not
happy!
These incidents, and comments by the Laurens brothers, give the impression
of an intrepid man of charm, but who was not given to dwelling too much on the
consequences of his actions. His time finished when he was sailing the Philippa
on Government freight and he died in New York in 15 December 1778[1] “of a broken heart”, a
rather sad comment at the end of what must have been an unusually long seagoing
career.
Meanwhile, his eldest son, John had started his maritime life as surgeon on
another armed merchant ship in 1761 at the age of about 16 on a voyage to
Jamaica. As the Letters of Marque for this ship and his father’s were granted
at the same time, it is reasonable to assume that father Richard fixed a berth
for his son. John later joined his father in the Carolina Trade, taking over
the “Little Carpenter” when Richard’s ship the Philippa was launched: it was
not much of a coup as this ship left Charleston about a year after with John in
command for London, and was next heard of in Antigua in distress: a slightly
odd routing! There she was condemned. Father and son had another ship built in
Port Royal, South Carolina (as opposed to Jamaica) by one James Black, who was soon
after one of the Savannah rebel party. I had lunch in September 2014 with a
descendant of his and we agreed, after 250 years, to settle our differences.
John continued the Atlantic voyages, but to Jamaica for several years
before drama again struck. His ship, the Hope, was wrecked in a hurricane in
August 1781 at Black River, in the South West of the Island (the cargo was
saved, so the wreck must have been on shore): 120 ships were lost in that storm
in the Island. John had sailed into or near Black River before and eventually
settled there, maybe after the loss of the “Hope” and bought several plots of
land, including a piece on the shore to the west of Black River town centre
(there are a number of early houses along the road, one of which might have
been the site of John’s first house). There is no evidence of his returning to
England after this event, although his mother was expecting him back in 1783
when she filed her Loyalist Claim.
What is certain is that he took as his concubine, Rebecca Dunston Wright, a
free quadroon, and had 2 sons by her: the elder, Francis was my GGG
grandfather. The younger son, Richard died sometime in the later 18th
or very early 19th Centuries – he does not appear again. John died
in Jamaica in late 1786. His inventory gives us a clue to the man: he left, in
addition to the usual items, including as they always did, some slaves, a
number, large by the standards of the day, of books and a “Priestly’s Machine”,
an early Electrostatic toy, showing a mind more intellectual than many of the
era.
John’s son, Francis went on to have 8 children, 4 of whom bred; he built up
a substantial land holding. All except his daughter’s family left Jamaica in
the 1830’s, many of them spending much of their lives in the Far East: several,
including my grandfather were leading lights in Shanghai’s heyday in the late
19thC and early 20thC. The North China Herald makes fascinating reading of
their lives in the region. The Jamaica property in St Elizabeth eventually amounted
to near well over 1000 acres of cattle country: they were not sugar barons! The
farm passed out of the family by way of one of the sons’ wife’s second marriage,
although it appears that my side of the family retained an interest into the
1850’s.
When searching for Francis’s birth in the parish records I hit a wall until
I looked under non-white. Francis was, by the definition of the time, a free
man of colour, being 1/8th black, and so was listed separately in
the records. His wife, Ann Wright was described as “reputed white”, so 1/16th
black (a fact which enables one to select her grandmother). Here we enter the
whole world of Jamaican mixed race families, of which there are many.
Francis’s wife, Ann was of a family which originated from some of the very
early Jamaican planters, two lines of which came in from Barbados in the
1660’s, and another from the Earls of Caithness in Scotland in about the early
18thC (John Sinclair’s will of 1740 lists all has family, and if
they all died, his estate went to build a school in Thurso). They have left a
large paper trail of their commercial activities: John Sinclair in particular
was up to some pretty dubious financial dealings towards the end of his life!
Their lives fill many volumes, wrapped up as they were in Jamaica’s
developmental history.
Francis’s mother, Rebecca Wright, was the daughter of Patty Penford, a
mulatto slave (no father was named at her baptism); Rebecca was thus born into
slavery. However, as a tiny baby, she was bought by one Francis Wright, and
promptly manumitted (freed): guess who the father must have been! To complicate
the issue, Francis Wright was the grandfather of Rebecca’s daughter in law,
Anne. Patty’s origins are not known, but she too was manumitted by her owner a
few years later. He was a tavern keeper, begging the question of Patty’s
status! The tavern was probably under what is now a Sandals resort near Savanna
la Mar.
A rather charming description of what was probably the tavern where Patty
originated is to be found in “Journal of a West Indian Proprietor” by MG Lewis,
published in 1839[2].
Page 157, 1 February 1816. (also briefly referred to by Cundall in his 1915
History of Jamaica). The full quotation is given in Patty Penford’s section of
the Jamaican Family volume.
Free persons of colour in Jamaica had severe limits on
the assets they could own, but a number of families were subject to Acts of
Privilege which gave them the rights of whites – in particular the right to own
unlimited assets. Patty had such an Act passed, which lists her, her daughters
and grand children. In her will, she left over 300 acres and many slaves, and
her daughter, Rebecca similarly left considerable assets. How they acquired all
this has yet to be revealed. They are buried, side by side, in Black River
Church yard. The Maitland’s have donated a tablet to the Church commemorating
them.
The father of John Maitland, our ancestor, was one of three (fairly)
contemporary civilian Richard Maitlands, all of whom had connections in the
Western Hemisphere in the middle part of the 18thC. All three left
wills.
The first of them died in 1763 having been for many years a planter in
Jamaica, and died in London in August 1763. He had land in St Elizabeth,
possibly left issue there, and returned to England in the late 1750’s.
The next one was Richard Maitland of the banking & trading partnership
of Maitland & Boddington, who had trading interests all over the Caribbean
and perhaps in Florida: they were the London bankers for Henry Laurens. He was
probably of the Barcaple branch of the Clan, although Boddington suggested he
may have been of the Pittrichie branch. This Richard died in 1775, aged 66.
The last of the three civilians was Captain Richard Maitland, our ancestor,
father of John Maitland, and who was master of various merchant ships between
the late 1740’s until his death in New York in November 1778.
There was also Col Richard Maitland who, as Deputy Adjutant General, died
13/7/1772[3]
in New York; he was a son of the 6th Earl of Lauderdale and ancestor
of the present Earl - his will is probably the one listed in the New York
Surrogate’s Court vol 28 #383 1771-3 (index on ancestry).
Additionally, there were various Maitlands on the West India Committee who
appear in the later Jamaican records of deeds.
That this Richard was the correct one slowly built up over several years,
the final confirmation coming in Sarah Maitland’s Loyalist Claim in which she
specifically mentions her son John in Jamaica, the additional evidence is:
1. John’s mother was Sarah (John’s will).
2. John’s sons were Francis and Richard, although Rebecca Wright’s father was
also Francis.
3. Both Richard and John were mariners, and both Richard & John Maitland
were sailing the same ships (Little Carpenter) at the same time & routes in
the 1770’s.
4. A John Maitland shipped as a surgeon on a privateer a few weeks after
Richard Maitland was granted Letters of Marque as a privateer in 1761.
5. A ship, the Atlantic was built in South Carolina, owners Richard & John
Maitland & Alexander Rose.
6. Richard Maitland probably had a brother or cousin, Charles Maitland (RN) of
Shadwell; a C. Maitland was master of the Edgar between 1764-76, also to the
Americas (LL). Richard was a witness at Charles’s will and was also mentioned
to do with executors. Edgar was between London & New York in 1764, Bermudan
of 130 tons, master & owner C Maitland.
AM09/01
Richard Maitland, a mariner who lived in Shadwell in the East end of London
on the banks of the Thames, was born about 1718. There is no indication of his
origins other than his widow Sarah describing him as a native of Ireland; DNA
indicates he may have been from East Scotland, west of Aberdeen. He was the
father of John who started the Jamaican branch. He died 15 November 1778 in New
York[4].
Richard was an educated man, his statements papers about the Georgia
affair seem to be written in his own hand and the language is certainly not
that of a lawyer, unlike the crew’s statements. His signatures both on these
papers and his marriage licence are similar:
1740: 1777:
His wife was named Sarah, from the loyalist compensation records, she was
over 60 at time of claim and very infirm (1784): she was quoted in the 1787
paper as being 66, so born 1721.
Sarah Maitland, aged 90, buried Tower Hamlets, St Dunstan & All Saints
Stepney, 31/1/1810ACi, looks right for her. Another image has at St
Dunstan, Stepney, of Poplar at Poplar.
Patrick Wallis M Sara Tomson, Married 20/2/1738-39 B&S both OTP Shadwell,
Sara Tomson of Richard & Sara bap Westminster, 8/3/1718-9.
Also Sarah Wallis bur Shadwell of Foxes lane, widow 22/7/1739
Richard Maitland appears in the Land tax returns for Shadwell[5]
Marriage License
16 June 1740[i]:
Which day appeared personally Richard Maitland of the parish of St Paul,
Shadwell in the county of Middx, bachelor, aged twenty two years and alleged
that he intends to marry with Sarah Wallis(?) of the same parish, widow.
Not knowing or believing any by reason of any pre-contract consanguinity or any
other lawful means whatsoever to hinder the said intended marriage of the truth
of which he made oath and prayed licence for them to be married in the parish
of St Leonards Bromley in the county aforesaid. Signed by Richard Maitland.
'Bromley St Leonard's' was split from the parish of Stepney in 1536 – under
Tower Hamlets.[6]
(Vicar Gen Lic, Canterbury Sarah Wallis FMP)
NB he made his will 29 June, so was married about 20 June 1740.
No cost mentioned, but £200 in son(?) Richard 1772.
For more see Lethington Maitland
etc
Recorded family of Richard Maitland:
Issue of Richard and Sarah, mariner, ch at St Paul, Shadwell[7]
1/1. Richard Mateland, 13/5/1744, of King James Stairs, 18 days old.
Probably married Sarah Fenton, spinster,
Shadwell, 1772/3, a bachelor & mariner of Shadwell[8], Licence 23/12/1772ACi,
cost £200 = £35K in 2023!
Both over 21 and OTP.
1/2. Jno Francis Maitland, 16/10/1745, of King James Stairs, 18 days old.
This probably our John Maitland, although on the lower age limit to have sailed on the Hungerford as surgeon. That may have been a sinecure by Barford for Richard Maitland.
1/3. Mary Elizabeth Maitland, 28/6/1747, of King James
Stairs.
1/4. Sarah Maitland, 26/12/1751, of Shakespeare Walk.
1/5. Sarah Maitland, 24/1/1757, of Shakespeare Walk, bur 23/6/1765 dau of RM.
1/6. Charles Maitland, 19/6/1758, of Shakespeare Walk, 1 day old, bur 22/6.
Captain Richard Maitland’s Life
Richard Maitland, a mariner who lived in Shadwell in the
East end of London on the banks of the Thames, was born about 1718. There is no
indication of his origins other than his widow Sarah describing him as a native
of Ireland. London was his home port in England, with many voyages finishing at
Gravesend.
The only clue of his paternal family was the will of Charles Maitland, also
of Shadwell, master of HMS Aurora dated 1759, proved May 1772, naming his wife
Rebecca as sole heir and executor, and witnessed by Richard Maitland. The ship
was lost without trace presumably from fire or storm, in the Indian Ocean in
January 1770. Charles Maitland married Rebecca Rooke(?) 18/4/1759ACi,
Shadwell, B&S OTP. Both signed, Charles’s an educated signature.
Richard made a will in 1740[9]
naming his wife Sarah, not proved until 27/2/1779, with administration going to
wife Sarah. In the preamble, he mentions the “...fortunes and dangers of the
seas...”, so it is probable that he made this will early in his seagoing career
and soon after his marriage as there is no mention of any children; slightly
surprisingly, he never altered this will or made any codicils naming subsequent
children.
As the will was proved at Canterbury, Richard must have owned property in
more than one diocese, quite possibly abroad. Subsequent examination of his
widow’s Loyalist Claim give a good indication of the financial state at his
death. Sarah was born about 1721, so a will of 1740 was probably made on their
marriage, implying that he then had something to leave.
There have never been many Maitland’s in Ireland, but if he really was from
Ireland, he may have been related to the Maitland/Lauderdale branch who are
said to have moved from South West Scotland (Auchinbreck in Dumfries) via
Ireland to the US[10].
That family may have arrived with the plantations of Ulster in the 17thC,
perhaps during Cromwellian times. Planters were theoretically required to staff
their plantations with workers from the mainland estates, so the immigrants
were not only the owners, but other families as well.
It is also possible that he could have been one of the mercantile Maitlands
in London at the time; none of the documented Maitland branches has a suitable
Richard, so this looks unlikely. It is quite possible that he was of the of the
Dundrennan & Eccles branch (from South West Scotland) who were in London at the same time as Richard, and were trading in the West Indies.
My DNA relates me to a Maitland in Australia who has traced his ancestry to
a Maitland family in Insch parish near Aberdeen. Richard Maitland then could
have been born in Fyvie, a nearby parish to
Insch, baptised 30 March 1706, son of Richard Maitland[11] of Woodhead (a chapel near
Fyvie Castle). There was a Richard Maitland of Mariedykes as a yeoman tenant of
Fyvie Castle in 1696[12],
but the Fyvie records of this period are in poor condition. 1706 looks a bit
early, but if he was a “poor Old Greyheaded Ratling Captain” in 1774 as
Laurens described him, it could be him. The fact of his 1740 will makes him
likely to have been a reasonable age by then, maybe he just married rather late
(no trace of his marriage has been found); his wife Sarah was only “upwards of
sixty years of age” in about 1784 when she made her Loyalist Claim, so maybe he
married a much younger woman, aged maybe 20 in 1740 (a later paper has her aged
66 in 1787, and a probable burial in 1810 aged 90).
The style of his correspondence in the Philippa case indicates he was an
educated man. An unidentified Richard Maitland was on the West India Committee
in 1769; but this was probably Richard Maitland of Maitland & Boddington. There
is an entry for an arrival in Charleston in 1767 of the Little Carpenter having
an Edward Maitland as an owner as well as Richard. Could this have been a
brother, as might have been Charles Maitland, Capt RN, of Shadwell.
Much of the detail of his life and times come from 2 major sources, the
correspondence of the Charleston merchant, Henry
Laurens and the Loyalist Claim
lodged by his widow after the War of Independence. This latter set of papers,
preserved in the National Archives, gives a detailed description of his
finances at the time of his death. His losses net out at about £3300 (£500,000/£1.8M
price/wage inflation to 2020). Newspaper extracts and Lloyds Shipping Lists
also have a lot of entries for his shipping.
There are several children baptised in Shadwell to Richard & Sarah,
including a son Jno Francis, our ancestor. However there are some long gaps
with no children appearing. None were found in Wapping or Limehouse for the
periods of the gaps. It would appear that Richard was settled in Shadwell as
the addresses in Shadwell on the baptismal entries were all close to one
another, firstly at King James Stairs and latterly at Shakespeare Walk; he also
appears in the local tax records from 1754-1772.
Richard Maitland’s abode in St James Stairs is interesting as there was a
sugar baker’s at there at least between 1749-62, and slightly later in
Shakespeare Walk.
Richard Maitland appears extensively in the maritime records over a period
from 1745 to 1778, commanding a series of merchant vessels, and from 1757
onwards on voyages to the Americas; the assumption that these are all the same
Richard Maitland is reasonable in the way they all fit together
chronologically. He carried general cargo and the occasional passenger on his
voyages: there is no record of has having been near Africa, and so was not
involved in slaving, indeed we know enough of him and son John to say that they
were not slavers: the voyages are well enough documented to see that there was
never enough time to go to Africa (although the Ann Snow was probably an
ex-slaver). His first appearance was in connection with the sale of a prize
ship, the Ann Snow, advertised for sale in April 1745 in Wapping; there is
nothing found to show what he might have done in this ship.. A number of
newspaper advertisements and many entries in Henry Laurens’s papers, shown later,
list cargoes he carried.
He sailed through the Seven Years War, which had some effect on him, the
Duke was convoyed to the Americas; later, in the Sharp, he carried stores to
Louisburg about the time of the battle there (he was taken as a prize in the
Sharp in about late 1760, although the Court gave him back the ship); his next
ship, the Philippa (1) was granted a Letter of Marque, allowing her to be armed.
The American Revolution had a greater effect.
He died in New York, 15 November 1778[13],
said to have been of a broken heart resulting from the Gunpowder affair (Sarah
Maitland’s Loyalist claim in 1783).
He is last reported arriving in New York from Cadiz about November 1777,
and there is no further mention of the ship Philippa in the newspapers,
although Lloyds List for 1778 is not available: she was eventually taken in
1781 by an American Privateer and subsequently lost.
The letters of Marque granted to Richard Maitland in May 1777 quoted the
forthcoming voyage as being London to New York, the West Indies and back to
London. For whatever reason, it seems likely that Richard remained in New York
after his arrival in autumn 1777, sailing in government service and died there
a year later, although he could perhaps have been trading between New York and
the West Indies.
Whilst there are no direct descriptions of Richard, he seems to have been a
man of charm and optimism: the disaster in Charleston did not stop him from
trying another risky venture the next year into Savanna, which also failed. The
collection of papers on his gunpowder cargo and its loss show him to be a well
written man, his hand writing is good and his language clear. He was clearly
very annoyed about the action.
He would have been a persuasive, and maybe charming, salesman, but probably
rather optimistic, judging from some early mentions of him by Henry Laurens
relating to the commissioning to the Magna Charta, and the quality and
decoration of that ship. Laurens, a partner in the ship, soon after started
building another ship, rather cheaper and more utilitarian. The newspaper
description of the launching ceremony of Magna Charter makes one think that
Richard was a bit of a showman!
The Laurens[14]
correspondence has two references to Richard’s character, in 1774[15], Henry wrote to James
saying: ....The Magna Charta is to be dispatched for Charles Town immediately,
as Mr. Grubb assures me. If I could depend upon her Sailing hence even in all
this Month I would give my sentiments concerning proper provision to be made
for Loading your part & mine. But our friend & the Captain are good
natured people who propose, or accede to, a Plan, with designs of Executing it,
but their good Nature, unaided by proper diligence & fortitude, leads them
to accept new proposals from Day to Day, which militate against their first
Resolutions & their "Immediate," becomes Time Uncertain. This I
fear will be the Case in the present attempt....
Later in 1774, James, writing to his brother about the tea party said: “If
Every Man thinks himself at liberty to abuse King, Lords, & Commons, &
all who dissent from our System, why should a poor Old Greyheaded Ratling
Captain be persecuted with such uncommon Severity for a few unguarded
Expressions, if he has dropt such.”[16]
In another letter of 1777[17]
to Henry, James Laurens expressed considerable chagrin at Richard sailing under
Letters of Marque, obtained without James’s knowledge. At this time, James
still had a minority share (1/8th) in the vessel, which he could
only sell at a very low price such that there would be a net loss. The majority
owners had assured him that the Letters of Marque were obtained in order to
reduce the insurance premium. He had some cause to be annoyed as by then Britain
was at war with her revolutionary colonies.
The 2 letters of marquee list the armaments carried by the vessels and
show in the earlier case, that they were not heavily armed, carrying what is
evidently self defence weapons. The later Letters show 14 guns (albeit only
relatively light weight 4 pounders) and 35 men: this looks more like an
offensive ship, bearing in mind that the normal merchant voyages had perhaps 10
crew. The letters prevented them being accused of piracy if taken.
Following the customary practice of the era, some of the cargo carried was
on his own behalf (an “adventure”), some for other shippers, including Henry
& James Laurens, of Charleston: Henry Laurens papers make many references
to Capt Richard. The Masters’ Adventures involved a chain of credit: the cargo
from London was taken on credit, sold on credit in Charleston to a merchant who
very probably took the last cargo for sale, the proceeds of which were used to
buy a return cargo, which then settled the debt owed in London, with a small
margin at either end. Richard had a couple of mis-adventures in the Colonies,
described in detail later, but in both cases, he lost his share of the cargo,
and certainly in Charleston, the money owed him for the previous cargo. The
Loyalist Claim made by Sarah gave details of these.
It is difficult to compare sums quoted in the 18thC with modern
values: I have made up 2 systems, one based on price inflation, the other on a
comparison of wages rates for roughly comparable jobs. The total sum of Debtors
in Sarah’s Memorial was £3267 sterling, and creditors was 1913/9/0, net debtors
of £1354 equates to between 2016 £180,000 (price inflation) and £670,000 (wage
inflation).
A Richard Maitland, merchant, & others petitioned in 24/1/1765 the
provincial Council of West Florida for confirmation of the validity of his
purchase of Estate Santiago el
Grande from the Spanish: he was probably one of the King’s Arms yard
Maitlands. Richard Maitland was granted an estate with partners called Santiago
el Grande, in West Florida, in the area of modern day Pensacola. The problems
arose when Florida was exchanged for Cuba by the British, who were difficult
about confirming any grants.
There are references to Florida property in his wife, Sarah’s Loyalist
Claim: this was a relatively small area which our Richard bought from James
Noble, Thomas Horsefall and Joseph Page. Ths purchase probably failed when the
British Government decided not to ratify the original very large land purchase
from the Yamasee tribe, made before the Spanish had actually left Pensacola.
Henry Laurens makes reference to property in Florida in his papers.
In the heyday of his trading in South Carolina, he was involved with an
important merchant, Henry Laurens whose papers contain many references to
Richard and other business associates. A prominent associate was Richard Grubb,
who was a London merchant, whose dealings for Henry Laurens were not always
satisfactory: Grubb went bust in 1774, and finally died by suicide in August
1774.
Richard & John Maitland’s marine lives have been assembled from a
mixture of Lloyd’s Lists & Registers, newspaper archives and the Papers of
Henry Laurens. The latter was an important merchant in South Carolina in the
mid to late 18thC. His papers contain many letters with reference to Richard
Maitland and his ships, one of which, the Magna Charta was locally built in
partnership with Richard Maitland, Henry Laurens and Richard Grubb of London.
Lloyd’s Lists contain shipping intelligence collated by Lloyds of London.
Ships names with the master (usually by surname only) and details of arrivals
and departures are given for a wide variety of ports, particularly the southern
channel ports; it appears that arrivals were better documented than sailings. A
varying amount of intelligence was included for foreign ports, with Scandinavia
and the Americas being prominent. Understandably, arrivals in America & the
West Indies were reported long after the event. There was usually a part column
of general notes, reports of ships sighted around the world and of losses.
During time of war, there were often prizes being brought into port by naval
vessels or privateers. The lists contain a lot of information, but they must
only show a proportion of the ship movements.
Many of the vessels from the Americas arrived at the Downes (off Deal)
& Gravesend. Of these, many must have gone on up river to the London docks.
The Downs is described in the Maitland Extracts volume.
“The Downes”, the bay on the east coast of Kent, was a popular
anchorage where ships gathered to form convoys or awaiting winds to carry them
down the Channel having used the prevailing westerlies to sail out of the
Thames. They often waited many days or weeks for the wind to appear. Likewise,
on return, they waited there for winds to re-enter the Thames to Gravesend and
other ports. There could be over 100 ships moored there at times.
Lloyd’s Registers were published from 1764 onwards. They contain details of
ships known to the organisation and were amended between issues.
Lloyds Reg for 1764 – printed list starts with Albemarle & none in
handwritten section. 1768 starts at “M”. More detail of these records is in the
Maitland Extracts volume.
Richard Maitland as Master, Summary
From Lloyds Lists & Register, and newspaper extracts, there is a
plausible sequence of ships of which Richard Maitland was Master. From 1746 to
1777, he is named in several sources as Richard Maitland. John is also
mentioned in the later period. A slightly rash assumption is that there was
only one Richard Maitland sailing merchant vessels in this period. Richard
remained employed for effectively the whole period from 1746 to his death in
1778; he must have been a well regarded master to have been able to get
commissions as regularly as he did.
Ann Snow, 130 tons, April 1746. Master on sale advertisement at Wapping.
Lichfield, 180 tons, 1747. - From the Caribbean.
Katherine June 1748-November 1751. - Montserrat & Turkey.
Clapham, 180 tons, June 1752-August 1756. - Middle East.
Duke, 360 tons, 1757. - Virginia.
Sharp, January 1758-1760. - Louisburg & Caribbean.
Philippa, 300 tons, May 1761-July 1766 – Caribbean
Achilles, 260 tons, July 1765-July 1766 – Charleston.
Little Carpenter, 180 tons, December 1766-December 1769 - Charleston
(son John takes over).
Magna Charta, 305 tons, November 1770-Autumn 1774 - Charleston
Philippa (Magna Charta renamed), Autumn 1774 – Late 1778.
Richard Maitland’s first professional appearance was in
April 1746, as “late Commander” at the sale (by the candle, in effect a time
limited auction) of the “Ann Snow” in Wapping; the sale must have failed
as in May she was still for sale with a different Commander, and continued to
be so for a while. There is no record of Richard having made any voyages in
her, but he may have taken over command on her release by the Prize Court. “A
French prize” of about 130 tons, this vessel had seemed to have been owned by
one Kender Mason, a London trader with the Americas who went bust in 1745; the
Ann Snow was specifically mentioned in the notice.
This Bristol based ship had been making voyages around the colonies from
the later 1720’s as a slaver. From 1730 to 1738, Protheroe captained the Ann
Snow on six trading voyages between Bristol and Africa, carrying slaves onwards
to Jamaica, Virginia, and Barbados. She was taken as a prize by the French in
March 1744, and then retaken by the Royal Navy in December of that year, during
the War of the Austrian Succession against the French. Bristol Port records
show her in 1739 sailing from Bristol for Africa & St Kitts with a crew of
28, David Barclay as master, 90 tons & 4 guns. She was reported in Lloyds
(24 Feb), 30 January 1740/1, arriving in Madeira from Boston, Vernon.
A later report of Bristol shipping had the Ann Snow, master William New, as a
Bristol based vessel, which reported a capacity of 200 slaves and to have been
taken by the French[18].
(Wiki: Richardson, David. Bristol, Africa and the eighteenth-century slave
trade to America. Bristol: Bristol Record Society, 1987).
An earlier record in Richardsons book shows her as 90 tons, master Joseph
Stretton and departed Bristol 6 October 1729, ad returned from Jamaica 1
October 1730.
The vessel's imports into Bristol included Indian textiles and beads returned
for lack of sale. These had been loaded originally on 6 October 1729, and in
the absence of outward Port Books for 1729 this date is assumed to have been
the approximate date of the vessel's departure from Bristol.
Sources: E190/1204/1; SMV Wharfage books
A Naval Snow by Charles Brooking 1759
General Advertiser April 22, 1746:
The taking by the French and retaking by the Royal Navy of the Ann Snow
is documented in the National Archives which has all the records of the Prize
Courts[19].
Prizes were required to sail to the nearest French port and surrender there.
The French documents give the names of 3 of the crew (of 21), including the
Commander from Bristol, and 2 from Shadwell, where Richard Maitland was
resident. In this case, the “Ann Snow” had the good fortune to be retaken by an
English squadron before reaching France. The English papers show a general
cargo destined for Africa and America (presumably as a slaver), but she does
not appear have got very far before being taken by the French, for more detail
see later. She was probably a slaver.
“Ann Snow” was one of over 5000 prizes taken by the British: the French
took about 3500 from the British! The prize papers value her & her cargo at
£1674-6-4 (about £500,000 2016). The prize papers are shown in greater detail
in additional notes.
This painting is of Wapping, the next parish upstream of Shadwell and is probably what Shadwell looked like at the time of Richard & John Maitland. Shadwell is only a few hundred yards off to the right of this position.
A Dockyard at Wapping, Francis Holman, 1780-4[20]
The scene is a small private dockyard on the Thames at Wapping, with h.m.s.
‘William and Elizabeth’ and h.m.s. ‘John’ in dry dock. The un-named ship on the
left is probably a government vessel since she wears the Royal Naval jack.
Lloyd’s Lists for 1770–90 include a ship called ‘William and Elizabeth’ built
by Maitland & Co. on the Thames.
The building on the extreme left bears the inscription ‘Morley sail-maker’.
The sailmakers’ firm of John Morley and Son is listed in
contemporary directories as being established at 225 Wapping in 1783–84, and at
60 Lower Shadwell from 1785 onwards. As earlier directories are more selective,
it is possible that the firm was at Wapping already in the 1770’s without being
listed.
Richard next appears when he sailed into Dover in the Lichfield
in November 1747 as commanderLL, said to be from Antigua, although
she was reported as arriving in Oporto shortly before from Newfoundland with
Wakefield commanding, the end of a voyage which had left in the spring for
Antigua under Wakefield. She was then put up for sale in December (general
Gazette several inserts) with Richard as commander at Wapping Dock, and about
180 tons. A possible scenario would be for Wakefield leaving the ship in Oporto
about October 1747, and Richard Maitland bringing the ship back to Dover. She
resumes sailing the Atlantic under Wakefield the next year.
A ship, the Katherine or Catherine, with master Maitland, appears
between 30/6/1748-1/11/1751. Whilst the master is not specifically named “Richard”
Maitland, the dates coincide well with the Litchfield & Clapham, both
definitely Richard, with voyages to Spain, Madeira & Montserrat.
Catherine came down for Madeira and the West Indies, at the Downes 1 July 1748,
finally reaching Torbay by the 26th, reported at Madeira in
September, Antigua (rep 19/11/1748) and reappeared from Montserrat in the River
on the 13h April, 1749.
The next recorded voyage was to Turkey, passing Cape St Vincent on the 3rd
May 1750 on the return, arriving from Scanderoon, the port of Aleppo, in
Gravesend on the 27th.. She then sailed 28 June, 1750 for Cadiz,
arriving back in Portsmouth about the 17th September, 1750, moving
over to Southampton early October. She sailed from Southampton to the Streights
(Gibraltar) on the 19th October 1750; the next recorded arrival was
in the Downes from Cadiz 6th August 1751 – as there are not records
of anything between, he may have spent 12 months trading in the Mediterranean.
There is a record of a C/Katherine, Maitland, arriving in Gravesend 1st
November, 1751 from North Bergen: it is possible that this was in New Jersey,
although it looks an unlikely place for an 18th Century port,
additionally, the elapsed time would have been short for an Atlantic voyage. A
more probable place would be Bergen in Norway, which is a better fit both in
time and region.
Scanderoon[21]
A ship called the Clapham was taken by the Spaniards 12/4/1742 en-route South
Carolina to London, master Ogier, taken into Galicia, retaken. Gent Mag 1742.
Richard Maitland then appears commanding the Clapham in which he
made 2 recorded voyages to the Middle East, and was named as Richard Maitland
of Shadwell, commander, in a sale advertisement for the vessel in August 1756.
Lloyds Register of 1764 does not list this ship; There were 2 Clapham’s sailing
in 1753, Maitland’s and one commander by Nastal plying between the Channel Islands and the mainland.
The first voyage for Turkey, Scanderoon (the port for Aleppo) &
Smyrna, left the Downes 2nd June 1752, via Falmouth (14th),
Cartagena and Scanderoon (arriving there Richly laden London Read Weekly
Journal Or British Gazetteer November 11, 1752), arriving back at Dover &
Gravesend 1 May 1753 from Smyrna with Harlequin.
The cargo was put up for sale in the newspaper: “16 May 1753: Turkey
Carpet Warehouse, Bred Street. Just imported by the Clapham, Maitland, from
Smyrna, several Bales of Turkey consisting of a variety of sizes and lively
colours, warranted free from Damage, with the lowest Price fixed on each, for
ready Money. N.B. All Sorts of Wilton and Kidderminster Carpeting, with Bedside
of different Patterns.”
The second voyage, similar to the first, left the Downes 4th September
1753 for the middle east again, via Falmouth, Naples, Constantinople (reaching
there in early 1754) and Leghorn and back to SmyrnaLL: there are no shipping
records, which are sparse in this period, of him the until February 1756 when
he was seen off Sardinia and then at Gibraltar (the “Chaplain”) on his way back
to London from Smyrna: a newspaper report[22]
of March 9th 1756 of his return to London “The Clapham, Capt
Maitland, from Smyrna, that has been out upwards of two years, arrived on
Sunday last in the River”. There are no recorded baptisms of his children
between 1751 and January 1757, a date which looks right for a return in March
1756!
As with the previous voyage, an advertisement appears for his cargo:
“April 1756: Just imported by the Clapham, Maitland, from Smyrna, and are now
opened at the Turkey Carpet Warehouse in Bread Street several Bales of Turkey
and Musketta carpets, 28 feet long by 24 feet wide, so down to most sizes under
the above, all warranted free from Damage, with the lowest Price fixed on each,
for ready Money. N.B. Some fine Segeadya Carpets of curious Patterns, also
Wilton and Kidderminster, Grain Colours, with Bedside, and all Sorts of Worsted
Carpets ditto..”
She was then sold:
Richard’s next ship was the Duke, a London based ship with 20 men
and 10 guns of 360 tons, in which he made one voyage, which ended up with the
vessel’s loss in a storm off Virginia.
After some delays, Duke finally sailed in ballast 17th March 1757 as part
of a convoy of over 100 ships, commanded by Admiral Coates, from Spithead, via Torbay
for Madeira and on to the Caribbean; the weather was bad, especially in the Bay
of Biscay. Admiral Coates dispatches give a picture of the frustrations of
trying to get underway in a sailing ship with uncooperative winds[23]! (a fuller transcription is
in the Maitland extracts volume, and later in the volume).
It is not clear if “Duke” went on to Port Royal with Admiral Coates, who
arrived there in April, or direct to Virginia; she was “spoken with” 4 leagues off
Cape Henry, Virginia (with 12 sail in company) on the 6th of June
from London[24],
on the way into Chesapeake Bay for the Patuxent River, where she loaded before
her fateful return voyage to London. The arrival into Chesapeake Bay implies
routing with the convoy to the Caribbean. In any event, she loaded cargo and
left the Pawtuxet River. She sailed from Hampton Roads on the 22nd
September, 1757, in a convoy of over 50 ships under the escort of HMS Garland.
Duke became too leaky, making signals of distress and was abandoned in the
evening of the 26th September, the crew being taken on board
Garland. The weather was fresh gales and squally, bad enough for Garland to
stove in her longboat trying to launch it. They were 68 leagues ENE of Cape
Henry[25].
The Maryland Gazette, 23 February 1758 wrote: “...the Duke, Capt. Maitland, who
loaded in Patuxent River last year, being foundered at sea on her voyage to
London, in a violent gale of wind; but the Captain and Ship’s Company, with the
Letters, were saved; and every shipper on board said vessel will receive their
insurances ordered, of which Mr Perkins informs me he shall, by the first
opportunity, render them an account.”
Arr back England early Nov.
Details are in a later section.
In 1758, RM moved onto the Sharp, in the Downes 25th January,
but not sailing until late February as a transport with 5 warships for an
unnamed destination, but probably Halifax, carrying troops or supplies as part
of Admiral Boscawen’s fleet carrying General Amherst’s army in the beginning of
the 7 years war. British forces assembled at Halifax, Nova Scotia where army
and navy units spent most of May training together as the massive invasion
fleet came together. After a large gathering at the Great Pontack, on 29 May
the Royal Navy fleet departed from Halifax for Louisburg. The fleet consisted
of 150 transport ships and 40 men-of-war. Housed in these ships were almost
14,000 soldiers, almost all of whom were regulars (with the exception of four
companies of American rangers). The force was divided into three divisions:
Red, commanded by James Wolfe, Blue, commanded by Charles Lawrence and White
commanded by Edward Whitmore. On 2 June the British force anchored in Gabarus
Bay, 3 miles west of Louisburg. The siege started on the 8th June,
and the town fell on the 27th July.
Louisburg at the time of the siege.
RM arrived in Boston about August/September from Louisburg, probably
having remained there during the battle and subsequent actions. When in port in
Boston, he lost a negro slave who was probably a member of his crew:
Boston Weekly News-Letter, 09-28-1758 P106[26].
Ran away from the Ship Sharp, Richard Maitland Master, on Sunday Night, between
the 24th and 25th Instant, a Negro Servant Man named Thomas Morro, (was this
an Italian corruption of Thomas More?) about 27 or 28 Years of Age, and
about 5 Feet 5 Inches high. He had on Sailor's Cloathing when he left the Ship:
He was born at Barbadoes, and liv'd long at Venice in Italy.
Whoever apprehends the said Negro Servant, so he may be delivered to Mr.
Nathaniel Taylor, shall receive of him FIVE DOLLARS Reward, and all necessary
Charges. Richard Maitland.
N.B. All Persons are forbid harbouring, concealing or carrying off said
Servant, as they may depend upon being Prosecuted as the Law directs.
He robb'd said Ship of her Boat.
He probably then sailed back to Louisburg and arrived in the Downes 9th
December 1758 from Louisburg in company with HMS Port Mahon, a 24 gun frigate.
The second voyage of Sharp with RM master was a more normal trading
venture, leaving the Downes 12th July 1759 for Philadelphia landing
there probably about the end of August. An advertisement gives a flavour of the
sort of goods carried:
Pen Gaz, 13 Sept 1759:
Shown as cleared in from London and advert:
Just imported in the Sharp, Capt. Maitland, from London, and left in the last
vessels from Bristol, and to be sold by
SYMONDS and BAYARD
At their store in Front Street, two doors from the corner of Chestnut street,
between that and Market Street, in the house which Jacob Dutche esq lately
lived.
A large assortment of European and India goods, suitable for the season,
amongst which as spotted and green rugs, rose and Indian blankets, Beaver and
knapt coating, red and blue duffirs, broad cloths, drab colour and blue
herseys, half-thicks, striped linseys, embossed serges, red and white flannels,
black and crimson hair shag, green, blue yellow and crimson hair harrateens(?),
womens cloth coloured and scarlett short cloaks, bewver and felt hats, window glass,
powder, lead and shot, a great assortment of worsted stockings, broad and
narrow calimancoes, broad cross-barred camblets, and plain Do. Black Velvet,
new fashioned stuffs, for women’s gowns, etc.
Another advertisement for RM’s cargo appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette, but
must have referred back to the September cargo as there was not enough time
from mid October to sail to Antigua and the London and return:
3 Jan 1760, Advert, Penn Gazette:
Just imported in the ship Sharp, Captain Maitland, from London, and to sold by
HENRY and WOODHAM
At their store in Water Street, near Market Street, next
door to Mr Samuel McCall’s senior,
A large assortment of goods suitable for the season; amongst which are, fine
and superfine 6 and 7 qr broad cloths, blue green and red beaver frizes, beaver
coatings, 7 8,9 and 10 qr green and mottled rugs, 7 8 9 and 10 qr rose
blankets, Indian blankets, red, blue green, white and copper coloured
halfthicks, striped and spotted linceys, white and spotted swatkins, 6 qr
spotted ermines, kersey and nap plains, fine Devonshore kerseys, red and blue
fearnothings, white and red flannels, blue red and yellow embossed serges,
mixed and cloth coloured duroys and faggathies, Kendal cottons, black, blue and
scarlet everlastings, black, blue and brown druggets, women’s cloth coloured
and scarlet cloaks, mens and womens blue, black, and whote worsted stockings,
muffatees, silk, cotton and worsted caps, black velvet and set in, striped and
plain camblets, striped and plain callimancoes, cross barred stuffs, black,
blue, green, red and cloth coloured London shaloons, tammies, durants and
worsted demasks, dorseteens, raffia and Irish sheeting, raffia and Irish
dowles, hemp, flaxen and Irish ozenbrigs, a great variety of yd. wd. And 7 8
Irish linens, long lawns, pistol lawns, 3 qr and 7 8 garlix, tandems and
sliefias, 6 qr and yd. wd. Muslins, cambricks and lawns in pieces and patches,
flowered and spotted lawns, white and brown pomerania linen, brown Holland,
clouting diaper and table cloths, 3 qr 7 8 yd. and quarter linen and cotton
checks, cotton hollands, cotton gowns, thicksets and fustians, flowered and
corded demities, bed bunts, 3 and 9 qr Flanders bed ticks, chintz and calicoes,
printed linen and cottons, bordered and plain bandanoe handkerchiefs, printed
lawn ditto, Cumberland ditto, chilloes and niccanees, fecterfoy romals, sewing
silk, silk and cotton laces, men’s and women’s gloves, castor and felt hats,
pepper, nutmegs, cinnamon, cloves and mace, silver and metal watches, London
steel A.C. No. 3 gunpowder and shot, gun flints, nails, anvils and vizes, an
assortment of pewter, cutlery, sadlery and ironmongery, with a great variety of
other articles, too tedious to mention.
11/10/1759 advertisement, Pennsylvania Gazette:
She was then cleared from Philadelphia for Antigua 11th October,
1759PenGaz, although she stopped at Guadeloupe en-route to Antigua
from Philadelphia[27],
so would have been there about the turn of the year.
After Antigua in early 1760, there is no mention of RM or Sharp’s movements
during 1760/61, but he is in a list of letters remaining at the post office
Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania Gazette 31 July 1760, but did not appear there
before the end of the year. At some stage, he appears to have been taken by an over
enthusiastic Naval captain as a prize. The Maryland Gazette[28] reported on a decision by
the Court of Appeal on the 27th June, 1761, reversing the decision
of the Prize Court in Gibraltar to award Sharp as a prize to Capt Edwards of
the Valeur. Judging from the time such affairs take, Sharp was probably taken
late 1760 or early 1761, probably when she was sailing back from Antigua and Valeur
was returning from the Caribbean.
The Valeur was taken by Frederick Lewis Maitland in a well documented
battle from the French on the 17/10/1760 in the Caribbean and bought in to be
commanded by Capt Edwards. There are a few references to in the Captain Edwards
logs[29]
of Valeur taking prizes in the next year or two, but Sharp is not mentioned,
although a slightly mysterious report of Edwards demanding reparation in
Algiers for money taken from an un-named English Ship. She was cruising from
that area in early 1761, mainly from Gibraltar, arriving in Lisbon Feb 1761.
She was valued at £60000 according to a Jamaica report. Sharpe is not mentioned
in the prize court records[30].
More detail in a later section
This was Richard Maitland’s next ship (I have used a standard spelling,
but it actually varied between publications!) and was a larger vessel, about
300 tons with 10 guns and 18 men, supposedly French built in 1758LR.
She was a French prize[31]
taken in May 1757, early in the 7 years war, off Belle Isle, Brittany, on her
way back from St Domingo on her passage back to Bordeaux, with sugar, indigo
and cotton coffee tanned hides and copper by a British Privateer, the Defiance;
full transcripts of the prize award papers are included later in this volume.
Lloyds Register of 1764, after RM had moved on, listed her as French built
in 1758, master Addis (agrees with Lloyds list after RM).
He took her over in April 1761 with Letters of Marque HCA 26/12/87
17/4/1761 to allow the carriage of armament. The documents describe the vessel
in a standardised format:
.... That she is a Square Sterned Ship Painted Black and Yellow, a Syon Head
Painted all Yellow
and is of the burthen of about Three Hundred tons
That the said Richard Maitland goeth Commander of her That she Carrys Sixteen
Carriage Guns
Each Carrying shot of Six and Four pounds weight and
Swivel Guns and belonging to the port of London
Forty Men Thirty Six small arms Twenty four Cutlasses Twelve Barrels of Powder
Twelve Rounds of great Shot and about Three hundred weight of small shot
That the said Ship is victualled for Six months
hath two suits of sails Five Anchors Five Cables and about Thirty hundred
weight of spare cordage
That John Dudley goes Lieutenant John Thomas Gunner William Jones Boatswain
Thomas Lee Carpenter Henry Atkins Cook James Long Surgeon of the said Ship and
that
Mr Henry Loubert and his Partners Mesrs Leavie and Schweighauzen together with
Mr James Bouverieu of London Merchants
are the Principal Owners and Setters out of the said Ship
The voyage under Letters of Marque started in the Downes waiting for a
wind, a ENE’er appeared 5 May 1761, when she sailed for Santona, N Spain, between
Bilbao & Santander, arriving there about the end May[32]. From Santona, she went to
St Eustacius, probably arriving there about mid July (arrival report in Lloyds
List of 25 September), and then on to Monte Christi, (N coast of Dominica) by 5
December, 1761 and was due to sail from there 16 December, though the due &
actual sailing dates often were very different! She finally arrived back in
Portsmouth 23 March, and the Downes 2 April 1762. Monte Christi is an
interesting port at the time as it had only been rebuilt about 5 years before having
been demolished 1606 as a pirate haven. St Eustacius was then a very busy Dutch
trading Island with a mixed reputation of doing business with all comers, jus
to the NW of St Kitts!
Philippa’s next voyage, RM’s last in her, left London back to the
Caribbean about November 1762, arriving in Cork 10 December to join a small
convoy of 6 other merchantmen for Gibraltar; they sailed on the 18th
December escorted by HMS AldboroughNA. From there they would have
taken the southern route to stay out of the winter westerly winds, leaving
Gibraltar mid to late winter[33]
for Havana[34].
From Havana, Philippa went on to Jamaica, arriving there about September 1763[35]. She arrived back in CowesNA
and Dover from Jamaica, 20th March 1764LL, a report was
published in Lloyds List 24th February 1764 from “Capt Read of the
Vulture Transport, which is arrived at Portsmouth from Pensacola, after a
passage of 51 days, spoke on the 8th Ult off the Havanna, with the Philippa,
Maitland for London, ... All well” another report confirms she was bound for
Havanna. The Caledonian Mercury, 11 July 1763[36]
The next reported voyage by the Philippa arrived at
Cowes from South Carolina 30th July 1765, master AddisLL.
As these voyages took at least 6 months, she must have sailed about January
1765 or earlier.
RM made one voyage as master of the Achilles, a 260
ton (burthen?) ship with 20 men, Virginia built in 1761[37]. She came down and sailed
from the Downes 23rd July 1765 for Madeira and South Carolina. This
was RM’s first of many recorded visits to Charleston until his tea party 9
years later, but not yet involved with the Laurens’s.
A report in Lloyds List of 14 March of her arrival in South Carolina
indicates a landing about the end of 1765, so a newspaper report of her
arriving 4 January from Havana and leaving again for Havana 14 March may be
correct, although being cleared inwards at Charleston 19th February
from Havana with sundry British Goods seems a bit late (owners Thomas Beswick
& John Richardson of London). From a newspaper report, she was in Havana in
April 1766: “Charles-Town, South Carolina, April 22. By Captain Maitland, from
Havana, we are informed, that a new Governor, and several other officers, were
arrived there from Old Spain; and that all the British Merchants were ordered
to quit that Place by the 16th past - He could not obtain Leave to land his
Cargo of Bricks which he carried from hence, although he was under Contract.”NP
It is about 1000 miles from Havana to Charleston, so a round trip by sail
of 4-6 weeks is probable, especially as he could not have spent much time, if
any at the port. This was due to the exchange of Florida for Cuba between Spain
& Britain.
She was finally cleared out from Charleston, 7 June 1766[38], with 124 barrels of rice,
527 puncheons of rum, 26 hogshead of Skins?, 43098 lbs of Indigo, 150 tons of
logwood, a Chariotte, 346 logs of mahogany. She sailed for London 20 June, From
Charlestown, S Carolina (Lloyds List reported on 29/7/66 that she left for
London 20 June sailed from within the bar of that place the 20th June, where he
had rode out a very hard Gale of wind, at 4 am, his best bower cable parted in
the clinch, and she luckily cast the right way, and the pulled her over the
bar; she struck twice, but very gentlyLL) arriving in Portsmouth 25
July and on to Gravesend 3 days later.
The same ship was still afloat in 1776, Lloyds register (that for 1764 had
lost the earlier letters) showing:
(page torn): Achilles Ss 75 16 Guns, H. Wylie (then R Purvis), 250, River tip75
len, 53 61, Durrard & Co, 14, Lo Jamai, E1 5, E1 9
1764, Lloyds Register:
Present, Master, Port, to, Tons, Guns, M, Built &Yr, Owner, 64,65,66.
Edgar, C. Maitland, London, New York, 200,B, 8, Berm.57r64, C. Maitland, EM,EM.
More details of this ship are in a later section.
12/1766-6/67
8/67-12/67
4/68-7/68
11/68-5/69
10/69-5/70 – returned with new Captain
RM’s mastership of the Little Carpenter, a somewhat smaller ship
than the previous vessels, was the beginning of his well documented activities
in South Carolina and his association with Henry Laurens and lasted from late
1766 to March 1772; it was also the first ship in which he is known to have a
share. The local South Carolina papers carry reports of his movements and there
are numerous references to RM and his ships in Henry Laurens’s papers, first of
all as a shipper for goods and correspondence and later as a full partner in
the ownership of vessels. The correspondence was often sent in duplicate on
different ships: both copies did not always arrive!
RM’s son, John, also makes his appearance as master at the end of Little
Carpenter’s life. Richard Grubb, a London trader, also appears at this point,
as owner of the Little Carpenter and later a trading partner with Henry Laurens
and associate of RM; Grubb’s association with the Little Carpenter dated from
Muir’s mastership.
Her name is intriguing: was she named after the Indian Chief Attacullaculla[39] - Supreme Chief of the
Cherokee, 1760-1775, Little Carpenter, Peace Chief of the Cherokee, 1730-1797,
Cherokee Chief?
From The Frontiersman, Lucy Noalles Murfee, Google books:
.. translated the name of Atta-Kulla-Kulla as the “Little Carpenter”.
“Hegh! They hae named a ship for his honor!” exclaimed the Highlander. “I hae
seen the Little Carpenter in the harbour in Charlestoun, swingin’ an bobbin’ at
her cables, just out frae the mither country! Her captain’s name wull be
Maitland”.
Lloyd’s Register of 1764-66 shows “Little Carpenter, master – John Muir,
From London-Carolina, 180 tons, no guns, 13 crew, Plantation built 1759, Owner
Grub & Co. EG & EG. The South Carolina shipping records show her built in
Virginia 1759. The owner, Grub, is significant as Richard Grub was a trading
contact of Henry Laurens and Richard Maitland until his death in 1773. The
previous master, John Muir, appears in the shipping reports between London
& S Carolina for some time before Richard Maitland, his last voyage
arriving at Gravesend, 11 August 1766. A Customs outbound clearance from
Charleston showed the cargo John Muir carried on 24 January 1764 included 30746
lbs Indigo, 714 barrels of rice, and sundry other goods, some of which was
consigned to Grub. Another early reference to her was:
“.....The steeple clock was made by Aynsworth Thwaites and is considered the
oldest functioning colonial church clock in the United States. St. Michael’s
clock cost £120, a vast sum in those days. The clock and bells came over on a
ship called The Little Carpenter (in 1764) and were shipped gratis by
the company that made them, probably because they were for a church[40]”.
RM’s first voyage left the Thames and passed the Downes 25 December 1766
for South CarolinaNP. She arrived in Charleston, 13/2/1767 [Thurs]:
“On Saturday [8 Feb] arrives here from London, the ship Little Carpenter,
Richard Maitland, master, with whom came Captain Bolton of the 9th Regt, Henry
Gray esq, Mr Walter Mantell and others”SCAG, also carrying a letter
for HL dated 24 November 1766HL215. When cleared into Charleston
from London 10 February 1767[41],
it appears that she had been re-registered in London 23 Oct 1766 with owners Edward
Payne, Richard Grubb, James Bordieu, James Chollet, & said master of
London, and was carrying Sundry Goods, 20 Cocketts. The latter 2 names, Bordieu
& Chollet figure in Henry Laurens’s papers.
The local South Carolina newspapers, like the other Home newspapers,
carried advertisements of imported goods being sold by merchants, often quoting
the ship on which they arrived and also for cargo to be shipped out. It can be
seen from the length of time the ship was advertised as being ready to sail and
the actual sailing date, how much time was spent in port awaiting a cargo, a
convoy and season to leave for an Atlantic crossing. The Charlestown press
carried reports of ships loading, which could appear for weeks on end!
Little Carpenter was preparing to sail by March 1767 when she was
advertised: “For London, the Ship Little Carpenter, Richard Maitland, master,
Now lying at Mr Motte's wharf, and must certainly sail by the 12th day of April
next ensuing, otherwise forfeit freight. For Freight, apply to Motte, Laurens,
Motte & Co or said master”. Later advertisements appear by Laurens &
Motte offering for sale Linene, silks etc. Some idea of the passengers carried
also appears, both in the press and HL’s papers:
“Charles Town, March 27. On Wednesday last the Right Hon Lord Hope, accompanied
by several gentlemen, set out on a tour to Georgetown and the northern parts of
this province. We hear his Lordship supposes to sail for Great Britain about
the middle of next month, in the ship Little Carpenter, Richard Maitland,
master. (Public Advertiser, 2 June 1767, plantation news)”.
She was officially cleared outwards 14 April 1767[42] with 497 & 25 ½
barrels of rice, 9 bundles of deer skins, 25 tons logwood, 1 barrel of rum.
HL’s papers have other cargo, carried on his behalf: “with 35329 lbs of indigoHLP146
but remained windbound until sailing on the 22nd, with an extra
passenger, Dr Dundas”. The London papers reported her arrival in Portsmouth
about 1 June with “The Rt Hon Lord Hope as passenger”NA and
Gravesend 7 JuneLL 1767.
Aug 1767 - Dec 1767
The next voyage started as usual in the Downes, sailing on 1st August
1767 for South CarolinaNA, Cleared in Charleston 27 September 1767[43] from London, owners
Richard & Edward Maitland & Richard Grubb of London, sundry British
Goods, 7 Cocketts. She also carried a passenger Alexander Grey & letters to
HLHL317 with letters from Charles Garth to HL.
She was advertised to sail: “For London (to sail by 5th October) the Ship
Little Carpenter Richard Maitland, master, For Freight or Indigo, deer skins
etc or for passage, apply to Capt Maitland or Laurens, Motte & Co. Advert”SCAG,
a relatively quick turn round, perhaps influenced by a cargo ready for shipment
from Henry Laurens. She was cleared out on the 27th September[44], with sundry British Goods
(7 cocketts), the owners being Edward Maitland & Richard Grubb of London (she
was registered London, 23rd October, 1760) with 12 men & no
guns; she actually sailed 12 October 1767HL370 and arrived at Falmouth
4th, and Gravesend 14th December, 1767LL after
an eventful first few days which Richard Maitland was lucky/skilful to survive:
HL letters were usually sent in duplicate; in this case, the other copy with
Whitlock was lost in a storm 16 October.
30/10/1767, SCAG:
...The storm began early in the morning of Oct. 16 and lasted until the 18th
with strong winds from the northeast and high tides along the coast. A number
of vessels were damaged at sea. Gazette, Oct. 19, 26, Nov. 2, 1767. The brigantine
Hope, Robert Whitlock (with HL letter), was lost at sea...HL
Storm - PHOTO 1st 26 Sept "The storm mentioned in our last, reports? To
have extended from Philadelphia to Georgia, and perhaps further. The Snow
Aurora, James Patterson, master, outward bound for London, lying in Rebellion
road, was driven on shore, but got off again he... it is said, has received no
damage. The ship Hawke, John Lightenstons master, for London from Georgia,
having received much hurt in the Storm, was driven ashore endeavouring to get
into Sapelo inlet, the vessel and cargo entirely lost; the Honourable Daniel
Moore, esq, collector of his Majesty's customs for this port, Mr Nathaniel Hall
of ???, merchant, who were passengers, were providentially saved and got ashore
on Black Beard's Island about three miles from where the vessel struck. The
Ferret & Diligence, Men of War for Jamaica, the Little Carpenter, Maitland
and Hope, Whitlock, for London, with several other vessels from this port, it
is thought, must have met with the gale. Many pieces of wrecks have been ??
along the shore, The force of the storm does not seem from what intelligence we
have, as yet, received, to have extended further to the eastwards than the gulf
stream.
From HL papers, Hope was lost.
11/12/1767: HL refers to letter 10/10/67, also to “Indian King” owned by Edward
Brice (the ship that later rescued John Maitland from Antigua).
The next voyage started with Little Carpenter clearing out of London 21st
March, sailing 1 April 1768 from the Downes for S. Carolina where she arrived
15 May 1768HLV5P681 with letters for HL and goods as advertised: “George
Thomson: Has just imported in the Little Carpenter, Capt Maitland, from London,
A complete sortment of European and India Goods fit for the season, which he
will dispose of on the most reasonable terms at his store in Tradd Street”[45].
On a relatively quick turn round, she was advertised as loading from 25 May
1768, and: “For London to sail the 10th June, The Ship Little Carpenter,
Richard Maitland, master, Having very good accommodation for passengers. For
freight of Indigo and Deer skins, or for passage apply to said master or James
Laurens”. She sailed with letters from HL and on 20 June the paper reported: “Yesterday
morning embarked for London in the ship Little Carpenter, Capt Maitland, Mrs
Mary Harvey, wife of Mr William Harvey”, and another report showed she carried
“...besides the usual commodities shipped for that market, 48 barrels
containing 371 bushels of Indian Corn, and 29 barrels containing 144 bushels of
rough Rice”[46];
these latter goods probably were for Henry Laurens. She was entered inward at
London from S Carolina 30th July 1768NP.
From Henry Laurens letters it appears that the ‘Ann’ with a similar cargo
attempted to clear the day after the Little Carpenter, but became embroiled in
a long legal dispute about the Ann, impounded by the authorities: Little
Carpenter was often mentioned as an example. Under the Navigation Acts, a bond
was required to be put up to cover goods before they were loaded for shipping
from any Plantation port destined to Britain or another plantation. This was an
attempt to stop the illegal trade in goods such as sugar from outside the
Empire being sold untaxed. It was a general practice for these bonds to be made
after loading, but: “... Captain Maitland’s behaviour to the Custom House
Officers had been so extreemly gross, and he had so Publickly stigmatized them
all under the Exchange in Charlestown.....Captain Maitland had "Publickly
stigmatized all the Custom House Officers...”. This resulted in the Customs
“working to rule” the following day.
The bonds were often given by guarantors: “....by Fenwick Bull, Esquire who
being duly sworn declareth that he became Security for Capt. Maitland in a
Nonenumerated Bond at the Custom-House after that Mr. Hatley the Deputy
Collector had agreed to clear his Vessel... altho' the Nonenumerated Goods were
then all on Board the Vessel...” “... Captain Maitland gave a Nonenumerated
Bond after Mr. Hatley had agreed to clear out his vessel, the Non-Enumerated
Goods being all on board,...”. So RM had a temper!
During Richard Maitland’s next stay in Charleston he seems to have
progressed his association with Henry Laurens and commissioned a new ship, to
be the Magna Charta. To quote a letter from HL to Richard Grubb, 30 March 1769:
“Capt. Maitland has talked me into a further concern in Shipping by which you
& I shall probably become Partners again (Grubb would be one of the
partners). If he keeps close to his original plan the intended Vessel will be a
very fine thing & cheap”. After the usual few months on port, Little
Carpenter with Richard Maitland, master sailed from Deal for South Carolina 8
November 1768NA arriving in Charleston 23 January 1769 with freight
and passengers: “The same day (Monday) arrived here from London, in the Little
Carpenter, Capt RM, the lady of the Right Hon. Lord William Campbell, governor
in chief etc of Nova Scotia, the lady of the Hon John Drayton, esq, Colin
Campbell esq, and his lady, (sister to Lady William), Mr Hawkins and other
passengers”SCG.
The freight was advertised until the end of March: “WILLIAM SIMPSON, Has
imported in the Little Carpenter, Captain Maitland, from London, the Betty,
from Glasgow, and the Avon from Leith: A Neat assortment of silk breeches,
ribbed and plain silk hose, worsted breeches in patterns and web, men and
women's cotton hose, ofaaburgs thread, stiching thread from the lowest to the
highest numbers, spotted and sprigged knitted lawe, striped and bordered needle
work, lawn aprons, a great variety of white blue and green silk and thread
pavillion gauze; a large quantity of check handkerchiefs, checks, and croffbar?
3/4 & 7/8 wide, red and blue striped holland, Irish and Scots Heens of all
kinds, single and double wool and baked hair matresses, women's callomanco
shoes and pumps of different colours, men's stiched and bound shoes and pumps,
pigtail tobacco, rappee and plain snuff, 16 and 20 inch pipes tipped and
fluted, Bell's beer by the dozen, with an assortment of cutlery. As he has
imported a large quantity of each, any merchant wanting to apply may be served
on the most moderate terms at his store on Tradd Street”;
She finally sailed from Charleston 28 March 1769SCAG, having
been windbound for a week or so, and entered inward in London 31 May from South
CarolinaNA Via Dover on the 26th.
Next comes Richard Maitland’s last voyage as master of Little Carpenter;
he left the Downes for South Carolina 1 October 1769LL and arrived
12 DecemberSCAG, Richard Maitland as masterHL257. Richard
remained in Charleston to supervise the building of the new ship, the Magna
Charta in which he was in partnership with the Laurens brothers, Richard Grubb
and others[47].
This voyage was referred to in correspondence by Henry Laurens in August
1772 as not having been paid by Grub, who was by then becoming more unreliable.
An advertisementSCAG shows some of the cargo:
“PHILIP HAWKINS & Co. At their Store in Tradd Streets, lately occupied by
Mr John Edwards, & Co, have just opened their GOODs received by the Little
Carpenter, Maitland, which with those in Hand, make a large STOCK that will be
sold very cheap, with great allowance to those who purchase a Quantity to seel
again; A large and compleat Assoortment of LINEN DRAPERY, part of which are a
great variety of printed linens, cottons and callicoes; blue, red and chintz
furniture cottons; India chinz, printed and whit India callicoes, India
ginghams of as extra fine quality. - A great choice of extremely well bought
IRISH LINENS and SHEETINGS, Irish tickings, picol lawns, quarter lawns, long
lawns, 7-8, 8-8, and 6-4 clear lawns, 7-8 and 8-8 cambricks, flowered lawns;
flowered lawns suits of aprons, ruffles and handkerchiefs; plain, striped and
flowered muslins; 8-8 and 6-4 hook muslins, spotted ditto, very beautiful
tambour worked muslins in suits - very elegant sets of Damask Tabling; 8-4,
10-4 and 12-4 diapers and damasks in pieces 1/2 diaper and damask table cloths,
tea napkins, napkining diapers and damasks, garlic, dowlas, britanoirs,
sitasias?, seven duck, Russle sheetings, dimothles, frans, checks, and other
Manchester Goods etc - A quantity of plain and flowered silk gauzes, ribbons,
blond and thread laces - A few peices of handsome plain and striped trffatle?
at 45s and 50s the yard - 7-8 India satins, damasks and g(s?)oigaroons at 60,
and 70, the yard; flowered India silks and India Persians; two compleat set of
nenkeen table chies - A few handsom fine grates and furniture compleat - Also a
large assortment of nails, locks, hinges, and every other necessary for
Building; carpenters, smiths and workmens tools in general; very best broad
hoes and other Plantation utensils.
NB to be sold for ready money, very best Bohea Tea at 20 the lb, very best
green Tea at 50 the lb, very best and much approved Hyson Tea at 5l 10s the lb
and black pepper at 24s the lb - 4-peny nails at 15s the thousand; 6-peny ditto
at 22s 6d. 10-peny ditto at 35s and 10 peny ditto at 52s 6d the thousand. A few
anchors and grapnels at 15 the 100lb - a quantity of very fine whalebone at
47s6d the lb, taking 20lb.”
An odd note in the paper of 21 Dec 1769 “We are assured that several
packages of British Cloths, imported in the Little Carpenter, Capt Maitland are
actually re-shipped for London in the London, Capt Carling”.
Little Carpenter was advertised to sail 31 Jan 1770
by, inter alia, James Laurens, although did not actually leave until 22 March
with David Kinloch as master, carrying inter alia: “HL 17th March 1770:
To Isaac King, London - …200 barrels of Pitch which I have Ship'd on board the Little
Carpenter, David Kinloch, Master who is bearer hereof for London consign'd
to you.” She arrived Weymouth, 3rd MayNP, Gravesend 8th
May 1770 & port of London 9th MayNP. From a letter by
Henry Laurens, on this voyage she carried inter alia 200 barrels of Pitch which
was sold for 6/- per cwt[48].
Richard Maitland had remained in South Carolina to build the new ship; See HL
to Richard Grubb, May 8, 1770HLV7P288. She arrived in Weymouth, 3rd
MayNP, Gravesend 8/5/1770 & port of London 9th MayNP,
from S. CarolinaLL, David Kinloch masterHL257. This
voyage was referred to in correspondence in August 1772 as not having been paid
by Grub.
Little Carpenter made 2 further Charleston voyages under the mastership
of Richard’s son, John Maitland, the last one ending up as in Antigua where she
was condemned. These voyages are described later in John’s section.
Charleston 1773: (Library of Congress)
Magna Charta, later Philippa (2nd).
More details in Section 3.1.6
This was Richard Maitland’s last ship of which he was master; he commander
her from her launching in November 1770, at least until April 1778, and
probably his death in November of that year. When built, she was named Magna
Charta (1770-1774) and renamed Phillipa after the 1774 Charleston
Tea Party.
It was in this ship that Richard had his 2 most notable events, the Tea
Party in Charleston in 1774 and his Gun Powder plot in 1775.
Lloyds List 1778 is missing from the online collection (Southampton, Hull &
Grimsby list this volume in their Library collections). Some later reports of
the fate of the ship under Wallace as master, arriving in New York from Oporto,
reported LL 20 June 1780.
The Philippa, Wallace, from Oporto to New York, was taken by a Rebel Privateer
and afterwards lost. LL 23 February 1781.
Messrs Wallace (2 brothers??) signed a letter to RM in New York, 1778.
Nothing is mentioned in the contemporary newspapers from 1777 until Richard’s
death in November 1778.
Lloyds Registers:
1776: Phillippa, similar to 1778, except London-Georgia, A1 2, E1.
1778: Philippa Ss Magna Charter 72, Maitland, 305, S. Carolina, 70, Bourdieu
14-4 P, 15, Lo Jamai, EI 77 (77 probably survey date).
1780: Philippa Ss 72, R Maitland, 305, S. Carolina, 70, Bourdieu 14-6 P, 15, Lo
Jamai, EI 77.
This image was purported to be the Magna Charter, but looks
too small.
A ship, the Philippa Harbin was also granted Letter of Marque 24th
January 1778, but this was not the same vessel[49].
She appears in Lloyd’s list between England and Barbados.
Richard Maitland was involved in an incident at the start of the American
War of Independence when his ship, The Phillipa, carrying munitions was taken
by a rebel armed schooner off Savannah, Georgia in June 1775, following which
Ebeneezer Smith Platt was arraigned for High Treason. See full description
later in this paper. The collection of papers held at the National Archives have
been copied and make interesting reading.
There are several letters written by Richard Maitland, showing him to be an
educated man, and one who held strong opinions.
Richard Maitland was also involved in an incident with tea in Charles Town
(SC) in 1774.
In early 1769, Richard Maitland was probably the lead in
putting together a group of Charleston and London merchants to build a new
ship: Henry Laurens in a letter[50]
to Richard Grub said: “Capt. Maitland has talked me into a further concern in Shipping
by which you & I shall probably become Partners again. If he keeps close to
his original plan the intended Vessel will be a very fine thing & cheap.
Rice slack Sale at 60/, but so great a proportion of the whole Crop is exported
there can be no well founded hopes of bringing the price down this Year”.
The ship Magna Charta was commissioned in 1769 to be built by a group of
owners, Henry Laurens, James Laurens, Thomas Loughton Smith, and Roger Smith of
Charleston and James Bourdeaux, Richard Grubb, and Richard Maitland of London.
Of these, the brothers Henry & James Laurens and Richard Grubb were
certainly known to RM in London; James Bourdeaux appears in Henry Laurens’
papers. RM was probably the originator of the deal[51], using the contacts he had
built up over the previous 5 or 6 years of sailing into Charleston; he was
certainly in charge of the build as the owners’ representative. HL refers
several times to his 1/8th share: only seven owners are listed, but it is not
known if this was the full list, or if someone had a ¼ share, maybe RM as the
promoter of the vessel, described by HL as a fine ship and a cheap one, the 8th
owner may, from later correspondence have been Chollet.
HL however, in a later letter to RG, implies that he took a share in MC rather against his better judgement, partly because he could have no influence in generating return (westbound) cargoes[52].
Building was started at Begbie & Manson’s yard at
HobcawSCAG in December 1769 when she was put on the stocks. RM
arrived in the Little Carpenter in Charleston in March 1770, and stayed there
to supervise the building (Little Carpenter returned to London with another
master, Kinloch, and after that was commanded by John Maitland). She was
launched on the 23rd November, 1770, but her maiden voyage was delayed until
the following March by the late arrival of stores from London; HL later wrote
disparagingly about Richard Grubb’s tardy behaviour, and estimated that the
delay cost the owners £150 sterling. Interestingly, for this first voyage, HL
instructed RG not to insure his share of these stores, unless there was a War
Risk, but later asked RG to insure his 1/8th part of the bottom for £300
Sterling[53].
HL288-9, 8/5/1770 HL to Richard Grubb.
My Brother informs me that Capt. Maitland has wrote to you for sundry necessary Articles for our intended new Ship, 1/8th part of which, I mean the Amount of which 1/8th is to be charged to my Account. But don't Insure my said Part, unless you are involved in or are upon the Brink of a War in either Case insure half of all my Interest in the Ship including the Value of the bottom.5
I hear that we shall have a fine Ship and a cheap one and I have the same Confidence in Captain Maitland's Abilities which you express in your Favor of 5th July, a Favor which I ought to have acknowledged and replied to long ago, but I have been much absent from the Counting House, by Tours in the Country, Attendance in the House of Assembly, and often from downright Laziness, I believe, or something very near akin to it, but I know you are too good to take Exceptions.
A footnote[54]
in HL’s papers shows his 1/8th share cost £1413/8/-, which he paid in 3
instalments, later selling his 1/8th share to RM 30 March 1771 for ; this does
not agree with later papers still referring to his share. According to HL
papers, “...The Owners of the Magna Charta, built last year at Hobcaw at £6
sterling per ton, subject to some after bills and many great expenses, which
our new Ship will escape, paid £400 Sterling at signing the Contract, £400 more
when the Beams were fastened in, and £700 lastly when the Ship was launched...A
dilatory Step in sending out the Stores for the Magna Charta cost the Owners
£150 Sterling....[55].
These numbers do not seem to add up. A letter in June 1771 from HL mentions his
later ship which he was building at a cost of £5 per ton, without the extra
costs that appeared on MC. The costs of £5-6 agree with other sources for the
era.
On the basis of a burthen of 1200 barrels or rice at 500 lbs each, this
gives the burthen of 300 tons. Therefore the cost is expressed per ton burthen.
The “builders old measurement” of burthen was based on the length and beam by
a formula which varied slightly over time, but gave a (taxable) measure of the
capacity of the ship, with no reference to the absolute weight of the ship.
Another source (South Carolina Shipyards: Labour, Logistics, Lumber and Ladies,
http://www.academia.edu/6602808/South_Carolina_Shipyards_Labour_Logistics_Lumber_and_Ladies)
has a building cost of £23 per ton in 1788, but also refers to HL’s £6 per ton,
however another source has the cost as about $24, which was about £5-6 at the then
current rate. It seems that the £1500 cost of the whole ship is correct.
The launching was reported in the South Carolina Gazette:
“On Friday, Nov. 23, a fine new ship for the London trade, Magna Charta, Richard Maitland, was launched at Begbie and Manson's yard at Hobcaw (who went under after the Revolutionary War[56]), burthen 1,200 barrels of rice, " Gazette, Nov. 29, 1770. The General Gazette, Nov. 27, 1770, said that it was "...for this Trade, to be commander by Capt. Richard Maitland, built by Messrs Begbie & Manson, will carry 1100 barrels of Rice, esteemed as complete a Vessel, and as elegantly decorated, as any that has been built in this Province, and compleatly finished with all her carved Work and Decorations in the most elegant Taste. There was a very numerous company of Ladies and Gentlemen, who partook of a cold Entertainment, and afterwards had a Ball.”SCAG
She was evidently a well found and decorated ship, as an extract (slightly damaged) from the SCG describes: ... “CHARLES-TOWN, JANUARY 17 (1771) .....Sunday a new Ship called the Magna Charta, Burthen about 300 Tons, built by Messrs. Begbie and Manson, for .. Richard Maitland in the London Trade, and launched .. 23rd November, at Hobcaw, and neatly decorated with carved Work; and is allowed, by good Judges, to be as well...and likely a Ship as ever came off the Stocks in this Province - The Head, is a Bust of Britannia upheld by two Americans; one on the Right, armed for her Defence; the one on the Left, offering her the Horn of Plenty, filled with ...ous Productions of America. The Decorations on the ....e, in the Center a Scroll representing Magna Charta, ...d by Liberty and Justice; on the Right, is FAME, ... a Label with the Word Unanimity, as recommending ... Americans; on the Left, Mercury, as Messenger, ... another Label, with the Word Repealed. Under ... Mars, with his sword in one Hand and a burning ... in the other; and under Mercury, Neptune with his ... in one and a Dolphin in the other Hand. NewsSCG.
Richard Maitland (mariner of London) registered the Magna Charta in Charleston on 29 December, 1770[57] when she was described as: “a square sterned ship of 200 tons built in South Carolina in 1770. Maitland, who was master and part owner, listed the other owners as HL, James Laurens, Thomas Loughton Smith, and Roger Smith of Charleston, James Bourdeaux and Richard Grubb of London. The registry was made before Lt. Gov. William Bull and Thomas Macdonogh, the deputy collector of customs”. Elsewhere, her burthen was quoted as 300 tons, which is probably correct – this registration entry is probably a transcription error. Other newspapers show her burthen as 1200 barrels of rice.
Some notes on South Carolina Shipping are included in the Maitland Extracts Volume.
Hobcaw Shipbuilding 1
James Laurens’s “Heart of Oak”, built 1770, probably similar to Magna Charta:
Maiden Voyage, March 1771 – Sept 1771.
On her maiden voyage, she was cleared out of Charleston, 3rd January, ready to sail 14th February, but remained windbound until 11th March 1771[58]. “The same day sailed for London, Capt Richard Maitland's new ship, the Magna Charta, having on board 948 Tierces of Rice, 110 Casks containing 41,744 lb of best Indico, besides deer skins and sundry other Articles”. NewsSCG
Her departure was delayed by the late arrival of
stores sent out from London from Richard Grubb in London, leaving London in the
Little Carpenter, 15th September, 1770 and arriving in Charleston 29th December
(master John Maitland); HL was concerned about the effect of the long delay in
sailing on the quality of his rice, which had probably been loaded early (about
9th January) while the ship lay at Charleston awaiting final fitting out. Other
shippers with cargo on her also blamed Richard Grubb; the delay was compounded
by Little Carpenter making a slow passage from London, taking about 9 weeks;
the delay cost the owners about £150HLV7519. That being said, HL
seemed satisfied with the ship. To quote HL: “...Their Evidence is strong and
pretty clear, but I wont judge until I hear both Sides. But be the Cause what
it may, the Consequence I may say already is what they insinuate and alledge.
However, that must be mended by more diligence and Attention for the future.
She is really a fine Ship, and I believe the Captain will do every Thing in his
Power to promote the general Interest.....”
Rice was a major export from the Carolinas and was valuable: HL’s share of this
shipment was 142 barrels, valued at £1867/5/3. Compare this with the value of
HL’s 1/8th share of the MC at about £1400.
She arrived in Gravesend from S Carolina 29/4/1771LL.
Laurens’s letters contain some instructions to Grubb about insurance: he
firstly elected not to insure his 1/8th share on Magna Charta, but
in March 1770 wrote to Grubb to take out insurance if Britain looked likely to
be going to was with any other state.
Henry Laurens, even then, had doubts about the partnership in Magna Charta
as he said in a letter to Richard Grubb: “...You would not advise me of the
Fate of my Rice in Maitland, and you wish that an Importing House had
held the Share which I hold in the Magna Charta. Permit me to assure
you, my good Sir! that I have often wished the same for your Sake, that I was
so far from seeking a Concern in that Ship, that it was with great Reluctance I
consented to hold a Share in her after much Solicitation, because I knew it was
not in my Power to aid her in Freights outward from London. Nevertheless, I am
certain that my Behaviour towards her in her first outset is an earnest of my
Intention to do her no harm, and I shall and will at any Time for the Benefit
of my Partners, readily transfer that 1/8th which I have paid for, whenever they
shall desire it, and point out to whom, upon being reimbursed the Sum which I
advanced 26/6/1771 V7P541”.
As this letter was dated 26 June 1771, Laurens was probably being a bit
impatient: there was hardly time to get a letter back to him after the ship’s
arrival in London. This letter also revealed that Laurens was building a new,
larger, ship: “by one of the best Builders in this Province, and am under no doubt
of putting her to Sea for £300 Sterling less (decorations, if any, included)
than She cost us. I am to pay £5 per Ton, no after Bill on any Consideration;
shall escape many Charges which attended the M.C., and have some other
Advantages.[59]”
She left Gravesend to return to S Carolina with a SW wind
11th July 1771LL, but the wind kept her at Deal with HMS
Endeavour & several othersNA, sailing on the 14th,
one report has her passing Falmouth. Magna Charta arrived in Charleston, 20th
September, 1771SCAG with goods, some of which were advertised at the
time by “Benjamin Mathews has just imported in the Magna Charta, Captain
Maitland, A large and complete assortment of Goods; amongst which are a large
assortment of Workman's tools, coffin furniture, etc” SCAG 24/9; a
fuller list appeared in the paper a couple of months later. The voyage was not
without incident as the newspapers reported:
“26 September 1771SCG: On Friday last...returned, in the ship Magna
Charta, Captain Richard Maitland, from London, Sir Edmund Head and Lady, and
Mr---Wakefield. On the 6th instant, in latitude 24 Long 80 Capt Maitland met
with a Hurricane, which continued all the next day, and was the most violent he
had ever been in. It began with him at four in the Afternoon, the wind then
East, encreased till Nine the next Morning, continuing at its height til six in
the Afternoon, the Gale shifting to the northwards at three, and to the North
West at six, when it abated. He supposed it to have been very severe in the
West Indies”. There is record of a hurricane hitting St Eustatius in August,
1771.
A fuller advertisement in NovemberSCAG listed her cargo from London: “PHILIP HAWKINS, & CO: At their Warehouse in Tradd Street, Have received in the Magna Charta, Capt. Maitland. A Large Supply of Goods, among which are a great Variety of Printed Callicoes and Cottons, red and blue Furniture Cottons at 23s 6d the Yard, very fine and handsome light and dark ground Chients Furoirbie, ditto with Trimmings to suit, low priced and fine printed Handkerchiefs, plain, striped and flowered Jackonet Muslins; Suits of worked Muslins very low, and some very fine and rich; Suits of worked Lawns, 8-8 and 6-4 plain and flowered Lawns, loom Quiltings, Irish Linens and Sheetings, Counterpaines, Checks, common and Flanders Bed Ticks, Bed Bunts and Linen Drapery in general. A Large Assortment of yarn, worsted, cotton thread and silk Hose, some of each very larges Sizes; very fine worsted and silk Breeckes Pieces, Men's and Boy's ready-made Drab, Fustian, Bearskin and Cloth Suits; Sourtouts, Cloaks, Cardinals, and other Slops; Camblets, Calimencoes, Whitnies, Bath Coating and Petticoating; Bed Blankets, some of an extra Quality, a few Pieces of fashionable Broad Cloths, figured Silks, Taffeties and Georgeoons. All bought on the best trems, and will be sold at their usual very low Prices, especially when a Quantity is taken, and for Cash. Also a great Choice of Fire-Grates and Dogs, Fenders, Sets of Shovel, Tongs and Poker. One elegant Brass Hearth, and Surveyors Instruments, some of the very best Sort ever Imported; Ravens Duck, Bridport, East-Coker, London and Russia Sail Suck, with Sail and best three strand Seine Twine. N.B. A few Bales of Bristol and London DUFFILS to be sold at Nine for One”
Jan 1772-Jan 1773 (voyage 2)
Magna Charter appears in the Charleston press as intending to depart for London from early October and an advertisement in November shows: “For London (to sail with the first of the Crop) the Ship, Magna Charta, Richard Maitland, master, For freight or passage (having excellent accommodation) apply to the master or James Laurens.” She left Charleston 8th January 1772 for Cowes, carrying 110 barrels and ten half barrels of rice which had been drawn from the crop at Mepkin and which was shipped on HL's own account and risk[60]. Richard sold 2 cables for Laurens new ship, Friendship just before sailing[61], which sailed in March with a large crop of Laurens’s rice. Magna Charta arrived in Cowes/Gosport from S. Carolina 9th March 1772LL, and departed for Amsterdam from Portsmouth 5 April, and returning to Gravesend 3rd June; Henry Laurens letters mention trade with Stettin, so the Dutch diversion was probably on his behalf.
What was the Polly & Nancy, Maitland, from S. Carolina at Gravesend, 3/3/1772?? Was this Richard’s son Charles??
Cargo would seem to have been Deer skins & Rice, market not good![62]
For the return voyage to Charleston HL describes[63] a “Garden Engine” which he
buys for brother James, and decides on one made by John Bristow[64] in Ratcliffe Highway “&
at last have agreed for one with Mr. Bristow for 18 Guineas on Wheels & 3
Guineas for Pipes to discount 2/2 per Cent & have desired Capt. Maitland
to take it on board with as little formality of expence as possible. The smaller
size are 12 Guineas but the difference of execution is worth twice the
difference of the cost. This will answer all the purposes of a Garden Engine.
It is very little heavier, may be carried into a House in case of Fire as well
as the smaller, the difference in width being but a few Inches. It discharges
50 Gallons Water in a Minute at full 90 feet.”...
TO JOHN BRISTOW[65]
“Mr. Laurens presents his compliments to Mr. Bristow & desires him to make one of the very best second Garden Engines to go upon Wheels & to add to it the necessary Leather hose besides the ordinary Suction Pipe, to be ready for putting on board the Ship Magna Charta, Richard Maitland, Master for South Carolina about the 20th or 25 of September, to be painted on some convenient part James Laurens, 1772, in neat small capitals & Figures. As this Engine is to go into a Climate where all Wood Work is severely tried by the heat of the Sun & where Iron rusts & Leather dries & perishes very fast, Mr. Laurens recommends that every Article should be of the best particularly the Wood well seasoned & he hopes that Mr. Bristow will hereafter find a benefit from complying with his request.
Capt. Maitland will call for the Engine when he can
receive it on board. A covering of Matts to keep out the dust will be
sufficient. If Mr. Laurens is in Town he will pay the amount of the Engine,
& upon delivery thereof. If he is not, Mr. Bristow will be pleased to call
on Mr. Richard Grub, Merchant in George Yard, & he will pay such amount on
Account of Mr. James Laurens, Charles Town, So. Carolina. In either case the
usual discount for ready Money will be expected.”
In addition to the Engine, Magna Charta was carrying negro cloth and
blankets, another letter refers to some seeds and rhubarb brought over (in January
1773) from England. HL was expecting her to leave late September 1772, but he
then found she was not due out until 15 October – Richard Maitland’s time
keeping again?
Magna Charta finally left Gravesend for S. Carolina 4th November
1772, remained in the Downs (a SW wind blows hard), and departed from Cowes 14th
NovemberLL&NA. She was arriving in Charleston 10 January 1773 with
Charles Ogilvie,.
“Last Sunday landed from on board the Ship Magna Charta,
Captain Maitland, from London, the following passengers: vz. Mr Charles
Ogilvie, of London, Mr Nathaniel Hall, of Georgia, Mr Andrew Robertson, Mr
Edward Rutledge (from the Temple), Mr James McCall, Mr Peter le Poole, Mr Henry
Michie, and Master Jacob Shubrick, of this Place.”[66] Edward Rutledge, a barrister
was to become a judge, Peter LePooleHL536 left ship some leagues
from the Barr, also some seeds for HL.
The report of her arrival was in Lloyds List for the 19th February,
giving a clue about the Atlantic winds that season: it was taking roughly twice
as long westbound as eastbound!
While in port in England, HL was in communication with RM over a couple of
matters:
A further letter[67]
from HL to RG which, inter alia, passes a message to RM to sell a Brigantine
for £500-700. Presumably this to be done while RM was in port in London. HL
then writes direct to RM about selling “the unfortunate Brigantine has been
intented for my Interest, but I have been so cruelly & ungratefully
requited for acts of kindness in that particular concern from first to last,
that I am desirous of putting her out of my sight & out of my mind, &
would rather sell her for £500 & give something more for another Vessel
than to keep her. Therefore I entreat you continue your endeavours to sell her
for this ensuing Week, & in the mean time you may look round you & see
for a proper Master & be further able to determine if such a freight as you
talk of may be expected, as a dernier resort in case you should be disappointed
in a Sale & you shall hear from me on Wednesday where to direct for me[68].”
March 1773-Oct 1773 Voyage 3
Richard’s next round trip from Charleston to London was advertised in the press from 28th January 1773SCG: “For London the Ship, Magna Charta, Richard Maitland, master, who will clear out on or before the 20th of February next. For freight or passage apply to the Captain or Hawkins Petrie & Co. Who request those that intend to favour the above vessel with Freight, to ship as early as possible.”
15th February 1773SCG: “The Ship Magna Charta, Captain Richard Maitland, for London, is near loaded, and will be cleared out on Thursday or Friday next at farthest, which those who have INDICO to ship, will please to notice.”
P586 Charles Town, 15 February 1773 – James Laurens wrote “ The Magna Charta will be Loaded & Cleared this Week & I hope will carry near 200 Casks Indigo. As Le Pool declin'd Shipping any Rice on your Account you have no other risk but your part the Vessel, & Mr. Appleby's hogshead Rum”. From another letter, she had about 120 barrels of Laurens rice HLV8P536.
8th March 1773SCG: “Price of Indico best sort
25/- to 27/6 per lb... 92,817 lbs on board the Magna Charta, Captain Richard
Maitland, for London, who also carries a Box of RAW SILK, the Produce of this
Province.”
A letter from Henry Laurens gives the value of the rum: 108 gals as £124/13
with shipping £6/12.
She sailed from Charleston 14th March 1773SCG
for London in company with the Live Oak, Lunberry, the latter for BristolLL16/4,
and arrived in Gravesend 19/4/1773LL&NA. Some 4 months later,
she again sailed from Gravesend for S. Carolina 7th August 1773, passing
the Downs on the 12th, carrying letters from HL to brother James
Laurens[69].
She returned to Charleston after the usual 8 weeks or so:
11th Oct 1773SCG: “Last Friday arrived off this Bar, the Ship Magna
Charta, Capt Maitland, from London, having on board the following passengers,
Vz. Robert H. Halliday, esq, appointed Collector of the Port, and his Son, Mr
McCulloch, Deputy Collector, - Valentine, Lt Hayter, and Ensign Woolls, both to
the 145h Regiment, now at St Augustine.”[70]
18th October 1773SCG: The Easterly Winds that have prevailed for more than a week, and still continue, have prevented the Magna Charta, Capt Maitland, from London, coming in, although two Passengers came to Town in a Pilot boat. News
25th October 1773SCG: “Robert H. Halliday esq,
and the rest of the passengers that came in Capt. Maitland's ship from London,
landed her last Friday evening. The ship came in the next day” News
The value of the merchandise for Samuel Chollet was £342/9/1 sterling (SM
claim).
27th December, 1773SCG Hawkins, Petrie & Co. Advertised the cargos for sale:
Have imported in the Liberty, Capt Lasley, and the Magna Charta, Capt Maitland,
A large Assortment of Goods,
Amongst which are...Cloth, Teas, household goods – see below for full copy.
"Hawkins Petrie cargo - Adverts ; Hawkins, Petrie &
Co. - Have imported in the Liberty, Capt Lasley, and the Magna Charta, Capt
Maitland, - A large Assortment of Goods, - Amongst which are Flannels, Duffils,
coloured Plains, Pennissones and long Ells for House Negroes, Worsted Webs and
Breeches Pieces of the very best sort; Yarn, Worked, Cotton, and Silk Hose,
some of the latter of the Newest Fashion; Scarlet Cloaks and cardinals, from
the lowest to the highest Prices; Camblet Cloaks, Cloth Cloaks and great Coats.
Surtouts, and low priced Suits of Cloaths of all Sizes, Jackets, Trowsers, and
Slops of all Sorts; Stuff and Silk Petticats, List, Scotch, and Wilton
Carpeting, rich Table and Bed-side ditto; printed Goods for Winter Wear,
Furniture Callicoes and Cottons, with Trimmings; Suits of worked Muslins, and
Muslins of every Kind; Suits of worked Lawn, Lawns, Cambricks, and Irish Linens
in general; a few Pieces of English and India Damask. - A fresh Supply of mourning
Articles; complete Sets of Table and Tea China, Jars and Breakers, and most
other Articles of China Ware. - Loaf Sugar; Hyson, Green and Bohea TEAS, a
Quantity of the latter, and also black pepper, to sell very low by Wholesale,
for ready Money; Brass Hearths, Brass and Princes Metal Grates and Fire Dogs,
with Furniture to suit; some of these are the most elegant they have yet
imported, and the greatest Variety they have ever had; Brass-Head Dogs, Fenders
of all Sorts, Sets of Shovel Tongs and Pokers, Bellows, Footmen, Copper and
Iron Tea Kettles, of the best sort; a complete set of pewter Dishes and Plates,
of an extra Quality, and the Make of the newest Fashion, with the Article of
Pewter in general; Brodport and East Coker Sail Duck, with best Sail and Seine
Twine, Window Glass, Paints, Nails, Hinges and Bolts of all sorts, with every
building Article, all Sorts of Carpenters Tools of the best Make, Smiths
Bellows, anvils, Vises, &c. Hoes, Spades, axes, and all Plantation Tools,
Saddlers Tools and Saddlery, among which are some very neat Saddles, a few
plated and polished Belts and Stirrups, of the newest Make, with a variety of
Whips of the best Sort. - These, with the Goods received by several of the late
Vessels, make their Assortment very large, especially of capital Articles,
which they will sell on very low Terms, with a much greater Allowance, for
ready Money, and to those who sell again, than is commonly made, or than they
have hitherto allowed. - Besides the Articles above-mentioned, they have in the
Magna Charta, a large values in French and India Goods, viz. Silks, Lawes,
Cambricks, Chintz, Ginghams, Counterpains, &c. which have been bought, and
will be sold much under their value, for ready money."
The Tea Party - Jan 1774-June 1774
This voyage was Richard Maitland’s last to Charleston, and his arrival was
marked by his own “Tea Party” when he had to flee for his life onto a British
war ship – see later in this paper. There was talk of pamphlets with the tea,
but some confusion if they were ever on the ship (HL 25 May). Several SCG
entries refer to this arrival and subsequent problems.
Magna Charta was Entered out for London, 22nd November, 1773SCG,
remained windbound 27th December, finally sailing 7 January 1774 for London[71]. She arrived in the Downs
from S. Carolina 13th February, 1774, moving up to Gravesend on the 18thLL.
After some delays which frustrated Henry Laurens, Magna
Charta finally left London, passing Gravesend for S. Carolina 20th
April, 1774. Westerly winds meant that she took 2 attempts to leave Deal,
finally leaving the anchorage about the 26th. On board she had passengers Janet
Belton, 20, spinster, London & Tobiah Blackett, 25, Spinster, London[72].
HL letters referHLV9P279: 15/2/1774: … Rice Sunk to 55/. I think it
must go down a good deal lower. Maitland is arrived with 700 Barrels for
carriage of which we Sha'n't receive a penny.… (written from London); in this
letter he also comments on the numbers of Revenue Officers in the Colonies.
Other letters continue the worry about the price of rice and freight this
period. Implication that the “freight” was the value of the landed rice.
3rd March 1774, letter re character of RM & RG:”...The Magna Charta is to be dispatched for Charles Town immediately, as Mr. Grubb assures me. If I could depend upon her Sailing hence even in all this Month I would give my sentiments concerning proper provision to be made for Loading your part & mine. But our friend & the Captain are good natured people who propose, or accede to, a Plan, with designs of Executing it, but their good Nature, unaided by proper diligence & fortitude, leads them to accept new proposals from Day to Day, which militate against their first Resolutions & their "Immediate," becomes Time Uncertain. This I fear will be the Case in the present attempt. Therefore I shall proceed no farther than barely saying, I am still of opinion that 50/ per hundred for Rice is as high as we ought to give for Shipping on our own Account, which according to present appearances will not leave a Freight sufficient to keep a Vessel out of debt.....”
HL writes in other letters of the same date about cargo etc to Hawkins Petrie, mostly concerning cloths.
A letter by Henry Laurens of 13 April 1774, to his brother James shows that Henry Laurens was becoming increasingly frustrated about RM & RG’s performance: “...According to my apprehensions early in March So it has happened the Magna Charta is still in the Thames, & as I am informed will not leave the River these three or four days. I have done with her as an Owner. Messrs. Bourdieu & Chollet having expressed a desire to put her upon another Trade & made an offer to buy or Sell at the Rate of £1,800 for the whole Vessel. I have accepted of £225 for my 1/8th part. If you have laid in Store any Rice for loading that part on my Account, Sell it to the best advantage...[73]” Bordieu was one of the registered owners, & Chollet may have been the 8th member.
A letter from Henry from Westminster to his brother
James Laurens mentions part of the cargo “...I have put on board the Magna
Charta four Casks of the very finest bottled porter (as Parker & Son assure
me) containing 24 dozen included in H., P. & Cos Bill of Loading. Please to
accept two Casks & order two to Mr. Gervais, & let me know if tis
really good that I may be governed in my next purchase. Two Cheshere Cheeses I
likewise Send marked J Laurens & JLGervais”.
Magna Charta arrived in Charleston from London 26 June 1774 with a few
chests of tea, of which Richard Maitland claimed he was unaware, but the
Gazette, June 27, 1774, did not mention that Captain Maitland had brought any
pamphlets[74],
(Considerations on certain Political Transactions in So. Carolina & the
Answer to it. HLV9P453) also carried were 2 bales of white plain[75]. The tea caused major
problems, following the tea parties in Boston & Philadelphia. It was
unfortunate that neither James nor Henry Laurens (James’s letter the following
day showed some sympathy for Richard) were present at the time, and one would
suspect the other merchants with whom Richard had traded for a number of years
failed to back him up.
This incident contributed towards Richard’s losses incurred by the war in
that he appears to have been unable to collect the profits from the previous
voyage, and had some trouble landing the cargo from this one.
According to Sarah Maitland’s memorial to the Loyalist
Claims, she had “One whole and two half chests of tea, valued at £70 sterling,
were on board, having been shipped by Neufville & Rolleston and Messrs.
Robert Steel & Co. of Tokenhouse Yard, London, to James Wakefield and
William Donaldson, Charleston merchants”. The merchandise for Chollet was
valued at £334/18/6
A press reports summarises the event:
“Captain Maitland of the Magna Charta, of Charles Town, South Carolina, who
so narrowly escaped tarring and feathering, had but eight chests of tea on
board, and when he found how disagreeable the landing of it would be to the
leading men of the town, and that be should be in danger of going home empty,
though a cargo was ready to be put on board him directly, be agreed not to land
it, and they contented he should be allowed to take the homeward cargo on
board. Thus far matters appeared amicably ruled, but the unfortunate captain
found that he was still just where he was; neither his friends advice, nor his
own concessions, contributed any way to his advantage, nor could he even take
the goods on board that were promised him in consequence of them, as the
Customhouse could neither clear his ship inwards nor enter her outwards, while
any goods remained on board. In this dilemma, the captain again had recourse to
his friends, when various advices were given him, but nothing decisive resolved
on; the consequence was that the tea was landed, and put into the King's
warehouse, as uncleared goods. This was not discovered till the ship was near
laden, and ready to proceed on her voyage home; when the mob arose, and went on
board with their tar, feathers, &c. to execute vengeance on the captain, but
he having information of it, got on board the man of war, (HMS Glasgow, Capt
Maltby) where he was safe; and the captain of the man of war sent hands on
board Captain Maitland's ship to bring her under the stern of the man of war,
where she might remain safe till she proceeded on her voyage.” (an unknown
newspaper extract). Another source has him seeking refuge on HMS Britannia,
although this is probably incorrect[76].
James Laurens described the incident to Henry in a letter of 22nd
July, 1774, referring to the incident the day before: HLV9P524
“...We have just had a disagreeable Instance of a rash & Violent attempt in
this town of a great body of People or Mob, to take Capt. Maitland out of his
Ship with Intent to tar & feather him & tis generally thought had he
fallen into their hands it would have cost his Life. The Populace had been in
great agitation for several day on account of three half Chests of Tea Imported
per the Magna Charta for two houses here who refus'd to receive or have
anything to do with it. After laying 20 days on hand, the tea was seiz'd by
the Collector of his Majesty's Customs & Convey'd to the King's Warehouse.
Maitland was charg'd with a breach of Promise made to the Committee (General
Committee of Ninety-nine, appointed on July 8, 1774) at his first arrival
that the Tea should never be landed, that he would destroy it with his own
hands & so forth, & of having on various occasions spoken
disrespectfully of this Place & its inhabitants especially of the folks
call'd Patriots & their Measures. Whether these charges are just I really
cannot tell, tho' I am apt to fear he has been rather Imprudent in letting his
tongue run. Be that as it will, the whole Committee as well as the Populace
were greatly incens'd against him, & five of the Members were requested to
go to every Merchant in town & require a Promise that they would never
Export any Goods from hence, & give orders to their Correspondents in
England to ship no goods from thence, in any Vessel commanded by Capt.
Maitland. I was call'd upon in course (Mr. Hawkins being absent from the
Province) by the Gentlemen, to whom I answer'd that H.P. & Co. had already
wrote to their Correspondents forbidding them to ship them any more goods upon
any account whatever, as I had determined to withdraw from business. Therefore
there was no Probability of their giving offence by Importing per Maitland. But
if I was requir'd to write particularly against Capt. Maitland, I could
not in honour & Conscience do it, as It did not appear to me that he
offended wilfully & premeditately but rather by accident &
Inadvertency, because he had declar'd to me that he knew not of the tea being
on board his Ship till he came to Examine his Cocket after clearing at
Gravesend, the truth of which I could not doubt because No Man in his Senses
would risk the displeasure of a Whole Community where he had receiv'd much
Civility without some View of Emolument wherein the present Case he could
receive no benefit to himself or his Owners, save the poor trifle of a few
Shillings freight. That I was confirm'd further of his Ignorance of the tea
being shipp'd by his having brought none on his own Account, as he had
heretofore usually done, for fear of giving offence, & for these reasons I
could not think him Criminal nor could I think it consistent with my honour to
proscribe a Man who had serv'd me with fidelity. The Gentlemen were pleas'd to
say my reasons were good, but I know they are very unpopular & as every
Merchant as I am Inform'd, save one or two acquiesc'd in their request I expect
to meet with Censure from the Unthinking Part. Indeed I am more & more
Convinc'd that the Man who will live godly in Christ Jesus, or in other terms,
who is obstinately resolv'd never to wound his Conscience to procure the favour
or escape the frowns of Men, especially in such times as these, must expect
often to meet with unjust reproach, if not severe persecution. I am clear in
Opinion that Maitland was not justly blameable for bringing the tea. If
he made rash promises & broke them, or rattled disrespectfully of some
folks, I blame him greatly for his Imprudence & despise such behaviour, but
I cannot approve of such Inhumane resentment for a Crime (if it is one) that we
are the most subject to of any people in the World. If Every Man thinks himself
at liberty to abuse King, Lords, & Commons, & all who dissent from our
System, why should a poor Old Greyheaded Ratling Captain be persecuted
with such uncommon Severity for a few unguarded Expressions, if he has dropt
such. I love Liberty, Liberty of sentiment. Liberty of Speech, but not so as to
Covet it all to myself. I would have others Enjoy it as freely as I do, &
by Suppressing it they may make Hypocrites but not Converts. After all, I have
just reason to hope & believe that the most judicious & Moderate part
of our Community disapprove of these outrageous measures, tho’ I can say
nothing with certainty of the humors of the People as my poor state of health
confines me at home.”
Footnote in original:
As Maitland had been in port during the previous December, he was aware of the
attitudes of the local inhabitants with reference to the importation of tea.
Thus the Charlestonians were surprised that he had brought three chests of tea
with him on this voyage. When Wakefield and Donaldson were summoned before the
General Committee, they appeared and promised not to receive the tea,
explaining that the arrival of the tea was unexpected, the result of filling an
old order of eighteen months standing. Captain Maitland himself explained that
he did not know the tea was aboard until after he had sailed and was looking
over his cockets. He promised neither to land the tea nor to pay the duty. If
there was no other way to solve the problem, he himself would throw the tea
overboard. Yet on the morning of July 19 the chairman (Charles Pinckney) of the
"new General Committee" was informed that the tea had not been
destroyed and in fact had been seized by the collector of customs and stored
with the East India Co. tea. Maitland, summoned again before the General Committee,
explained that at the time of his first statement he had expected to sail for
New York, but those plans had been altered. He now promised to burn the tea on
the wharf in the presence of the General Committee. On the 19th when the
members of the General Committee assembled to see the tea destroyed, it was
discovered that the tea could not be obtained from the collector except by
violence or by paying the duty. Therefore a sub-committee of five persons was
appointed to go among the merchants and make sure no one shipped any goods on
Maitland's vessel. The people were incensed. A movement against Maitland was
soon "confirmed by the bells of the Great Church being muffled and the
Dead peal being rung to assemble the Mob." They ran from all quarters of
the town to the Exchange, which was the place of rendezvous, but Maitland
escaped to HMS Glasgow in the harbor. Captain Maltby of the Glasgow sent
sailors to cut Magna Charta from her wharf and brought the bells of the Great
Church being muffled and the Dead peal being rung to assemble the Mob."
They ran from all quarters of the town to the Exchange, which was the place of
rendezvous, but Maitland escaped to HMS Glasgow in the harbor. Captain Maltby
of the Glasgow sent sailors to cut Magna Charta from her wharf and brought her
out into Rebellion Road where she remained until she sailed for London on Aug.
4. The account in the Memorial of Sarah Maitland which contains a sworn
statement, dated Oct. 12, 1774, at Guildhall, by the chief mate and the second
mate, agrees in broad outlines with the account which appeared in the Gazette,
July 25, 1774. Memorial of Sarah Maitland, March 25, 1784, AO 13/133, Public
Record Office, London. The episode was fully reported in the London Chronicle,
Sept. 1-3, 1774, and the Public Advertiser, Sept. 3, 1774.
A number of Laurens letters were carried on this voyage,
some making confirmatory remarks about departure and arrivals.
TO JOHN PETRIE
Westminster, 7th September 1774
Henry Laurens, writing in September to Petrie, sad “Poor Man, I am Sorry he has
offended a Town which has been very friendly to him for many Years.” Indicating
that all feelings between Henry & Richard had not died.
16/9/1774: V9/P554 : ref Maitland expected daily UK 16/9/1774 from Charleston.
HL felt very deeply for his brother James caught between the two extremes in
the affair of Captain Maitland and the tea.
P571 Refers to Captain Maitland sending book 22/9/1774
Aug 1774 – Sept 1774
At all events, Richard Maitland escaped unharmed and prepared to sail for England as advertised on 8th July, 1774: “For London The Ship Magna Charta Richard Maitland Master, Her cargo of Rice is already engaged, and she will sail on or before the 15th July instant; For Freight of Indigo or for passage, apply Captain Maitland, Hawkins Petrie & Co General”. Lady Leigh (wife of Egerton Leigh, Attorney General for S Carolina) and the eldest daughter sailed for London in the Magna Charta, Richard Maitland. Rather unusually for Richard, he sailed pretty much on time, probably as he was prevented from taking any cargo: he was windbound from 15th July, finally sailing on 4th August 1774[77] with letters from HL, arriving at Gravesend 18th September, 1774LL.
This was Richard Maitland’s last voyage to Charleston.
20 September, 1774, HL wrote that he felt very deeply for his brother James
caught between the two extremes in the affair of Captain Maitland and the tea[78].
Henry Laurens papers Vol 9 finish here 12/12/1774, and the direct commercial
connection with the Laurens’s and Richard Maitland, although James held onto
his share for a little longer.
A long set of correspondence in the HL papers about the
problems between Maitland & Laurens appears later.
The various press and Lloyds entries have varying spelling, but I have
standardised on the modern (spell checker) Philippa. The last entry in Lloyds
At some stage after returning from Charleston in September 1774, Magna
Charta was renamed Philippa, probably as she was moved to London as her port of
registry with the loss of the American partners. There is no record of this, but
she was referred to be “of London” in the papers relating to the incident.
The Gunpowder Incident papers are in Section
5
Under her new name, she cleared out from London 20/4/1775 for GeorgiaNA
and left Gravesend to Georgia 28/4/1775, remaining in the Downes on the 1st
with NW winds, but sailed on the 2nd as the wind went round to the
EastLL. She was “loaded with sundry goods in the River Thames for
different persons in the provinces of Georgia and East Florida, amongst which
goods were gunpowder, arms, and lead, shipped by licence from His Majesty or
the officers acting under his authority.”
On arrival off Tybee Island, Georgia, Philippa was subject to action by the
rebels who took the gunpowder in her cargo. This incident is recounted more
fully in a later section. The rebels would have known Richard as one of them
was James Black, a shipbuilder of Beaufort, South Carolina, who had recently
built the Atlantic for the Maitlands. His descendant, Charles still lives in
the Charleston area. The rebels were led by Ebenezer Smith Platt: he was later
arrested in Port Royal by the navy and identified by Richard Maitland. Platt
was transported in chains to London where he was accused of High Treason,
although it never came to trial. However, there is a set of papers to do with
the case, including witness statements in the National Archives. Some of this
material is repeated in Richard’s wife Sarah’s Loyalist Claim made in 1784
after the end of the War.
A letter from Charlestown, South Carolina, dated July 22, says, "The
Georgia post this day informs us, our people have extorted from the ship Magna
Charta, Maitland, all her gunpowder, arms ammunition, etc, which is no small
quantity, I assure you; they were sent to Georgia for the use of our domestic
enemies"NA; a Philadelphia paper, July 20: “Capt Maitland, from
London, arrived lately at Georgia, and had on board 13000 weight of powder; the
inhabitants boarded her, and took all the powder into their possession”NA.
These events in Savanna, and the earlier one in Charleston, left Richard
Maitland very much out of pocket. He found himself in Georgia with little idea
what to do next; he was apparently still in contact with the Laurens’s, and
wrote to Henry while in Savanna, (bearing in mind he was effectively banned
from Charleston):
Savannah, July 28,1775, From RM to HL, (HLV10 P250)
I cannt- help letting my friends Know in What part of the world I am, and in particular, you, who I Still flatter my Self that I have not Intirely forfitted all yr- Esteem, I am given to understand by Some gentlemen from yr place that I have Seen here, that prejudice Still Subsists in the breasts of some of yr- people, but I freely forgive them and can with a Clear Conciance Say that I never Intentionalv nor meaningly Transacted any one artickle to the prejudice of yr province, if matters has been MissConstrued or aplyd-to my prejudice its my misfortune but as I have Said before I have have not the least Refflection_ in my mind that I ever meant Prejudice to the province of So Carolina,— I would beg Sr- that you Would for a moment Consider what I Sufferd Last year at Charlestown,1 and the treatment I have met with here, a great part of my Cargo Taken from me by force and my Bills Ladeing Still laying out against me and in a part where I Cannt- Seek redress, my and my Bussiness at a Stand, and then Consider whether I have not Sufferd Equaly with the Americans, however whether they bear me Mallice or not, I freely forgive them, and the only Shagrine I have is that I am Deprivd of Seeing many Respectable aquaint that I honnr & Esteem, for there, a Liveing to be got every where, I am glad that I Shall have the pleasure of Seeing yr good family on my Return to England, as also yr good Brother & Mrs- Laurens I would taken the liberty of presenting you with an Artickle or two that, I am Sure you must be in want of in the table way, but Could not Tell how to Convey it if the traid is open from this province to yre- please Let me Know & Shall forward them, I am at a great Loss What to do with my Ship, am afraid I Shall be too late at N° Carolina and if I take lumbar to the Wt- Inds- their Crops are Short also that I Cannt have any Chance of a freight from thence, and to Return here Again for a Cargo of Rice, if the Continental Congrase Should Stop the Exportation of Rice this Season I then Shall Still be at a greater Loss, what I would Beg of yu Sr is a few lines by way of advice for the future Destination of my Ship yr-opinion I Should Greatly Depend on, as I am an Intire Stranger here, if I Load Lumbar here and had my wish, it would be to See my freinds i[n] Charlestown— Excuse this Trouble and Accept of the good wishes of Dr Sr
yr- Greatfull & most obdt Hle- Servt Richd Maitland
An affidavit by Richard Maitland of 21st September 1775[79] indicates him to have been
still in Savanna, but Lloyd’s Lists and the Newspapers make no mention of
Philippa until her arrival in England in November 1776. It may be that she
remained in the Americas for this time, trading up and down the coast. There is
some indication that she was operating on military duties in this period,
probably transporting troops and stores during the build up of the War in
America.
Reading one account of the capture of Ebenezer Smith Platt shows that
Richard Maitland was in Jamaica for about 8 weeks, where Platt was also,
between January & March 1776[80],
so he probably went direct from Savanna to Port Royal. Another note in Sarah
Maitland’s claim puts him in Kingston, December 1775. He was reported loading
with sugar in Port Royal by Admiral Gayton in Port Royal, 30th March
1776, when he was able to identify Platt, by then a captive on HMS Antelope. As
the first report of him in England again was not until Philippa arrived at Gravesend
from Jamaica, 21st November 1776LL, Richard Maitland may
have made several trips up to the Americas.
The papers relating to Platt, the gunpowder and his treason show that “The
Philippa, Maitland in the River, 25/12/1776” and “Philippa in the Thames
10/1/1777, Richard Scriven, master & commander (re ESP 928-933)”. Richard
Scriven must have been a temporary master & commander while she was in
port: Richard Maitland was evidently in London at the time, but may well have
been ill at the time, as he wrote on the 30th January 1777: “I now
Inform you that I Now am, thank god, able to go out about Business, and if I am
to appear Against that wretch Platt, please to signify to me the Time. But
would wish for reasons you may guess that I Could be served with an other
Summons, if it can be done with Propriety; Scriven is not yet Come out of the
County, Burnett is out on an other Ship to which I Can Direct your So that
you’l please to give me a days notice that I may not be other wise Engaged-
I am Sir your most obdt humble Servant
Richd Maitland, (998)”
His address in this letter, Broad Street St Georges in the East, was in the
Shadwell area; for business contacts, “he could be found in the Carolina Coffee
House”.
Richard Maitland’s last recorded voyage in the Philippa left the Downs via
Portsmouth to Cadiz, under a Letter of Marque, 28th May 1777, passing
Portsmouth 30 May[81].
She would have been at Cadiz about the 3rd week in June (the report
in Lloyd’s List was dated 11th July); she probably then went on to
Jamaica, perhaps arriving there late July[82].
The last press mention of her with Richard Maitland in command was in Lloyds
arriving in New York from Cadiz about mid to late October 1777[83]. Sarah Maitland’s Loyalist
Claim says he went to Jamaica in 1777 and then back to England before going on
to New York, although there is no press mention of this. In any event, he was
back in New York by spring 1778 as a transport.
The following letter reveals what Richard Maitland was up to:
New York 10th April 1778[84]
Captain Richard Maitland
of the Ship Philippa.
The Ship Philippa, being in Government Service, you will follow such Orders
as you may receive from the pro per Agents. Inclosed is a Letter to my Friend
at Philadelphia[85]
which deliver as soon as you can, make my respects to Mr Gallway, His Majesty’s
Superintendent at the Custom House, let him know that the little Salt[86] you have in, was allowed
by the Commissary, who took you into the Service to remain on board as Ballast,
as you had a Licence for it. He will tell you if you can land it, if you find
it can be sold, if it cannot be landed or sold, get leave still to keep it as Ballast.
Shew your Licence and let Mr Galloway know you are an Armed Ship. I hope you’l
get leave to land it and sell it. You know it will not sell here. And no
getting stores to put it in.
We expect you’l be continued in the Service of the Ordinance, or taken into the Transport Service, for which we have wrote to several Friends We wish you safe here.
Your most humble servants
Hugh & Alen Wallace
(was one of these the master in 1781?).
The last mention of Philippa in Richard Maitland’s time was in a book,
“Fusiliers: The Saga of a British Redcoat Regiment in the American Revolution.By
Mark Urban”.[87]
This probably from the Isis muster records.
Here, there is a reference in a description of the battle of Rhode Island
to the Philippa. It seems as though she left New York about 1 August, 1778 with
Lord Howe’s fleet for Newport Rhode Island. Philippa would have been a support
ship, maybe with stores and extra troops: she is mentioned as being the source
of extra crew for the Isis, a large Frigate, on or around 9 August, 1778.
The newspapers and Lloyds List have no more entries of Philippa’s sailings
under Richard Maitland’s command. It seems likely that he remained in the New
World. There is a note on Lloyds List that Philippa was taken by an American
privateer in 1781 but was subsequently lost. She was on a voyage from Oporto,
Portugal to New York, LL 23/2/1781 with Wallace as master. On a previous
voyage, she arrived in New York, reported LL 30/6/1780, Wallace, from Oporto.
The May 1777 voyage was made under a Letter of Marque, allowing carriage
of weapons, which upset James Laurens who it would appear still had an interest
in the vessel. At this time, there was a real danger from American Privateers
preying on merchant ships. There is no indication that Maitland and the
Philippa was equipped with offensive guns, although 14 guns and 35 men was
considerably more than earlier Letters seemed to carry. It may be that he was
expecting to be able to take some offensive action against the rebels in the
northern states. Letters from James Laurens in England June 1777 refer to
Richard Maitland & letters of marquee: he was upset about this!
Letter of Marque (extract):
She is .....Gally built with a Figure Head has three masts, that the ship is
employed in Trade, and she goes in Ballast to Cadiz and there takes in a Cargo
of Wines – Salt and other Goods for the use of his Majesty’s Army and Navy at
New York – ..., that she carries fourteen carriage guns carrying shot of four
pounds weight no cahorns and six swivel guns thirty five men, twenty stands of
small arms, twenty cutlasses, fifteen barrels of powder – thirty rounds of shot
and about two hundred weight of small shot, that ..she.. is victualled for
eight months, has two shuits of sails five anchors three cables and about one
thousand Weight of Spare cordage, .... belonging to the Port of London and that
she is bound on a voyage to Cadiz and thence to New York and the West Indies
and back to London....and that James Bourdieu and Samuel Chollet, David Chollet
John Nutt merchants of London and Richard Maitland are the owners.
Some press reports of this event:
NB Phillipa previously called the Magna Carta.
http://www.merchantnetworks.com.au/ships/shipstimeline1.htm
The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies By David Lee Russell Page 46:
When tea arrived in Charles Town harbour aboard the British ship “Magna Carta”
in late June (1774), Captain Richard Maitland told local officials that
he would return the tea to England. But on rumours that Maitland planned to
sell the tea anyway, angry and unemployed men in the port boarded the ship as
Captain Maitland quickly exited to take refuge aboard the British man-of-war
Britannia. In November the Britannia, which carried consigned tea, landed. The
Charles Town General Committee ordered the merchants to dump the tea in the
Cooper River to avoid mob violence, which they accomplished. Henry Laurens of
Charles Town said these new acts were simply the first of perhaps many laws to
“mandate which Ministers Shall think proper for keeping us in Subjection to the
task master who Shall be put over is.”
Laboratory for Liberty: The South Carolina Legislative Committee System,
1719-1776
Book by George Edward Frakes; University Press of Kentucky, 1970. 201 pgs.
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=98510546
CHAPTER VIII
Revolutionary Committee Activity, 1774-1776
Extract from p118 (119 not available)
In December, 1773, South Carolinians' concern over British policy shifted from
New England to Charles Town Harbor. The problem was the arrival of the ship London
carrying a load of East Indian tea. The tea ship docked at Charles Town at a
time when South Carolinians and their fellow colonists were protesting against
the Tea Act taxes. The radicals in South Carolina politics, led by Christopher
Gadsden, took advantage of the hostile climate of public opinion toward royal
officials. Four days after the London arrived, the South Carolina radical
leaders called a general meeting of all citizens at the Great Hall of the
Exchange Building to discuss the constitutional issues.
A meeting at the Exchange Building was called on December 3 because 257 chests
of East India Company tea had arrived in Charles Town two days before in
Captain Alexander Curling’s ship, the London. George Gabriel Powell was elected
chairman of the meeting, and it became apparent in the ensuing debate that most
of the citizens present favored absolute non-importation of teas subject to
tax. The East India Company consignees, who were present at the meeting,
received the thanks and applause of the assembly when they promised not to
accept the tea.
General Evening Post September 15, 1774
(Much of the following was also in Saturday 10 September
1774, The Ipswich Journal)
Charles-Town, July 25. Last Tuesday morning the general committee met, in
consequence of their adjournment the day before, to see Captain Maitland
destroy some tea that had been landed the preceding day: when, upon
reconsidering the matter, and that it could not be got out of the collector's
custody, without violence or paying the duty, both which the committee were
equally disposed to prevent, it was agreed, that the said tea should remain as
a seizure, not to be sold in this colony, unless the duty thereon should be
repealed. The populace being much enraged in not seeing Capt. Maitland burn the
tea, it was impossible to prevent their going in quest of him. He, however,
eluded their search, by slipping away, and taking refuge on board HMS the
Glasgow, in Rebellion road, whither his ship soon followed him. Capt. Urquart,
having brought five chests of tea, upon being informed of what had happened to
Capt. Maitland, declared, that he knew nothing of having any on board, til he
examined his papers, and saw to whom it was consigned, and promised to bring no
more till the act was repealed. In like manner, as at Charles-Town, a
provincial meeting of the Pennsylvanians was held at Philadelphia, on the 15th
July, which was adjourned from day to day till the following Resolutions were
framed and passed: (Several resolutions listed)
Capt Maitland, of the Magna Charta, of Charles Town, South Carolina, who
narrowly escaped tarring and feathering, had but eight chests of tea on board,
and when he found how disagreeable the landing of it would be to the leading
men of the town, and that he should be in danger of going home empty, though a
cargo was ready, he agreed not to land it, and they consented he should be allowed
to take the homeward cargo on board. Thus far matters appeared amicably
settled, but the unfortunate Captain found that he was still just where he was;
neither his friends nor his own consciences contributed any way to his
advantage, nor could he even take the goods on board that were promised him in
consequence of them, as the Custom house could neither clear his ship inwards
nor enter her outwards while any gods remained on board. In this dilemma, the
poor Captain again had to recourse to his friends, when various advices were
given him, but nothing decisive resolved on; the consequence was that the Tea
was landed, and put in the King's warehouse as uncleared goods. This was not
discovered til the ship was near laden, and ready to proceed on her passage home,
when mob arose and went on board with their tar feathers etc to execute
vengeance on the poor Captain, but he having information of it, got on board
the man of war, where he was safe; the Captain of the man of war sent hands on
board Capt. Maitland's ship to bring her under the stern of the man of war,
where she might remain safe til she proceeded on her voyage.
Charles-Town, July 25. Last Tuesday morning the general committee met, in
consequence of their adjournment the day before, to see Captain Maitland
destroy some tea that had been landed the preceding day: when, upon
reconsidering the matter, and that it could not be got out of the collector's
custody, without violence or paying the duty, both which the committee were
equally disposed to prevent, it was agreed, that the said tea should remain as
a seizure, not to be sold in this colony, unless the duty thereon should be
repealed. But Capt. Maitland being looked upon as a man who, by his conduct,
had grossly imposed on and deceived the Committee, and insulted the people, it
was resolved to appoint a Sub-Committee to wait on all importers, and request
that they would not hereafter ship or receive any goods whatever in any bottom
wherein he was or should be concerned; and a Committee was accordingly appointed.
The people in general being much disappointed in their expectations of seeing
Capt. Maitland burn the tea that day, they were so much inflamed at his
conduct, that it was impossible to prevent a considerable number of them going
in quest of him that evening. What they might have done had they met with him,
it is impossible to tell, but they seemed inclined rather to make a public
exhibition of him. Then to do him a bodily injury; however, he eluded their
search, by slipping away, and remaining on board HMS the Glasgow, in Rebellion
road, whither his ship soon followed him, and now lies windbound, since which
he has not thought proper to appear on shore. Capt. Urquart, having bought five
chests of tea, one for Mr Tonno, and four for Mess Johnston and Simpson (for Mr
Penman at St Augustine) those gentlemen attending the meeting of the General
Committee last Wednesday evening, when Capt Urquart declared, that he knew not
of his having any on board, til he examined his cockets (dockets??) on the day
of his arrival, before he brought his ship up to town, upon being informed of
what had happened to Capt. Maitland. He was required to bring none in future,
unless the duty should be repealed, and very readily answered he would not.
Messrs Johnston and Simpson, and Mr Tonnu, respectively behaved, upon this
occasion, as worthy citizens, and declared, that they would not receive and
tea, not having ordered any. As the 20 days within which the duty is required
to be paid, will expire the 7th of next month, tis presumed the tea will be
seized by the Collector, on the 8th, and stored with the rest.
“Tea Party photo - Charlestown July 25. Last Tuesday Morning, 11 O'Clock, the
General Committee met, in Consequence of their Adjournment the Day before, to
see Capt Maitland destroy the Tea that had been landed the preceding Day: When
upon re-considering the Matter, and that it could not be got out of the
Collector's Custody, without Violence or paying the Duty, both wich the
Committee were equally disposed to prevent, it was agreed, that the said Tea
should remain as a Seizure, under the same Circumstances as the India
Company's, not to be sold in this Colony, unless the Duty thereon should be
repealed. But Capt. Maitland being looked upon as a Man who, by his Conduct, had
grossly imposed on and deceived the Committee, and unsulted the People, it was
resolved to appoint a Sub-Committee to wait on all Importers, and request that
they would not hereafter ship or receive any Goods whatsoever in an Bottom
wherein he was or should be concerned; and a Committee was accordingly
appointed. The People in general being much disappointed in their Expectations
of seeing Capt. Maitland burn the Tea that Day, they were much enflamed at his
Conduct, that it was impossible to prevent a considerable Number of them going
in Quest of him that Evening. What they might have done, had they met with him,
it is impossible to tell; but they seemed inclined rather to make a public
Exhibition of him, than do him a bodily injury; However, he eluded their
Search, by slipping away, and remaining on board His Majesty's Ship the
Glasgow, in Rebellion-Road, whither his Ship soon followed him, and now lies
Windbound, since which he has not thought proper to appear on Shore”[88].
2 As Maitland had been in port during
the previous December, he was aware of the attitudes of the local inhabitants
with reference to the importation of tea. Thus the Charlestonians were
surprised that he had brought three chests of tea with him on this voyage. When
Wakefield and Donaldson were summoned before the General Committee, they
appeared and promised not to receive the tea, explaining that the arrival of
the tea was unexpected, the result of filling an old order of eighteen months
standing. Captain Maitland himself explained that he did not know the tea was
aboard until after he had sailed and was looking over his cockets. He promised
neither to land the tea nor to pay the duty. If there was no other way to solve
the problem, he himself would throw the tea overboard. Yet on the morning of
July 19 the chairman (Charles Pinckney) of the "new General
Committee" was informed that the tea had not been destroyed and in fact
had been seized by the collector of customs and stored with the East India Co.
tea. Maitland, summoned again before the General Committee, explained that at
the time of his first statement he had expected to sail for New York, but those
plans had been altered. He now promised to burn the tea on the wharf in the
presence of the General Committee. On the 19th when the members of the General
Committee assembled to see the tea destroyed, it was discovered that the tea
could not be obtained from the collector except by violence or by paying the
duty. Therefore a sub-committee of five persons was appointed to go among the
merchants and make sure no one shipped any goods on Maitland's vessel. The
people were incensed. A movement against Maitland was soon "confirmed by
the bells of the Great Church being muffled and the Dead peal being rung to
assemble the Mob." They ran from all quarters of the town to the Exchange,
which was the place of rendezvous, but Maitland escaped to HMS Glasgow in the
harbor. Captain Maltby of the Glasgow sent sailors to cut Magna Charta from her
wharf and brought the bells of the Great Church being muffled and the Dead peal
being rung to assemble the Mob." They ran from all quarters of the town to
the Exchange, which was the place of rendezvous, but Maitland escaped to HMS
Glasgow in the harbor. Captain Maltby of the Glasgow sent sailors to cut Magna
Charta from her wharf and brought her out into Rebellion Road where she
remained until she sailed for London on Aug. 4.
One source shows Richard taking refuge on HMS Britannia:
HMS Britannia was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal
Navy. She was ordered on 25 April 1751 from Portsmouth Dockyard to the draught
specified in the 1745 Establishment. Her keel was laid down on 1 July 1751 and
she was launched on 19 October 1762. The cost of building and fitting totalled
£45,844/2s/8d. Her main gundeck armament of twenty-eight 42-pounder guns was
later replaced by 32-pounders. In the 1790s ten of her quarterdeck guns and two
of her forecastle guns were replaced by the same number of 32-pounder
carronades.
Britannia was first commissioned in September 1778 (probably not correct – AM),
and saw service during the War of American Independence. From 1793–1795 she was
the flagship of Vice-Admiral Hotham. She fought at the Battle of Cape St
Vincent and at the Battle of Trafalgar, where she carried the flag of Rear-Admiral
of the White William Carnegie, Earl of Northesk. She lost 10 men killed and 42
wounded at Trafalgar, and following that battle she was laid up in Ordinary in
the Hamoaze at Plymouth in 1806.
The ship was renamed on 6 January 1810 as HMS Princess Royal, then on 18
January 1812 as HMS St George and once more on 2 June 1819 as HMS Barfleur.[1]
She was third of seven ships to bear the name Britannia, and was broken up at Plymouth in February 1825.
She was known as 'Old Ironsides' long before USS Constitution.
On December 25 (1773), the British tea ship Polly sailed up
the Delaware River and reached Chester, Pennsylvania. Commanded by one Captain
Ayres, the ship carried 697 chests of tea consigned to the Philadelphia Quaker
firm of James & Drinker. Several Philadelphia gentlemen proceeded to
intercept the Polly and escorted Ayres to the city. Two days later, there was a
mass meeting of 8,000 Philadelphians in the State House yard to address the
situation. This was the largest crowd assembled in the American colonies up to
that point. A number of resolutions were adopted, the first one being
"that the tea... shall not be landed." It was further determined that
the tea should be refused and that the vessel should make its way down the
Delaware River and out of the Delaware Bay as soon as possible.
Captain Ayres was probably influenced by a broadside issued by the
self-constituted "Committee for Tarring and Feathering" that plainly
warned him of his fate should he attempt to unload his ship's cargo. Dated
November 27, the handbill read, in part...[89]
This land was mentioned in Sarah Maitland’s 1784 Claim.
At the end of the 7 years war in 1763, The British gained Havana, Cuba, but
swapped Havana for Florida, which had been confirmed to Spain. Before the
transfer had been officially signed, a group of English merchants bought a very
large area of the Florida panhandle from the local Yamasee Indians, a deal
confirmed by the Spanish Governor during the period after the treaty, but
before the Spanish had left. The incoming British government refused to ratify
this purchase, probably to avoid the whole territory being owned by one or two
holding companies.
Amongst the leaders of these merchants were Thomas Horsefall, James Noble and
Joseph Page. They sold Our Richard Maitland a lot of land in Pensacola for
$770. This was recorded on a deed 10 September 1764 in Havana, just as the
Spanish were moving from Florida to Havana. By January 1765, Noble was
petitioning, unsuccessfully, for the land purchase to be confirmed by the
British.
So Richard Maitland lost his $770.
CO 5/601 contains 9 town lots in Pensacola granted to James Noble in
1767. It may well be that one of these was that land mentioned in Sarah Maitland’s
deposition in 1783. The grants were for town lots of about 100 ft frontage and
about 150 foot depth, each with garden lots of about 100 ft by 200ft. The
grants were subject to the plot being fenced and a house built within 2 years
of the date of grant. The grants registered 6 April 1768.
Lots 9, 11,12,62-67.
Henry Laurens also had interests in East Florida, ref HLV5P334, 7/10/1767.
Alleged Spanish Grants in British West Florida (Clinton N. Howard)[90]
P 81:
One of the most interesting records of the former Spanish occupation
appears in the Minutes of the provincial Council of West Florida under the date
January 24th, 1765. On that day 16 petitions were presented to the Council
asking confirmation of title in purchases made from departing Spaniards. An
elaboration of detail in this matter is well worth the labor. John Kinnion.
Esquire, of London, petitioned for an estate called Sanado Mayor which was said
to be at the mouth of the river Escambe.
The estate was described as being one league square, and the house and
outhouses and possibly the entire estate, were said to be in the present
possession of Messrs. Bruce and Mease.10 Zachary Bayly, a merchant
of Jamaica, petitioned for an estate called Punta de Silio or, alternatively,
Arroyo de La Garzona. William Bond, a merchant of London, petitioned for an
estate called Jamas Vicjos. Thomas Hossfall (Thomas Horsefall) petitioned for
an estate called Punta del Ingles. The Honorable Augustus Keppel (later Viscount
Keppel) of England petitioned for an estate called Nostra Senora de La Luz.
Marriott Arbuthnot, Esquire, of Weymouth. England, petitioned for an estate
called St. Antonio. Samuel Touchet. a merchant of London, petitioned for an
estate called El Estero de La Luz. William Michie of Charleston, South
Carolina, petitioned for an estate called St. Joseph. George Rogers, Esquire,
of London, and John Peddar, Esquire, of Lancaster, England, petitioned for an
estate called Chicasa de St. Martin. Sir John Lindsay of England petitioned for
an estate called El Paso de Arroyo Ingles. William Lance, Esquire, and James
Noble of Sandwich in Kent, England, petitioned for an estate called El Estero
de la Vighia. Barnard Noble petitioned for an estate called Sta. Clara. George
Stothart of Stockton, in the county of Durham, England, together with two other
merchants, Richard Maitland and John Elliot, of London, petitioned for
an estate called Santiago el Grande. Messrs. Bolton and Horslar (or Horselor)
petitioned for an estate called Pensacola le Vieja. Colonel Augustine Prevost
petitioned for an estate, which was unnamed in the record of the Council, and
also in company with some others, he petitioned for a second estate, which was
likewise unnamed in the records of the Council.
All of these petitions were refused by the governor and Council. The
Council was, however, not as arbitrary in its actions as it may appear to have
been at a first glance. The undoubted object of the Council was to prevent the
buying up of huge tracts of land from the departing Spaniards, for purposes of
speculation. To have allowed large tracts of land in the province to fall into
the hands of speculators would, perhaps, have been to deter settlement in the
province. One of the aims most consistently followed by the provincial government
and the imperial government seems to have been the settlement of small farmers
and artisans in the province as speedily as possible. For this and other
reasons the Council on instructions from the home government held that titles
granted under Spanish or French jurisdiction did not automatically become valid
under British dominion. At Mobile, Major Farmar, commandant of the occupying
forces, issued a proclamation requiring that all sales or transfers of land be
registered with him. 11 One of the principle objections of the Council to these
sales of Spanish land, aside from the fact that they clearly regarded all of
the transactions as an altogether unjustified speculative venture, was that
these sales had taken place before the arrival of the British troops of
occupation. After the establishment of the civil government in November of 1764
the governor and Council clearly tried to make what adjustments they could for
the convenience of individuals. They insisted, however, on the crown ownership
of the land on the policy that grants of land made under Spanish and French
jurisdictions were not ipso facto valid under British dominion, that new
British titles must be granted, and that any adjustment that might be made was
made by the grace of the Council and not by the right of the individual.
10. From the description of Pensacola on the
arrival of the British in 1763 as but a stockade and village of thatched huts,
it is apparent that these estates were little more than a medium for acquiring
land for speculation. Ed.
Florida: Possession by Britain
Wikipedia.
The expanded West Florida territory in 1767.
In 1763, Spain traded Florida to Great Britain in exchange for control of Havana, Cuba, which had been captured by the British during the Seven Years' War. As Britain had defeated France in the war, it took over all of French Louisiana east of the Mississippi River except for New Orleans. Finding this new territory too vast to govern as a single unit, Britain divided it into two territories separated by the Apalachicola River: East Florida (the peninsula) and West Florida (the panhandle).
The British soon began aggressive recruiting to attract colonists to the area, offering free land and backing for export-oriented businesses. In 1764, the British moved the northern boundary of West Florida to a line extending from the mouth of the Yazoo River east to the Chattahoochee River (32° 22′ north latitude), consisting of approximately the lower third of the present states of Mississippi and Alabama, including the valuable Natchez District.
During this time, Creek Indians began to migrate into Florida, leading to the formation of the Seminole tribe. The aboriginal peoples of Florida had been devastated by war and disease, and it is thought most of the survivors accompanied the Spanish settlers when they left for other colonies (mostly French) in 1763. This left wide expanses of territory open to the Lower Creeks, who had been in conflict with the Upper Creeks of Alabama for years. The Seminole originally occupied the wooded areas of northern Florida. Under pressure from colonists and the United States Army in the Seminole Wars, they migrated into central and southern Florida, to the Everglades. Many of their descendants live in this area today as one of the two federally recognized Seminole tribes in the state.
Britain retained control over East Florida during the
American Revolutionary War, but the Spanish, by that time allied with the
French who were at war with Britain, recaptured most of West Florida. At the
end of the war, the Peace of Paris (1783) between the Kingdoms of Great Britain
and Spain ceded all of East and West Florida to Spanish control, but without
specifying the boundaries.
Second Spanish period:
Spain regained possession of the Floridas from Britain in the Peace of Paris of
1783, and continued the British practice of governing the Floridas as separate
territories: West Florida and East Florida.
After American independence, the lack of specified boundaries led to a border
dispute with the newly formed United States, known as the West Florida
Controversy. The two 1783 treaties that ended the American Revolutionary War
had differences in boundaries. The Treaty of Paris between Britain and the
United States specified the boundary between West Florida and the newly
independent U.S. at 31°.[26] However, in the companion Peace of Paris between
Britain and Spain, West Florida was ceded to Spain without its boundaries being
specified. The Spanish government assumed that the boundary was the same as in
the 1763 agreement by which they had first given their territory in Florida to
Britain, claiming that the northern boundary of West Florida was at the 32°
22′ boundary established by Britain in 1764 after the Seven Years' War.
The British line at 32° 22′ was close to Spain's old claim of 32°
30′, which dated to the 1670 Treaty of Madrid.[27] The now independent
United States insisted that the boundary was at 31°, as specified in its Treaty
of Paris with Britain.
After American independence, Spain claimed far more land than the old British
West Florida, including the east side of the Mississippi River north to the
Ohio and Tennessee rivers.[28] This expanded claim was based on Spain's
successful military operations against the British in the region during the
war. Spain occupied or built several forts north of the old British West
Florida border, including Fort Confederación, Fort Nogales (at present-day
Vicksburg), and Fort San Fernando (at present-day Memphis).[29][30] Spain tried
to settle the dispute quickly, but the U.S. delayed, knowing that time was on
its side.[28] By Pinckney's Treaty of 1795 with the United States, Spain
recognized the 31st parallel as the border, ending the first West Florida
Controversy.
Extract from Internet Site (unknown, 2008)
Arbuthnot, Esquire, of Weymouth, England, petitioned for an estate called St.
Antonio. Samuel Touchet, a merchant of London, petitioned for an estate called
El Estero de La Luz.
William Michie of Charleston, South Carolina,
The parish records on film at the London Metropolitan Archives have been
searched for any children in the period 1732-1760 in St Paul’s, Shadwell and in
St John, Wapping and St Anne, Limehouse for intervals in that period, all 3 of
which parishes are not on the IGI. Marriages were searched for 1736-40 for St
George in the East, Shadwell and Limehouse with no success. Marriages for the
relevant period do not appear for Wapping. See below for Shadwell and
Waterman’s Stairs.
No sign of a suitable Richard Maitland 1690-1717 in the Scottish OPR’s.
IGI: Richard Maitland son of Richard Maitland, ch 30/3/1706 Fyvie, Aberdeen, in
Woodhead.
Also: Peter 11/3/1700, George 13/4/1702, Jean 20/5/1704, Mary 5/6/1708, Agnes
14/10/1716. Probably not relevant, may be Richard Maitland of Mark Lane &
Boddington, looks too early for a death in 1778 and 1st child born
1744.
Also:
1712-1715:
John son of Richard & Ann Madland, ch St Paul Shadwell, 30/5/1714 &
8/3/1715 of Spring St, Mariner.
London Land Tax Records, 1692-1932
Richard Maitland
Shadwell, RM as tenant:
Capt:
1751 Rent £8-10, Tax £1-5-6d, Personal £0-3-9. SW
1751 Rent £8-10, Tax £0-17-0d, Personal £0-2-6. SW
1760 Rent £8-10, Tax £1-12-7d. SW
1761 Rent £8-10, Tax £1-14-0d, Personal £0-5-0. SW
1762 Rent £8-10, Tax £1-11-10½d, Personal £0-5-0. SW
Not Capt, but still Shadwell!
1763 Rent £8-10, Tax £1-11-2d, Personal £0-5-0d. SW
1764 Rent £8-10, Tax £1-14-0d, Personal £0-5-0d. SW
1765 Rent £9, Tax £1-14-6d Personal Est 0-5, Shakespear’s Walk
1766 Rent £9, tax £1-13-9d Shakespear’s Walk
1768 Rent £9, Tax £1-6-3d SW
1769 Rent £9, Tax £1-6-3d SW
1770 Rent £9, Tax £1-4-0d SW
1771 Rent £9, Tax £1-12-3d SW
1772 Rent £9, Tax £1-4-9d SW
Shakespear’s Walk was the site of a Rope Walk established by
one John Shakespear in 1642.
Other Possible connections:
Additionally, Richard Maitland, Col Life Guards will of 23/8/1745 – who was he?
A Charles Maitland, a mariner with the Navy, left a will dated 22 June, 1759
and proved in 4 May 1772[91].
Like our Richard, he mentions the perils of the sea.
He made his wife, Rebecca, his heir & executor.
He was a mariner of Shadwell in 1759, and still of Shadwell and master of His
Majesty’s Ship Aurora in when his will was proved.
Witnesses were Richard Maitland & John Smith.
HMS Aurora, a fifth rate, was lost in the Indian Ocean in January 1770 (Wiki)
This Charles Maitland was resident in Shadwell 1760-1771 from tax records.
A C. Maitland was master of the ship Edgar regularly between 1764 & 1769
with a one more entry in Lloyds List in 1776.
There was a single entry of an Edward Maitland as part owner of Little
Carpenter in 1767.
No sign of him in the London directories of the 1770’s.
One other possibility alternative, based on a John Maitland’s baptism in Banf
in 1735 with a witness Coln John Maitland, who probably was the brother of the
6th Earl of Lauderdale, is that Richard was an unrecorded son of one
of the Earls uncles.
11th November, 1771 (and other entries)SCAG
PHILIP HAWKINS, & CO
At their Warehouse in Tradd Street, Have received in the Magna Charta, Capt. Maitland
A Large Supply of Goods, among which are a great Variety of
Printed Callicoes and Cottons, red and blue Furniture Cottons at 23s 6d the
Yard, very fine and handsome light and dark ground Chients Furoirbie, ditto
with Trimmings to suit, low priced and fine printed Handkerchiefs, plain,
striped and flowered Jackonet Muslins; Suits of worked Muslins very low, and
some very fine and rich; Suits of worked Lawns, 8-8 and 6-4 plain and flowered
Lawns, loom Quiltings, Irish Linens and Sheetings, Counterpanes, Checks, common
and Flanders Bed Ticks, Bed Bunts and Linen Drapery in general.
A Large Assortment of yarn, worsted, cotton thread and silk Hose, some of each
very larges Sizes; very fine worsted and silk Breeckes Pieces, Men’s and Boy’s
ready-made Drab, Fustian, Bearskin and Cloth Suits; Sourtouts, Cloaks,
Cardinals, and other Slops; Camblets, Calimencoes, Whitnies, Bath Coating and
Petticoating; Bed Blankets, some of an extra Quality, a few Pieces of
fashionable Broad Cloths, figured Silks, Taffeties and Georgeoons. All bought
on the best trems, and will be sold at their usual very low Prices, especially
when a Quantity is taken, and for Cash.
Also a great Choice of Fire-Grates and Dogs, Fenders, Sets of Shovel, Tongs and
Poker. One elegant Brass Hearth, and Surveyors Instruments, some of the very
best Sort ever Imported; Ravens Duck, Bridport, East-Coker, London and Russia
Sail Suck, with Sail and best three strand Seine Twine.
N.B. A few Bales of Bristol and London DUFFILS to be sold at Nine for One?
Jackonet was a cotton fabric of light weight, usually finished as cambric,
lawn, organdy, voile, etc., used in the manufacture of clothing and bandages.
2. a cotton fabric with one glazed surface, used as a lining for the spines of
books.
27th December, 1773SCG Advert:
Hawkins, Petrie & Co.
Have imported in the Liberty, Capt Lasley, and the Magna Charta, Capt Maitland,
A large Assortment of Goods,
Amongst which are
Flannels, Duffils, coloured Plains, Pennissones and long Ells for House Negroes, Worsted Webs and Breeches Pieces of the very best sort; Yarn, Worked, Cotton, and Silk Hose, some of the latter of the Newest Fashion; Scarlet Cloaks and cardinals, from the lowest to the highest Prices; Camblet Cloaks, Cloth Cloaks and great Coats. Surtouts, and low priced Suits of Cloaths of all Sizes, Jackets, Trowsers, and Slops of all Sorts; Stuff and Silk Petticats, List, Scotch, and Wilton Carpeting, rich Table and Bed-side ditto; printed Goods for Winter Wear, Furniture Callicoes and Cottons, with Trimmings; Suits of worked Muslins, and Muslins of every Kind; Suits of worked Lawn, Lawns, Cambricks, and Irish Linens in general; a few Pieces of English and India Damask.
A fresh Supply of mourning Articles; complete Sets of Table and Tea China, Jars and Breakers, and most other Articles of China Ware.
Loaf Sugar; Hyson, Green and Bohea TEAS, a Quantity of the latter, and also black pepper, to sell very low by Wholesale, for ready Money; Brass Hearths, Brass and Princes Metal Grates and Fire Dogs, with Furniture to suit; some of these are the most elegant they have yet imported, and the greatest Variety they have ever had; Brass-Head Dogs, Fenders of all Sorts, Sets of Shovel Tongs and Pokers, Bellows, Footmen, Copper and Iron Tea Kettles, of the best sort; a complete set of pewter Dishes and Plates, of an extra Quality, and the Make of the newest Fashion, with the Article of Pewter in general; Bridport and East Coker Sail Duck, with best Sail and Seine Twine, Window Glass, Paints, Nails, Hinges and Bolts of all sorts, with every building Article, all Sorts of Carpenters Tools of the best Make, Smiths Bellows, anvils, Vises, &c. Hoes, Spades, axes, and all Plantation Tools, Saddlers Tools and Saddlery, among which are some very neat Saddles, a few plated and polished Belts and Stirrups, of the newest Make, with a variety of Whips of the best Sort.
These, with the Goods received by several of the late Vessels, make their Assortment very large, especially of capital Articles, which they will sell on very low Terms, with a much greater Allowance, for ready Money, and to those who sell again, than is commonly made, or than they have hitherto allowed.
Besides the Articles above-mentioned, they have in the Magna Charta, a large values in French and India Goods, viz. Silks, Lawes, Cambricks, Chintz, Ginghams, COunterpains, &c. which have been bought, and will be sold much under their value, for ready money.
The South Carolina Gazette, 28 January 1773
JONATHAN SARRAZIN
HAS JUST IMPORTED,
In The Magna Charta, Captain Richard Maitland
A large and complete Assortment
Of
Silver Plate and Jewellery
Consisting of te following Articles viz:
Epergens, Tea kitchens
and urns, Coffee Pots, Sugar Dishes, Slop and Punch Bowls, Mahogany Tea Chests
with Silver Canisters, Silver Tea Chests, Waiters of all Patterns, from six to
eighteen inches Diameter, Cups and Covers, Tankards, Pint and Half pint Mugs,
Rummers, Bread Baskets, Tureen Sauce Boats and Butter Cups, Fish Trowels, Dish
Stands, Salt Cellars of a new Pattern very elegant, Bottle Stands, Punch Ladles
and Strainers, Wine Cranes and decanting funnels, Candlesticks and Snuffers
with stands and branches, Soop Table and Tea Spoons, Tureen Ladles, Casters in
Silver and wood Frames, Silver and green handle Knives and Forks in Shagreen
and Mahogany Cases, Swords and Cuteaues, Gold and gilt headed Canes with and
without Swords in them, best London Blade Penknives, scissars and Razors with
Straps, Essence Bottles from 15/- to 30£. Pocket Books with Instruments in
them, Tooth-pick and Pencil Cases, Silver and Paper Snuff Boxes, Patch Boxes,
Silver Spurs of all Kinds; a large Assortment of Paste and Diamond Work, such
as Ear and Finger Rings, Necklaces and Bows, Stay Hooks, Breast Buckles, Shoe
and Knee Buckles with real and mock Pearl Bows and Earrings, Ladies and
Gentlemen’s beft Gold Watches capt and jewelled, with Chains, Seals and Keys;
Silver and Gold Prussian, Brocade and Spangle Hat Bands, loops an Buttons, and
every Article in the Jewellery and Silversmiths Way may be had at his Shop on
as reasonable Terms as has ever been sold in the Province, and as large a
Discount allowed for Cash.
Fustian
A coarse sturdy cloth made of cotton and flax.
Any of several thick twilled cotton fabrics, such as corduroy, having a short
nap.
Kersey
A kind of coarse woollen cloth. It derives its name from the village of Kersey,
Suffolk, having presumably originated in that region. However the cloth was
made in many places. Kersey was a lighter weight cloth than broadcloth. English
kerseys were widely exported to central Europe.
Sagathy
A mixed woven fabric of silk and cotton, or silk and wool;
sayette; also, a light woolen fabric.
Shalloon
A lightweight wool or worsted twill fabric, used chiefly for coat linings.
Duffel
A blanket fabric made of low-grade woolen cloth with a nap on both sides.
Drugget
A heavy felted fabric of wool or wool and cotton.
Serge
A twilled cloth of worsted or worsted and wool, often used for suits.
Credit arrangements.
Meeting to pay RM at Carolina Coffee House, 14 March 1772.
Insurance
AM08/01
Parents: Richard & Sarah Maitland.
Bap Shadwell, as Jno Francis Maitland, 16/10/1745, of King James Stairs,
18 days old, although this seems young to be surgeon of the Hungerford in 1761.
Will: Dated 25 October 1786, proved 24 January 1787,
Inventory: entered 20 May 1787.
Concubine: Rebecca Dunston Wright, daughter of Patty Penford, a mulatto slave,
and Francis Wright. Patty and Rebecca were both manumitted.
Issue, St Elizabeth, Jamaica:
1/1. Francis Maitland, b 25/2/1784 ch 23/5/1784, Black RiverPR.
1/2. Richard Maitland, b 4/8/1786, 27/1/1788, Black RiverPR.
Presumed died between 1789 and 1804 – mentioned in grandmother Patty Penford’s will but not in Rebecca’s.
John Maitland’s origins became clear when his will named
his mother as Sarah and was confirmed in her Loyalist claims for Richard’s
losses in the War of Independence, made in 1784. When he died in Jamaica his
will described him as a planter and merchant of St Elizabeth with a mother
Sarah; he was described as "Captain" in his inventory. This confirmed
that he was a mariner sailing to or around Jamaica.
He first appears as the surgeon on the Hungerford, a merchant ship granted
letters of marquee in 1761 (this must have been an interesting baptism to life
at sea: she was taken as a prize on her return, only to be retaken by a British
ship). One could assume that this was a post arranged by his father, whose
letters of marquee were contemporary with Hungerford’s. There is no mention of
him from then until 1770, when he took over the “Little Carpenter” from his
father, Richard. It is likely that he sailed with Richard in the intervening
years, learning his trade on the voyages to the Americas.
After the loss of the “Little Carpenter”, he then was master and part
owner with his father of the “Atlantic”, which he sailed in late 1773 to
Jamaica on the return from her maiden voyage in 1773 from Charleston. He
probably spent the next 18 months sailing between Jamaica and the east coast of
America. He is mentioned in the parish records as Captain of the
"Atlantic" in January 1775 when one of his seamen was buried in Black
River. From this time, Atlantic was described in Lloyds as a “constant trader”
London to Jamaica. About this time, he must have met Rebecca Wright, probably
in Black River. Rebecca’s mother, Patty Penford, owned property along the coast
in Westmoreland, about 12 miles from Black River which would have been their
nearest significant town.
From newspaper extracts, he arrived back in England from
Jamaica with a large cargo of rum, in August 1775, and also in September 1778
(a late fleet) in the “Atlantic” from Jamaica. His last ship was the “Hope”,
which was wrecked at Black River in a hurricane in August 1781 (a devastating
one which resulted in the loss of many ships in Kingston[92]). Whilst the journey times
were about 6 weeks, the turn round time and sailing seasons meant that the
ships probably only did one round trip per year, waiting for cargo and the
weather. Leaving England mid winter, and the Caribbean about June/July.
The loss of “Hope” probably kept him in Jamaica as he would have missed the
window for east bound convoys and he seems to have then stopped sailing. He may
have come back to England at some stage, as he was expected by his mother in
her Loyalist claim in 1784, but there is no confirmation of this. Looking at
his sons births & baptism, he must have been in Black River in July 1783,
January 1786 and probably in May 1784 (Francis’s baptism). His mother, Sarah,
implies that he was expected in London some time after March 1784, but there is
no evidence he ever in fact returned to London. At his death he is described as
“formerly of London but late of Black River Jamaica”.
John sold a plot of 54½ acres in 1783, probably near the Great Pond in St
Elizabeth and bought several plots of land around Black River between 1784 and
1785, one of which looks to have been a housing plot on the sea on the road
west from the centre of the town (there are a number of early houses along the
road, one of which might have been the site of John’s first house).. He also
bought land on the eastern side of the Great Pond. He had various debtors in
his inventory, so must have set up trading.
The books, flute and Priestley’s machine in his inventory might indicate
him as being a man of an educated and enquiring mind.
The ownership of “Atlantic” indicates a connection between Alexander Rose,
John & Richard Maitland. Alexander Rose was a merchant in Charleston
although there was also one in Jamaica, and has been seen in the deed indices.
Rebecca Wright’s mother Patty, according to the parish record entry, was a
slave belonging to Roderick Rose. Alexander Rose may have been from Inverness.
Correspondence between him and John MacIntosh of Inverness exists, one letter
of 1791 decrying the abolition of slavery. (Scotland, the Caribbean and the
Atlantic world, 1750-1820 By Douglas Hamilton, reference given in this
publication [Google books]). An Alexander Rose owned property near Giddy Hall
in early 19thC. Patty & Rebecca’s manumission by the Forbes & Wright
families makes the Rose connection look less likely to be correct.
He does not appear on the Tax records of London.
His brother-in-law (“common law”!), Hyem Cohen, was in the business and money lending,
but in a very much bigger way than John – most of the local families seemed to
owe him money! Hyem’s personal estate was about £4.5M in 2008.
John’s will left his estate to Rebecca Wright, her sons Francis & Richard
and to his mother Sarah. Dated 25 October 1786, proved in Jamaica January 1787.
Humphrey Colquhoun and Hyem Cohen Executors; He is described as a merchant and
planter of St Elizabeth.
Note: Rebecca made bequests to nephews and nieces Alexander, Henry, Catherine
and Caroline Cohen.
John in his will directed his execs to sell everything not already bequeathed.
This was quite common to provide a pot for annuities etc. After his death, his
execs sold some slaves by name, a few direct to Rebecca (she paid for them),
and some as an “in & out” to a 3rd party, thus complying with
the will by keeping the individual slaves within the estate[93].
Another in and out sale by his execs was a 82 sq ft plot on the road in Black
River bounding on the sea to the south and west on John Campbell/Hyem Cohen,
and east on Elizabeth Duncan. Either a residence or small commercial property.
A similar sounding plot appears in Rebecca’s will[94].
London Gazette
9 June 1787, p2 of 4:
The Creditors of Captain John Maitland, formerly of London, but late of Black
River, Jamaica, deceased, are desired to send a particular account of their
respective Demands to Mr. Robert Steel, Token-house-yard, Lothbury, or to Mr
James Sutherland, Notary Public, Birchin lane, Cornhill, in order that the same
ay be properly authenticated and transmitted to Captain Maitland’s Executors,
agreeable to their Request.
15 January 1788, The Creditors of Capt. John Maitland, late of Black River in
Jamaica, deceased, are desired to send their accounts against his Estate,
proved under the City Seal, to his Executors, Mess Hyem Cohen and Humphrey Colquhoun,
of Black River aforesaid, or to Mr Robert Steell of Tokenhouse yard London, to
be forwarded to them, as such of the said Creditors who do not so prove their
Accounts, will be excluded from the Dividend of the said Deceased’s Effects
intended shortly to be made amongst such of the Creditors as have already
proved, or who shall forthwith prove and transmit their Accounts as above
directed.
John’s personal property inventory totalled £6135 (about stlg £1,000,000P
£3.1MW in 2023), of which £1880 was in slaves (36), £1693 in debts
supposed to be good, £617 in debts “supposed to be dubious” and £788 in debts
“supposed to be bad”.
His inventory includes a Priestley's machine (see later section for full
description) an early electrostatic generator, which would have made long
sparks, 2 German flutes and 123 books.
Rebecca Wright was probably (she was bought and manumitted by him as a baby)
the daughter of Francis Wright of the South Jamaican family of that name, a
prominent family in of Vere and St Elizabeth, and became a woman of some
substance, leaving significant property in her will. Her tombstone is still
visible in Black River Churchyard. She was the daughter of Patty Penford, a
mulatto slave.
See under Rebecca’s file for more on this.
Also in Kingston PR:
William Maitland bapt 25/8/1794, son of Milborough Merchant by John Maitland,
mulatto.
John Maitland Transactions
1783[95]:
John Maitland of St Elizabeth, mariner, sold Samuel Manley of St Elizabeth,
Planter for £81, a parcel of land containing by estimate 54 1/2 acres lying in
the Valle de Vache Savanna, Easterly & southerly on Waldish, northerly on
the river called Bridge River and westerly on un-surveyed morass.
A possibility would be what on the 1804 map is Walde Vaca Morass, to the South
East of Black River. This is called the Valley Wash in Ogilby’s 1671 map.
Harper 1683 shows the Valle de Vache Savanna on the east side of the Great
Pond. Spelling of Manley varies with Heanley etc. Probably near his later
purchase at Pond side.
Samuel Manley owed Hyem Cohen £18/10/- at HC's death.
6/1784[96]:
Joseph Ball of Westmoreland, Gent conveyed to John Maitland, mariner of Jamaica
for £35 a parcel of land situated at Black River Bay, Butting and Bounding
Northerly on the King's road 43 feet and East & West on land of John Campbell and Southerly on the sea.
The grants to John Campbell in the early 18thC do not tie in very well, but a
43ft frontage on the king’s road implies a residential size plot. The road
diverges soon after leaving Black River to the west and must always have done
so to avoid the morass. The plot can really only have been about where the
present day hospital now is.
It may have been part of the Lower Works Penn, then owned by Joseph Royall –
transcription error (confirmed that it was Ball, 3/2020)? Lower Works Penn had
all the land down to the sea between the church and where the road turns north
west to avoid the morass. However, Joseph Royall was an absentee land owner,
living in England.
1785[97]:
William Gale of St Elizabeth, esq conveyed to John Maitland mariner for £100 75
acres called "Pond Side", bounded Westerly by the Great Pond, North,
South and East on land patented in the name of John Banks in St Elizabeth
Pondside shown on Craskell 1763. Settlement in 2022.
This is good cattle country, looking a bit like some of the better bits of
Africa. On the direct road from Treasure Beach to Fullerswood.
The property, much larger, appears later being sold by A Esson in 1819,
although he is in the Almanac of 1823 as having 23 slaves and over 100 stock.
FOR SALE, POND-SIDE Pen[98],
in this Parish, containing nearly 600 Acres of excellent Land, delightfully
situated on the East side of Willy West’s Great Pond, which is considered the
largest fresh Water Lake in this Island, abounding with Fish of every kind
generally to be, found in large-Rivers in the Country, and otherwise bounding
on the Pens, of Fullerswood, Fullerswood-Park, and part of Brownberry Pen: It
commands a beautiful prospect of the Town and Bay of Black-River and the
surrounding Country, is two and a half miles from Rowe’s Crane- Wharf, and four
and a half From Black-River, and consists of Guinea-Grass Common Pasture,
mostly Bahama; Ruinate and Woodland, abounding in, Hardwood Timbers, Logwood,
and Fustic, nearly inclosed round the Line with Lime-fences, stone walls, and
also divided with the same. There are a very comfortable Dwelling-Houses,
Out-Offices, and every convenience for carrying on the business of a Pen. With
the same will be sold about 200 Head of Prime Breeding STOCK, of large size, a
Flock of SHEEP; and a small Gang of well-disposed NEGROES. From Its pleasant
and healthy situation, and being capable of much improvement, it is well worth
the attention of any Person wishing a pleasant Residence and profitable
Property. For terms and other particulars, apply, via Black-River, by letter,
or on the Property, to A. ESSON.
6/1785[99]:
John March Carpenter of St Elizabeth sold to John Maitland, merchant of St
Elizabeth for £300 100 acres in St Elizabeth, S on Humphrey Colquhoun, W on
Lewis Robinson, N on Henry Laird, E on Simon Foster being part of the said run
or howsoever otherwise the said piece or parcel of land was now is or shall or
hereafter be butted or bounded.
27/2/1786[100]:
Jno Maitland Bought of David Finlayson (Marshall?) at Public Sale 2 slaves
Abigail & Abba £71 (both of whom appear in his inventory, Abigail at £75
& Abba at £20). This was not entered until 1793.
1787[101]:
Humphrey Colquhoun of St Elizabeth esq & Hyem Cohen merchant of St Elizabeth
as trustees of will of John Maitland late of St Elizabeth merchant and planter
dcd.
Greeting whereas John Maitland was in his life seized and possessed of sundry
negroes and other slaves and other estate both real and personal and being so
thereof seized departed this life having made his will dated 25 October 1786.
And by his will did inter alia give etc to Humphrey Colquhoun and Hyem Cohen
etc all the rest and residue and remainder of his estate both real and personal
of what nature or kind soever .. upon trust nevertheless and to the intent and
purpose that they should sell and dispose of the same ... for such sum of money
of good and sufficient securities ... either by private of public sale as
appear to Hyem Cohen to be the most advantageous for the benefit of his estate
and for that purpose good and sufficient deeds devices ... in the law to such
purchases to give and execute ... of his will...
Now therefore know ye that Hyem Cohen .. in compliance of the will .. and for
J£350 from Rebecca Wright free quadroon of St E... have ..sold.. 7 negroes
(named)
Note: JM left his estate to his sons, thus RW paying the estate for the slaves.
A John Maitland appears as surgeon on a ship, the
Hungerford, which was granted Letter of Marque in London in May 1761. Richard
Maitland was the master of the Philippa which was also granted Letters of
Marque in April of the same year. This is likely to have been early in John’s
career. Capt John Burford appears in Shadwell Tax records Upper Shadwell North
Side
Hungerford is shown originated from London, in the Downes 8th
June 1761; she attempted to get away: “The Hungerford, Capt. Barford, for
Jamaica, sailed from the Down on Tuesday, but was obliged to put back again,
the Wind coming about to the South West. Julines Beckford esq, Member for
Salisbury, Brother to Mr Alderman Beckford, is gone a Passenger to Jamaica[102]”. She remained until “The
24th came down from Spithead, and anchored in Cowes Road, the Prince Edward Man
of War, with the following Ships under he convoy...Hungerford, Barford, for
Jamaica +21 others.. All sailed to the Westward this Day”. sailing on from
Cowes 27 June 1761 in a convoy, destination Jamaica[103].
They arrived in Jamaica[104],
“Aug 15, (1761) Sunday arrived the Hungerford, Capt. Barford, from England in
45 Days. Julines Beckford esq; Member for Salisbury, with his Lady and five
servants came Passengers, as did several others, and twenty-six SoldiersNA.
(CO142/16 – this period missing) The return voyage was rather more eventful, as
reported in Lloyd’s List, 19/2/1762: “The Esperance, Privateer of 6 guns and 70
men, from Bayonne, is brought into Plymouth by the Aeolus Man of War, Captain
Hotham, who has also retaken and sent into Portsmouth, the Hungerford, Barford,
from Jamaica for London, who was taken the 3d inst by a French privateer, 300
Leagues to the westward”. She arrived in Gravesend from Jamaica, (via
Portsmouth 20/2/1762[105]),
30th March, 1762LL.
ADM 51/3751 Capt Logs. Sunday 7 Feb 1762
This appears to be the only voyage of the Hungerford with Barford as master
and probably with John Maitland on board. She appears in Lloyd’s Lists under a
different master, sailing out of Bristol in 1763.
Hungerford Privateer Letter of Marque
HCA 26/12/101
Indexed at /99
These records were on prewritten/printed forms with the relevant details
inserted by hand. They are bound in books relating to the nation against whom
the letters were granted.
26 May 1761 101
Appeared personally Captain John Barford of Cheapside, London mariner
and produced a warrant from the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners for Executing the Offices of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland for the granting of a Commission or Letter of Marque to him the said John Barford
and in pursuance of his Majesty’s Instruction to Privateer made the following Declaration to with that his the said John Barford
his ship is called the Hungerford
That she is a Square Sterned with three masts
and is of the burthen of about Two Hundred and Seventy Six tons
That the said John Barford goeth Commander of her That she Carrys Sixteen Carriage Guns
Each Carrying shot of Six and Four & three pounds weight and
Swivel Guns and belonging to the port of London
Thirty Men Thirty small arms Thirty Cutlasses Twenty Barrels of Powder Fifty Rounds of great Shot and about Six hundred weight of small shot
That the said Ship is victualled for Ten months
hath two suits of sails Five Anchors Four Cables and about Ten hundred weight of spare cordage
That John Castello goes Lieutenant John James Gunner William Green Boatswain Joseph Hickman Carpenter Arthur Morris Cook John Maitland Surgeon of the said Ship and that
Mr Joseph Robertson & Lawrence Boyd of London Merchants
are the Principal Owners and Setters out of the said Ship
Jno Barford
(His signature)
This declaration was made before me
And: Arth. Collier
Surrogate
1024
Hungerford
The like Commission is entered on Irof:2 was granted to John
Barford to set forth the Hungerford of the Burthen of about Two hundred &
Seventy Six Tons and belonging to the Port of London whereof he the said John
Barford goeth Commander Dated the Twenty Sixth Day of May 1761 and in the first
year of his Majesty’s Reign.
ADM 51/3751, HMS Aeolus:
Wednesday 3rd February, N NNE, East 105 43ºN 19º52 cape Finisterre
S84E 111 Leagues.
Fresh Breezes & Cloudy. At 6am saw a sail to the Eastd: gave chace at 8 Brot to the chace a French Privateer Brigg of 6 guns, 8 swivell & 60 men belonging to Bayonne Emplyd exchanging the prisoners at 11 saw a sail in the NW and gave chace
Thursday 4th February, ENE ESE EbS, NE, 10, 43º15, 17º23 Do S83E 107 leagues.
Fresh gales and hazey. At 2pm spoke to the chace an English Ship from London to Jamaica which gave us Intelligence of War being declared with Spain.
Friday 5th February, EbS, N 66 44º22, 17º23, Do(ditto) S76E, 110 Leagues
fresh gales and cloudy Wn pm handed the fore and major tops am squally with rain
Saturday 6th, Do, N, 75, 45º37, 17º23, Do S64E, 120 Leagues.
Ditto weather at 10 am gave chace to a sail in the NE
Sunday 7th, ESE, N, 54, 46º34, 17º23, Ditto S57E 126 Leagues
Fresh gales and squally W. at 1 pm spoke to the chace a Dutch ship from St Eustatia for Rotterdam, tackd and gave the chace to sail in the W. at 4 spoke to the chace a Jamaica ship called the Hungerford which had been taken by the Coureur Privateer of Bayonne four days before
Monday 8th, E, NbW,59, 47º35, 17º38, Cape Cleara? N53E 121L
am Fresh gales and cloudy weather am bore down to the prize.
Tuesday 9th, EbN NNE, NE 14, 47º45, 17º23, ditto N53E, 117 Leagues
Modt and cloudy weather at 2 am brought too for the prize pm filled water in fore hold & main ditto.
Wednesday 10th, N NNW,
N74E, 60, 48º01, 15º59, Ditto NE 92 Leagues.
Fresh breezes and cloudy Wn. The prizes in company
Thursday 16th. Moord in Plymouth Sound.
... lost sight of the retaken ship, at 5 anchored in Plymouth sound as did the Brigg.
This ship was commanded for some years by Richard Maitland, operating
between the Carolinas and England. When Richard became involved with the
building of his next ship, Magna Charta, John Maitland took over.
The first voyage which John Maitland is definitely shown as master was from
London to South Carolina, cleared out 28 September NP (poss
15/9/1770 re HL letter about Richard GrubbHL451), and arriving in South
Carolina 29th December 1770, John Maitland master, with stores for
the Magna Charta from Richard Grubb, which arrived late[106]. This seems to be the
beginning of the disenchantment with Richard Grubb.
Penn Gazette reports: Dec 21, “We are assured, that several packages of
British cloths, imported in the Little Carpenter, Captain Maitland, actually
reshipped for London, in the London, Captain Curling”. This was presumably to
do with duty payments.
She was ready to sail about 7th February, wind-bound on 21st
February, remaining so until sailing for Cowes the 11th March 1771SCAG,
Magna Charta likewise. “On Monday last embarked for England in the Little
Carpenter Captain Maitland, Lieutenant Gordon, of His Majesty's 9th Regiment”SCG.
She arrived in Portsmouth from S Carolina 26th April, and sailed 13th
May for RotterdamLL, and returned to Portsmouth 1st July 1771LL.
The Rotterdam diversion would probably have been at the behest of Henry
Laurens, who mentions trade in N Europe at this time.
Little Carpenter left Portsmouth to South Carolina sailing 12th
July, 1771LL via Falmouth, on the 15th. She arrived in S.
Carolina from Cowes 25th October 1771SCAG;she cleared out
of Charleston destined for London 5th DecemberSCG, sailed
about 12th January 1772SCAG, and was subsequently lost in
Antigua. Several reports mention the loss: 6th March 1772LL:
“Maitland from South Carolina for London proved too leaky at sea that she was
obliged … West Indies.” (Notes last line off scanned image.)
“The Little Carpenter, Maitland, from South Carolina for London, that was spoke
with in great distress, arrived at Antigua the 29th January lastLL”.
“The Little Carpenter, Maitland, is condemned at Antigua, and the goods
reshipped on board the Indian King, Matthews, from London, who was to sail in
March from Antigua, the cargo is not much damaged.”LL
Plantation News, Charles-Town May 11(1772)”... The Ship Little Carpenter, John
Maitland, Master, of and from this Port for London, with a Cargo of about 700
Barrels of Rice and upwards of 20,000 lb of indigo, which sailed from this port
in January last, having met with bad Weather, was obliged to bear away to the
West Indies, and got into Antigua, where the Vessel was condemned, and another
taken up to carry home the cargoNA”.
Indian King with the cargo of the Little Carpenter arrived at DoverLL
26th May, 1772.
John Maitland next ship was the Atlantic[107]. She was built in 1773 in
South Carolina by James Black of Beaufort County (maybe Port Royal, SC),
weighed 260 tons and owned by Richard Maitland, John Maitland & Alexander
Rose[108].
(P208 refers to the Philippa incident, but calls it the Little Carpenter). The
Ship Registers in the South Carolina Archives 1734-1780 show a little more than
Lloyds:
Atlantic, ship, 260 tons, Charleston, 2:156; master John Maitland; owners, John
Maitland, Richard Maitland (mariner, Charleston), Alexander Rose (merchant,
Charleston), Edward Green, Thomas Hubbard (merchants, London); built Port
Royal, 1769; registered 4 February 1773. Alexander Rose may well have been of
the family who were shipbuilders at Hobcaw[109].
There were a few voyages with others as master, probably referring to her
namesake which was involved the Tagus incident: (See later in this volume) and
which was not ours – Maitland’s Atlantic was in Jamaica at the time, and there
was a second one listed in the Register built in 1760; a 3rd one is
also listed, but built after this incident[110].
This Atlantic was subject of correspondence following the death of a sailor in
a brawl on board in the Tagus River in early March 1776. John Maitland was not
then master (see full PRO extracts later in this paper) this may not have been
the same ship.
The ownership of “Atlantic” indicates a connection between Alexander Rose,
John & Richard Maitland: Alexander Rose was a merchant and shipbuilder in
South Carolina, probably not connected with the Jamaican Rose’s: an Alexander
Rose owned property near Giddy Hall in the early 19thC.
She appears in Lloyds Register in the years between 1776 & 1780, as a
Jamaica “constant trader”. She was live oak built.
On her maiden voyage, she arriving in Gravesend 17th June 1773LL
from S. Carolina (Beaufort from SCG), sailing again from Gravesend to Jamaica 4th
December, 1773LL, passing Deal, Dec. 7. Wind N. Came down and
sailed, with the outward bound...Atlantic, Maitland...for JamaicaNA.
She arrived in Jamaica with 15 others about February, 1774 (rep 15/4/1774LL).
There is no evidence of Atlantic returning to England during the period
December 1773 and August 1775: she was probably trading up and down the East
Coast of America, as evidenced by the mention of her arriving in Philadelphia[111], 5th September
1774, sailing again to Jamaica on the 19th of the same month: she
must have returned quickly from Jamaica as she was also cleared from
Philadelphia for Jamaica 14th November, 1774, arriving there about 1st
January 1775 from Philadelphia (rep 24/2/1775LL). She was in Black
River in late January, 1775 as a sailor from her was buried there on the 26th
January[112].
She probably remained in Jamaica awaiting the Eastbound season until mid
summer, perhaps this was when he first met Rebecca Wright. He would have left
Jamaica perhaps mid June, to arrive in the Downes from Jamaica 8th
August, 1775LL. Her arrival is described in the press: “The
following ships from Jamaica are arrived in the Downs; the Atlantic, Maitland, the
Blue Mountain Valley, Ballyntype, The Earl of Effingham, Curling. The above
ships have the greatest quantity of rum on board that any three ships have
brought for many years; the makers intending to reduce their stock, as a war is
expected to break out between England and Spain”.[113]
John Maitland in the Atlantic next left the Downes for Jamaica with 3
others, 16th November, 1775LL. They evidently routed via
Rochfort as reported in Lloyd’s 10 May 1776, arriving in Jamaica maybe late
February, returning to Gravesend from Jamaica, with 10 others, 8th
August 1776LL; the ships were probably by now sailing in convoy as
the danger from American privateers increased.
As Lloyds register recorded, Atlantic was a “constant trader” London to
Jamaica, and in this state, she was at the Downes, passing Deal, Dec 16 “Wind
NNW. Came down and sailed with the Lord Amherst armed ship... Atlantic,
Maitland for Cadiz...”NA, probably being there about the turn of the
year (rep 8/2/1777NA) and on to Jamaica, arriving there about April
(arr rep 27/6/1777LL); she returned to Gravesend from Jamaica, with
50 others, 18th August, 1777.
Lloyd’s List 1778 is not available, but the newspapers carried reports of
the next, similar voyage, which left Deal Feb 8 (1778). “Wind S. Came down and
remain...Atlantic, Maitland for Jamaica...”NA, returning via Plymouth
from Jamaica 15th September, 1778NA with 34 others,
arriving in the River the 21st with 11 others.
The Oxford Journal, 26/9/1778: “This morning the following ships arrived in the
River, Part of the last Fleet from Jamaica... the Atlantic, Maitland...”
The last reported voyage of John Maitland on Atlantic left Gravesend to
Jamaica the 28th February, 1779, passing the Downes 3rd
March, and arrived St Eustacie (rep 3/8/1779LL), presumably sailing
on to Jamaica, whence she arrived in the Downes from Jamaica, with a convoy of
50 ships, 4th November, 1779LL.
There was a Jamaica Gazette entry 5/6/1779 of Atlantic, Dunney, cleared
from Port Royal for London as part of a fleet. This does not fit the timing
unless it was a different ship.
1780: Hope Br, J Maitland, 160 Bermuda, 77, Capt, 13,
London Jamaica, A1.
John Maitland made one voyage in his new ship, the Brig Hope, in which he
sailed to Jamaica, remaining in the Downs 5th March 1781 “...Hope,
Maitland for Jamaica...PS Most of the outward-bound ships are under sail, and
the rest are preparing to sail with HMS the Hannibal. Wind NNW.”
There were some delays to the convoy as reported in the West India
Committee minutes, 27/2/81 where there is a reference to an instruction from
the Admiralty to delay the convoy by 48 hours from “Friday last” in order to
give time for the ships in the river to join the convoy. The Admiralty will
order the convoy to wait 24 hours after the wind comes fair before they sail
from St Helens that the merchant ships may have time to join them from the
Downs.
She routed via St Eustacie: “Yesterday advice was received of the following
ships arriving at St Eustatia the 25th April. They sailed from Portsmouth the
15th of March, in company with the Grand Fleet; and afterwards proceeded under
convoy of the Aetaeon and Lizard men of war, viz... Hope, Maitland, (+12)...
They were expected to sail for Jamaica in company with many others on the 1st
of May, under convoy of HMS the Prince William, of 64 guns, Capt Douglas, and
the Aetaeon, of 44 guns”NP.
Hope was entered into Jamaica 16th May, 1781 “Brig Hope, John
Maitland, sq stern, 70 tons, Plantation built 1777, Reg London 22 Fb 1781,
owner JM, 2 guns 10 men, 200 casks flour, Dry goods, bond given 22 Feb 1780.
16/5 81. With 4 others[114].
Her voyage from London is briefly described in the
Jamaica Royal Gazette, Kingston May 19th 1781: “Monday HMS Aetion,
commanded by Francis Parry, esq from Great Britain and the windward Islands,
with the following ships under his protection arrived at Port Royal: ...Hope,
Maitland...
The following are store ships and victuallers for this Island and
Pensacola...Hope...
THE FLEET LEFT Portsmouth the 13th March, in company with the Grand
Fleet for the relief of Gibraltar, consisting of 25 ships of the line under
Admiral Darby, Commodore Johnston’s squadron, composed of 2 ships of the line 4
fifties, 6 frigates, a number of sloops and fire ships together with transports
carrying Col Fullarton's regiment of two battalions, Col Humbertsons and a
regiment of Highlanders in all near 400 men, under convoy of the Oiseau, a
fleet for Cork and that for the East Indies.
The West Indies fleet arrived in Barbados the 21st April, and the
ships for this island at St Eustatius the 27th from whence they
sailed on the 4th Instant.”
She was then cleared about the 9th June from Kingston for
Savanna la Mar[115],
although this is not listed in the customs records. She must have sailed from
there later, probably to Black River, or perhaps back to Kingston. In the
event, she was caught by a severe hurricane and wrecked in Black River Bay on
the 1st August (her cargo was reported to be partly saved, although
the human occupants were not mentioned[116]).
There were a number of reports about this storm over the next few months. The
first people to be affected were the London fleet of 220 ships having sailed
early July had returned to Kingston with a number of losses.
Plate
M 10
Edwards Vol 2, p394 ff. contains commentary on the economic effects of storms
around this period.
Kingston Aug 4th (Saturday)
On Wednesday forenoon a severe storm of wind accompanied by heavy and
incessant rain, came on here, and continued all that night, and a great part of
the following day; the wind during that time veering from NE to SE – it blew
with such violence during the night that numbers of the shipping and small
craft in this harbour and that of Port Royal were driven ashore, and some of them
irrecoverably lost – From the hulks at the east end of Town to Passage Fort,
not less than 90 vessels of different sizes are on shore many of which have
sustained very considerable damage; but we have not been able to collect their
names. Of the fleet at Port Royal about 30 are on shore from Passage Fort to 12
apostles .... Hope, Simes... some of them it is feared will, not be got off and
others not without much trouble. we have not learned what number of lives have
been lost, but in so general a devastation it must be considerable. Upwards of
20 bodies have been found and buried on the Palisados....
There was no further mention of the storm except for a
letter from Montego Bay the next week which mentioned the devastation in St
Elizabeth.
London (Nov 1781)...Twenty thousand pounds of the money sent for
the relief of the Jamaica farmers have arrived, the distribution of which has
thrown the whole island into the utmost confusion. Notwithstanding the most
equitable caution, partiality is imputed to the gentlemen concerned in the
business. The governor, the council, and the assembly, are much censured by
discontented individuals, who have excited the rabble to a violence, to suppose
which a spirited ex.. became necessary, and several were punished. The
remaining twenty thousand pounds are expected every day with the utmost
solicitude .. the last hurricane has increased the distress on.. people to a
very great degree. e hurricane in Jamaica so soon succeeding the former one
which desolated that Island but little more than twelve months before, is a
circumstance that has astonished the inhabitants, the oldest of whom never
remember two hurricanes happening at either of the West India Islands in less
than nearly treble that space of time! List of Ships lost in the violent Storm
which happened at Jamaica on the 1st and 2nd of August.... Hope, Maitland,
bound for London +15 others. A letter from Kingston in Jamaica says a neutral
vessel put in there the 18th Aug., the master of which gives an account, that the
8th, they had a violent hurricane at the Island of Hispaniola, in which seven
Spanish men of war were drove on shore, four of which were lost: that all the
merchant ships were likewise thrown on shore, but they are in hope of getting
most of them off; also that the.. run so high, many men were washed overboard
and drowned, and a great deal of damage done on shore, whole ranges of
warehouses being blown down. The West India merchants are afraid that the late
phenomenon in the tide have been caused by another hurricane in the West
Indies, such as lately felt to the destruction of thousands, as .. uncommon
flux of the sea happened in the middle? of October, which is the time the
hurricanes generally happen in the West Indies[117].
Over 120 vessels were driven ashore, a large number of which are destroyed. Of
the vessels lost, 30 are British men of war.
Another Hope, a Ship (listed in BT 6/186).
A 150 ton vessel, the Hope, of Bristol, was granted letters of Marque in 1777,
but it is unlikely that this was the same one[118]. This ship was driven
ashore in Kingston Harbour area in the hurricane of 1st August 1781.
Royal Gazette 31st May 1781 carried an advertisement for the Ship
Hope, John Sims, to sail from Morant Bay for Bristol with the next fleet.
Bristol built, 3 years old. She was listed, with Sims as master, in the fleet
which sailed early July, but which had to turn back to Kingston, arriving about
25 July.
HMS Ulysses dismasted in John Maitland’s Hurricane.
Lloyd’s List coverage is patchy for this period. She appeared in LL in 1740
with Fortesque Vernon as master from Jamaica in one entry, but in Madeira from
Boston in another.
Ann Snow 3/1/1741 came in Bristol 7 weeks from St Kitts. Also Lloyd List.
Reference to a storm 9 Jan 1734 in which “The Ann Snow, Kitchenham, for
Jamaica, was on shore, but got off again.” In a letter from Portsmouth, so probably
in the Channel around Southsea[119].
Notice is hereby given to the Officers and Companies of his Majesty's Ships under-mentioned,
who were at the taking of the following Prizes, viz...Ann Snow, retaken
ship...31/12/1744 the same. From The London Magazine, and Monthly Chronologer,
Volume 15 (1746): Persons declared Bankrupt...Kender Mason, Bread street,
Merchant... KM appears in various sources as a trader in the Americas.
25 September 1745:
The Creditors of Kender Mason, late of Bread Street, London, Merchant (as well
those who were present at the Meeting on Friday Night last, as all others his
Creditors) are desired to meet on Friday next, the 27th instant, at Five
o'Clock in the Afternoon, at the Crown Tavern behind the Royal Exchange, on
special ??, and of Capt. Stewart, late Commander of the Ann Snow, bound to
Athens? be in Town, he is desired to attend the said Meeting.[120]
PRO HCA 32/94: Ann snow, of Bristol, master Charles Finlay; English merchant
ship, captured with others by French warships, and sent with English prisoners
of war to a French or neutral port, but retaken from France: two examinations,
allegation, claim, appraisement. 1745.
In these papers, the ship is quoted as a burthen of 50 tons, whereas the
advertised ship was 130 tons. In one place, the prize papers refer to the ship
as “the snow called the Ann of Bristol of burthen of fifty tons or thereabouts,
although many other entries are for the “Anne Snow”. The papers are all dated
about May 1745 or later. It seems that HCA 32/94/6 probably relates this ship,
but there is no real proof.
HCA 32/94/6 Prize papers for the Anne Snow:
Translation of a French Paper taken on board the Anne Snow of Bristol
We the undersigned Edward Lee of London living in Shad Thames, Hugh Moorcroft
of London living in Shadwell Ratcliff Highway Char: Finlay of Bristol living in
Lower Cottage Green having been made prisoners of War yesterday by a Squadron
of the King of France commander by Mr Desherbiers de L’Estendnors Head of this
squadron of the fleet of his most Christian Majesty which Commander was the
Ship Anne Snow with her Cargoe in order to take on board our three Ships and
made oath punchially to execute what follows, to go with the said Ship to the
first part of France we can make or to the first nonhal Port either Lisbon or
elsewhere and being arrived there to put the said vessel and her cargos into
the hand of the Intendants or Comissary of the Marines in the Port of France or
of the French Consul in the nonhal Ports & shall not in the least meddle
with the said Cargoes and that upon these Conditions We shall be set at Liberty
with all our Crews, And Desherbiers de L’Estendnors request all who are to be
requested to let the said vessel the Anne Snow freely pass with all the
prisoners whom we send away and to give no Impediment to their navigation
provided they shape their course for one the ports of France or a nonhal Port
which they oblige themselves to do for want of which and for the greater
Serenity? Prize has been retained for hostage eight persons of the Crews of the
said three Ships who are not to be set at Liberty till the obligations
mentioned in the present Act and extended and this present Obligation taking
place as a ransom Done on board the King’s Ship Le Inste at Sea the seventh of
April One thousand seven hundred and forty five.
Faithfully translated from the French at London this thirty first of May 1745.
Devon (to Witt) Burrough
Plymouth
Be it known to all whom these presents shall concern that the before named
Charles Finlay and Thomas Sanders are were by virtue of a Commission herein
before mentioned in my presence produced and brought before and severally and
separately examined and interrogated by Robert Hicks Gentleman one of the
Commissioners in the said Commission named upon several Interrogatorys
hereinbefore mentioned being a copy of the Interrogatorys which are annexed to
the said commission and both their sayings and depositions were faithfully
reduced into writing by me John Elford Notary Publick substituted and appointed
for that purpose by the Deputy Register of the high Court of Admiralty of
England in the said commission named and such the sayings and depositions
before named persons so reduced into writing are to these presents annexed in
order to be transmitted to the Judge of the said high Court of Admiralty on
England or his Surrogate as the said commission requires all which do hereby
certify under my hand and Notarial Seal at Plymouth aforesaid this four and
twenty fifth day of May in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and
forty five.
Standing Interrogatorys on behalf of our Sovereign Lord George the second by
the grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith
to be administered to what so ever witness shall be produced to be examined
touching or concerning the capture or seizure of any ship vessel or goods and
merchandise as therein seized and taken or which hereafter shall be seized and
taken by any of the ships of the fleet of our said Sovereign Lord the King and
particularly to the masters pilots and some of the mariners of all and singular
the said ships and vessels seized and taken by any of the said ships of the
fleet of our said sovereign lord the King and such other person or persons by
whom the truth may properly be discovered and brought to Plymouth.
Appears to be a standard list of questions, paraphrased below:
1. place of birth, residence, how long there, where have you lived in the last
7 years, nationality.
2. Where, when and by whom was the ship and lading goods taken, and where was
it taken, was there any resistance made or guns fired against the ship who took
them & how many shots.
3. was the witness present to the time of the taking, or how and when were they
first told. Was the ship taken by a man of war or privateer and what commission
did the ship have. Was the ship taken a man of war or merchantman.
4. What pretence was the ship taken, to what port was she carried whether she
was condemned and by whom and what authority.
5. Name of master of the ship, how long has the witness known him, who
appointed him, where did he take over, who delivered the ship to him, where
does the master live with wife and family, and how long and nationality.
6 How many marines on the ship when taken, what nationality, where did they
board, had the witness or the marines any part in the ship or goods taken
7. Did the witness belong to the ship, how long known the ship, where first
seen, what burthen, how many guns carried, how many men, where built, name, how
long under that name, what previous names.
8 Where was the ship from and to.
9. Who was the owner of the ship and goods, how did the witness know this, and
what nationality.
10. Was there any bill of sale made to the owners, date, where made, when did
the witness see it, and where is the bill of sale.
11. Where was she laden and when, what were the goods, who were they owned by
and who consigned to.
12. How many bills of lading were signed for the goods, were they collectable?
And what became of them
13. Any bills of lading etc to prove the witness’s own property or any one
else’s property and how owned
14. Time and degree of latitude taken.
15. Any Charterparty signed for the voyage. What were the contents.
16. What papers were on board the ship when taken, and where are they
17. What loss or damage has the witness sustained by the seizing etc, and what
value, and have you received any satisfaction for such loss and from whom.
Deposition of witnesses taken 28 May 1745 at the house of Elizabeth Mason?
Widow, known by the sign of the Fountain...
Charles Finlay now Master of the Ann Snow of Bristol the burthen of fifty tons
or thereabouts
Charles Finlay master of the Ann Snow of Bristol burthen of fifty tons or
thereabouts aged twenty five years. Born in Fyfe but lived in Bristol
2. on board .. qty of Bale Goods, Iron Barrs Copper Rods, Musquetts Gun Powder
and sundry merchandise at Bristol. Departed 11th February last for
Africa and America and on 26th March at about 6 or 7 o’clock in the
evening... about 46 latitude and about 11 west of London, taken as prize by 6
French men of war and took deponent and the mate and carpenter hostage, and put
on board about 115 English prisoners from English ships called ... and told
Deponent as prisoners of war to some part of France .. proceeding there, good
fortune to fall in with six English men of War which retook the said snow and
ordered to Plymouth.
21 mariners taken from the Snow.
Refers to the said Snow called Ann. & was bound to Africa and America (ie
slaver). Daniel Saunders of Bristol was owner. Master had about £100 of wearing
apparel as a private adventure. Retaken by squadron of ships of war under the
command of Vice Admiral William Martin esquire, about March 1745.
Ship & her Stores etc £252-16-0
Total value of ship & merchandise etc £1674-6-4.
Pre dates Lloyd’s Register (1764).
LL 8/11/1757: The Duke, Maitland, and the Lydia, Teague, from Virginia for
London are lost; the former foundered 4 days after she left the Capes, and the
latter three days after she sailed, but the crew were saved.
The Duke, Maitland and Lydia, Jackson, from Virginia for London, are lost
in a Gale of Wind, but the Crews taken up by the Garland Man of War, who was
Convoy to the Fleet (NA).
This date of this entry implies that the loss of the Duke to have been before
about mid-late September, quite possibly in a hurricane coming up the US East
Coast.
A hurricane is listed between Florida & Boston 11 August 1757 “Rain for 3
days; great SW-NW-N gusts” (Wikipedia). An NOAA report mentions October 1757 –
HMS Duke of Cumberland lost off Cape Henry about this time.
ref Louis Currie: There is an admiralty record of the Duke just having left
Jamaica.
PRO ADM 51/385, HMS Garland Captain’s Logs
Thurs 22nd (September 1757) NWbW Anchored in Hampton Rd:
...5 am fired a gun and made signal to weigh att 9 Weigd and came to sail as did the convoy sailing thro the narrows Cape Henry EbS 1 mile.
Friday 23rd SWbW, W, N, NNE, 41m 36º31 N long made: 0.39 E Cape Henry N 60 W 14 leagues
Light Airs and variable 50 Sl in sight under our course att 12 pm fresh gales and squally winf on 3rd reef foretop sl reefing in the Mn tops it split unbent it and bent another reefd and sett it in 3rd reef mzx top sl do hand’d it foreward and mand topsails and ? down top galland yad ½ past pam fired gun and made signal for the weathermost ships to bear down.
Saturday 24th N, NbW, EbS, 53m, 36º38N 1º44E, Cape Henry N71W 28 Leagues
Fresh Gales and squally at 5 pm brought too and made a signal for the convoy to come under my stern fired a shott at a snow that went a head of the convoy 45 sail in sight att ½ past 9 one of the convoy made a signal of distress wore and bore down to her and found she had sprung a leak the ship Lydia of London brought too and fired a gun a signal for the convoy to bring too.
Sunday 25th NNW, EbS,WNW, 32m, 36º42N 2º30E, ditto 82:34W 39 Leagues
Bore down to the Duke merhct Ship who made a signal of distress found she had sprung a leak laying to by Ditto. Modt and cloudy wnd. Spoke with the Jamaica sloop att pm brought too stove our longboat in hoisting out to send on board a ship in distress. Sent the Pinnace who brought on board the people the ship being sinking.
Monday 26th, Calm, SE, EbN, 106, 37º30N, 4º22”, ditto W3/4S 68 Leagues
Modt and cloudy Wn. The Duke made a signal of distress but not before she was desirted fired two guns made signals to bring too and to all masters mercht ships. Att 7 brought the Dukes people on board they quitted her being leaky
Tuesday 27th, NW, 104m, 38º03N, 6º31E, Ditto N78W, 106 Leagues
Moderate and fair Wr Saw a sail in the SE quarter fired a gun and made a signal for the Jamaica to chace ½ past made the signal to give over the chace saw a sail in the NE quarter made a signal for the convoy to come under my stern fired a shott to bring too one of the convoy
Wednesday 28th, WNW, WbN, NNW, 93m, 37º53N, 8º23E, ditto S23.82:24W 134 Leagues
Strong gales and cloudy Wr Shortened sail for the convoy att 5 m hove to and made the signal for the convly to come under our stern att ½ past bore away at 11 am made the signal for the John & Ann to bear down 42 sail in sight.
PRO ADM 1/235, Admiral's despatches, Jamaica 1713-1789 (re Duke),
1757-1760 Lists and Indexes, Admiralty XVIII p3.
(copied 17 May 2008)
Marlborough at Spithead, 7th March 1757.
Sir,
I received their Lordships orders of the 5th Instant this morning, too late to
answer by the Post. The two Assistant Surgeons I have ordered on board the
Lynn.
Mr Jones Agent for the Hospital at Haslar applied to me this afternoon to take
on board the Medicines and Stores for the Hospital at Jamaica and at the same
time acquainted me they filled four wagons, it being impossible for me to
receive such a Quantity either in my own Ship or Lynn with the Provisions
ordered by their Lordships. I advised him to ship them on board some Merchant
Ship bound to Jamaica. The Wind is now Eastward of the N and the Convoy from
the Downs all at an anchor, though few of the Masters have yet been on board to
take orders. I propose sailing tomorrow morning, and give them orders at Sea
rather than lose an Opportunity of this Wind.
Inclosed is a List of the Ships under my Convoy, a more exact account of them
will be sent you by the first Opportunity.
I am Sir
Your most Obedient Servant
Thos Cotes
Ships listed with:
Ships Name, Master’s Name, What Built, Were Belonging, Number of Men, Guns,
Tons, From Whence, Whither Bound lading, When Received Order.
An example:
Duke, Rich’d Maitland, Ship, London, 20, 10, 360, London, Virginia, Ballast,
7th March 1757.
Marlborough at Spithead 10th March 1757.
Sir,
The 8th Instant in the morning I made the Signall to unmoor, and intended
sailing but before I could get my Best Bower Anchor up, the Wind veered to the
Southward and from thence to the Westward, which obliged to moor again in the
Evening, it has since been variable with Calms, but I hope is now fixed
Easterly. I made the Signal to unmoor this morning by break of day and I hope
to get the Convoy out to Sea before Night.
Inclosed is a List of Ships who have taken my orders since my Letter of the 7th
Instant.
I am, Sir,
Your most Obdt Servant,
Thos Cotes
The Wind at NNE with Snow.
Marlborough in Torbay 15th March 1757.
Since my Letter of the 12th Instant from this Place His
Majesty’s Ships Newcastle, Lynn and Hornett have joined me and brought in with
them the merchant ships that were in the rear of the Fleet. The 13th in the Evening
the Wind came to the Northward and I was in hopes of its coming to the
Eastward, I immediately made the Signal for getting ready to sail but before we
could get a Peak on our anchor, it backed to the Westward and began to blow,
and all yesterday it blew very hard at NW and WNW. Last night it was moderate
Weather, and this morning it blows very hard at West.
I have wrote to Rear Admiral Harrison at Plymouth to desire a Supply of Beer
only to be sent here, if the Wind should continue Westerly and keep us here.
I shall sail as soon as the Wind shifts so that I can get down Channell.
Inclosed is the State of His Majesty’s Ships under my Command.
I am Sir,
Your most Obedient Servant,
Thos Cotes.
Marlborough in Torbay 16th March 1757 at 1,0’clock pm
Sir,
The hard gale from the West to NNW that has blown for two days past, ceased
this morning, and at 8 the Wind shifted to No when I made the Signal to prepare
to sail, that the merchant ships might get up their Yards and Topmasts, and
take up one anchor, most of them being obliged to let go two anchors, when it
blew so hard; the Wind now appears to me settled at NNE and I am getting under
sail, that the Fleet may have time to get one before Night,
I am, Sir,
etc.
Marlborough at Sea 8th April 1757.
Latt in 41d 05m N Long 13:35 Wt
Start (Point?) No 38:45 E Dist 230Lg
Finister N54.15E Dist 73 Lgs.
The 17th of March we sailed from Torbay the Wind then blowing fresh at NNE; by
night all the Fleet were got clear; and at 8 we took our Departure from the
Start, the Wind continued Easterly till the 18th, when it veered to the
Westward, and the 20th it blew so hard we could carry no Sail, and were obliged
to bring too under a Mainsail; the Merchant Ships who did not take care to bear
down lost Company, as we drove much faster than them; The 24th in the Latitude
of 48˚22’ Longitude 5˚ 4’ from the Start (Point?). A Merchant
Ship acquainted me, that His Majesty’s Sloop Stork had in the late bad Weather
in the Night carried away all her Masts, but had got up Jury Masts and was bore
away for the Channell, and as the Wind was then at WSW I hope she soon got into
some port. We had very bad weather for fifteen Days together in the Bay of
Biscay, but have now a good Prospect of making our Passage soon. Very few of
the Convoy have lost Company there being now 97 sail in sight.
Inclosed is the State of His Majesty’s Ship Marlborough, the
Lynn and Hornett bring up the Rear of the Convoy, which prevents my getting
their accounts.
I shall this morning part Company with Commodore Stevens and the India Ships as
they must Steer more to the Southward than our Convoy lays.
etc, Thos Cotes.
Marlborough in Passage
8th May 1757.
In my last letter of the 8th of April by way of Madeira I acquainted you of my
parting Company with Commodore Stevens and the East India Ships. The 10th of
April I made the Signal for all Masters of Merchant Ships, and finding only six
light Ships bound to Barbados, and sixty to the other Islands, I ordered the
Lynn to see them safe to Barbados, and with the remaining Sixty steered for
Antigua, where I arrived the 5th Instant, with all the Convoy. The Store ships
went into English harbour and the Merchant Ships to their different Ports. I
delivered Rear Admiral Frankland his Commission after he had taken the Oaths,
and Subscribed the Test, a Certificate of which is Inclosed, I also told him he
must direct his agent in London to pay the Fees of the Office.
The 6th I ran? The Ships bound to Montserrat, Nevis and St Christopher to their
several Ports, and anchored in this Road to get a Supply of Water and Rum for
the Ship’s Company, all the Wine we brought out of England being expended by
the Length of our Passage, I have been obliged to hire a Sloop to fetch my
Water, as old Road is by no means a proper Place for so large a Ship to lay and
there is no Water here, the Moment she returns I shall proceed with the Trade
bound to Jamaica. The Storeships that stopped at Antigua have some of His
Majesty’s Stores on board for Jamaica. I have ordered Capt Kirke to call at
Antigua to convoy them to Jamaica, and I have desired Adml Frankland to assist
in unloading them that the Lynnn may not be detained there.
The Recruits of Colonel Ross’s Regiment I sent to the Head Quarters in a
Schooner W Frankland lent me, four of them dyed in the Passage of Fevers. The
Packetts for Barbados I sent by Capt Kirke, and those for Antigua I delivered
to Admiral Frankland.
Inclosed is an Affidavit, that was yesterday made before the Lieutenant
Governor of this Island, the Person who made it seemed to me to be very
positive as to the facts. I therefore thought it my duty to get an Original to
lay before their Lordships.
Inclosed it the State of His Makesty’s Ship the Marlborough and Hornett Sloop.
I am etc.
Edinburgh Port Royal Jamaica
7 May 1757 659
Recd 22 June,
Read ditto
Sir,
Since my last to you of the 24th March, by his Majesty's Ship the Biddeford, I
beg leave to Acquaint you, for the Information of the Rt Honourable the Lords,
Commissioners of the Admiralty, that his Majesty's Ships Augusta, Princess Mary
and Humber, Arrived here on the 7th of last month, from the North sides of
Hispaniola, Captain Craven Acquaints me in his Letter of the same day, of his
looking into Cape Francois, a Copy of which Letter I have hereby enclosed. His
Majesty's Dreadnought, and Shoreham are likewise Arrived, from the South sides
of Hispaniola.
I have here inclosed you a Deposition of one Joseph Thurston, Master of the
Snow Defiance, giving an Account of his falling in with a Fleet of Ships, Off
the Island of Mona, and one of the Ships carrying a White Flagg at the
Foretopmast head. As in my former Letter to you, Sir, of the 24th of March, I
acquainted you, the French Prisoners, that were taken by one of our Privateers,
gave an account of fourteen Sail of French Men of War, Sailing from Brest, And
as this Master says he saw these ships off St. Domingo, I immediately
dispatched a small schooner up to Port Louis, to look into that harbour, for if
they were the French Squadron, they might have put in there, but upon her return,
the Officer I sent in the Schooner, Informed me, he saw nothing in the Harbour,
but two small Vessells; I therefore Imagine the Fleet was the Spanish Flota,
which is expected every day but as I shall endeavour to gain the best
intelligence I can. I have ordered his Majesty's Ship Lively, who arrived here
woth the Roebuck and Assistance, with the Trade from ?? on the 25th of last
month to prepare for the Seas, and propose as she goes well, to send her up to
look into Cape Francois, that I may know if there are any other French Squadron
there, except that of Monsieur Beaufremond, and especially as there is some
reason to think that the French Squadron that was upon the Coast of Guinea is
Arrived there as their Lordships will please to Observe by Captains Wyatts
letter to me of this 25th April.
I have ordered his Majesty's Ship Assistance to Carreen, without loss of time,
and I am ordering to put the Squadron in the best condition I can, having
Stores of any kind, and hope to have some further ?? with the Trade from
England, by the time the Squadron is ready for the Sea.
The several Rumours We have had, both from the Dutch and Spaniards, of the
French intending an attack on this Island, has occasioned the Lieutenant
Governor to declare Martial Law, and they are now putting the Fortifications of
this Island into the best postures of Defence they can; I have given them all
the Assistance in my power, by mounting their Cannon and repairing such of
their Carriages as were gone to decay, and shall continue my Assistances to
them, to this Utmost, and hope in a little time to see their Forts in a
suitable situation to repulse any Attack that may be made on this Island.
I would further Acquaint you; for their Lordships Information, that Monsieur
Bart, the new Governor of Hispaniola, has sent a Flagg of Truce, which Arrived
here the 30th of March, to Mr Moore, the Lieutenant Governor, to prepare an
Exchange of Prisoners, by which Opportunity I received a Letter from Captain
Roddan, with an Account of the taking of His Majesty's Ship Greenwich, a Copy
of which I herewith Inclose.
His Majesty's Ship the Wager[121]
is likewise returned to this Port, but am very sorry to Acquaint you of the
Death of Captain Preston, and the Surgeon and Purser of that Ship, I have
appointed Mr Shurmer, first Lieutenant of the Edinburgh, Captain of the Wager,
and Mr Burnett, Midshipman on board His Majesty's Ship Dreadnought, to be third
Lieutenant of the Humber, having moved Mr Dumaresque, first Lieutenant of that
Ship, to be fourth Lieutenant of the Edinburgh, Whom I hope their Lordships
will favour me so far as to Confirm.
I have Inclosed you, Sir, a certain Account of the eight ?? ships that are
Arrived at Cape Francois, under the Command of Monsieur Beaufremond, And
likewise Captain Moore's Account of the Spanish Ships now laying at the
Havanna.
I beg leave to Acknowledge this Receipt of their Lordships Orders of the 3rd
January 1757, relating to ?? the time of the Departure of the first and second
Convoy, for proceeding to England with the Trade if this Island, which I shall
punctually Confirm to, and give the proper Notice thereof.
Captain Weller having Acquainting me, he had appointed Mr John Henry third
Lieutenant of His Majesty's Ship Assistance on the Coast of Guinea, in the room
of one of the Lieutenants who dyed there, And Mr Henry not having passed for a
Lieutenant, Applies to me for an Order of that purpose, which I Granted, and I
Inclose you a Copy of the Certificate of his having passed, together with the
State and Condition of his Majesty's Squadron under my Command.
I am Sir, Your Most Humble Servant,
Geo Townshend
PS
Sir, since writing the above, Captain Wickham of His Majesty's Ship Augusta, & Captain Forest of His Majesty's Ship Rye having acquainted me they are desirous of Exchanging their Commissions, I have consented to it.
January –December 1758
Downes (25 Jan, a transport, Naval??, no destination; the manner in which it is
listed associates her with some men of warLL The Newspapers show 24
transports waiting wind in the Downes until some sailed, probably including
Sharp, about 20th February – the destination may have been Jamaica,
Sharp is not named again: 5 transports remained until early March, but Sharp
was not in the list); Boston (arr from Louisbug mid September, rep 13/11/58LL)
arr the Downs from Louisburg with Portmahon, man of war, 9/12/58LL.
Boston Weekly News-Letter, September 1758 re slave.
26/1/1759: arr in the River from Lousiburg
Mid 1759-mid 1760
Arrived the Downes, 12 July 1759 for Philadelphia.
London-Philadelphia (arr rep 8/11/59),
7/2/1760, Penn Gazette, reported arrived Antigua.
February 1760, Guadeloupe from PhiladelphiaLL.
This would put Richard Maitland back in England not before about early summer
1760.
31/7/1760: Penn Gazette, letters awaiting Captain Richard Maitland at the
receiving officeNP.COM. There were no entries for Sharp arriving in
Philly between July & December 1760
A Sharp commander by Dunlop arrived Glasgow from Maryland about 1 May 1760;
another Sharp was in the North Sea in February – it seems likely that these are
not the same ship.
Newspapers:
The Maryland Gazette (Annapolis) Thurs 8/10/1761: RD/Sharp, Prize.
Copy of a decree extracted from the Registry of the Court of
Appeal for Prizes
“Saturday the 27th Day of June, 1761, Before the Right Hon...(list
of judges)...
The Sharp, Richard Maitland.
A business of appeal, and complaint of nullity, promoted by Richard Maitland, a
subject of our Sovereign lord the King, the Master and Claimant of the said
Ship Sharp, and Goods therein, against Timothy Edwards esq, Commander of His
Majesty’s Ship of Frigate the Valeur, the Captor of the said Ship and Goods.
Gosling, Altham.
For Sentence on the second assignation and information; which day the Lords
having heard the proofs and council on both sides, by their final decree or
sentence, reversed the sentence of the Vice Admiralty Court of Gibraltar, from
whom the cause was appealed, condemning ship and cargo; and pronounced the said
ship and cargo to belong as claimed, and decreed the same to be restored, or
its full value thereof to be paid to the claimants. Godflee Farrant, Register
of HM’s high court of Appeal for Prizes.
Lloyds Register, 1764: John Addis, master, to Oport. & Car. (Oporto &
Caribbean?), 300tons, 6&4 Guns, 18 men, Built - French 1758, Owner - Greg
Olive. Addis took over from RM in LL. The tonnage may have been the net tons,
ie payload.
It may be that Philippa was a Prize, taken sometime before April 1761. HCA
32/230/6 on:
Le Philippe.
John Dyer Commander of the Private Ship of War called the Defiance by virtue of
a Commission or Letter of Marque granted to him under the Great Seal of the
High Court of Admiralty of England by virtue of a warrant from the Right
Honourable the Lords Commissioners for the Executing the office of High Admiral
of Great Britain against the said Ship called Le Philippe, her Tackle Apparel
and Furniture and the Goods therein taken and seized by the said Private Ship
of War called the Defiance, whereof the said John Dyer is Commander and brought
to Spithead and against all persons in general.
On which day Gostling as lawful Proctor for the said John Dyer by all lawful
ways and means and to all effects of law and whatsoever alledged pleaded and
articulately propounded as follows, to wit:
War declared 17th May 1756....
That the said ship called Le Philippe whereof the said Francois Le Tellier was
master or commander belonging to the French King his vassals or subjects having
divers goods Wares and Merchandise of the French King or his subjects on board
was on or about the thirtieth day of the month of May last past by the said
Private Ship called the Defiance whereof the said John Dyer then was and now is
commander who had a Letter of Marque or a commission for a private ship of war
granted to him.... and seized as a lawful prize and afterwards brought to
Spithead.. lawful prize.
Depositions taken on 23rd June 1757 at Southampton Town Hall.
Francois Letellier about 34 years old, of Bordeaux...
...Ship taken on 30th May last about 40 leagues SW of Bellisle (southern
Brittany), brought to Portsmouth..
Burthen about 330 tons
From Bordeaux to Port au Prince in St Domingo and back, taken on her passage
back to Bordeaux, with sugar, indigo and cotton coffee tanned hides and copper.
Phillippa Privateer Letter of Marque – Richard as Commander
HCA 26/12/87
17 April 1761 89
Appeared personally Captain Richard Maitland of the Parish of St Pauls Shadwell
in the County of Middlesex mariner
and produced a warrant from the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners for
Executing the Offices of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland for
the granting of a Commission or Letter of Marque to him the said Richard
Maitland
and in pursuance of his Majesty’s Instruction to Privateer made the following
Declaration to with that his the said Richard Maitland
his ship is Called the Phillippa
That she is a Square Sterned Ship Painted Black and Yellow, a Syon Head Painted
all Yellow
and is of the burthen of about Three Hundred tons
That the said Richard Maitland goeth Commander of her That she Carrys Sixteen
Carriage Guns
Each Carrying shot of Six and Four pounds weight and
Swivel Guns and belonging to the port of London
Forty Men Thirty Six small arms Twenty four Cutlasses Twelve Barrels of Powder
Twelve Rounds of great Shot and about Three hundred weight of small shot
That the said Ship is victualled for Six months
hath two suits of sails Five Anchors Five Cables and about Thirty hundred
weight of spare cordage
That John Dudley goes Lieutenant John Thomas Gunner William Jones Boatswain
Thomas Lee Carpenter Henry Atkins Cook James Long Surgeon of the said Ship and
that
Mr Henry Loubert and his Partners Mesrs Leavie and Schweighauzen together with
Mr James Bouverieu of London Merchants
are the Principal Owners and Setters out of the said Ship
Richd Maitland
(His signature)
This declaration was made before me
And: Colbeee Ducarel
Surrogate Farrant?
1022
Phillippa
The like Commission is entered on Irof:2 was granted to Richard Maitland to set
forth the Phillippa of the Burthen of about three hundred tons and belonging to
the Port of London whereof he the said Richard Maitland goeth Commander Dated
the Seventeenth Day of April 1761 and in the first year of his Majesty’s Reign.
After the granting of Letters of Marque:
PRO CO/510 checked, but too early.
1764, Lloyds Register:
Present, Master, Port, to, Tons, Guns, M, Built &Yr, Owner, 64,65,66.
Edgar, C. Maitland, London, New York, 200,B, 8, Berm.57r64, C. Maitland, EM,EM.
March 1768 – July 1768:
About this period, Henry Laurens was involved in a long legal dispute about a
ship, the Ann, impounded by the authorities: Little Carpenter was often
mentioned as an example.
1ST AUGUST 1768 -- Captain Maitland’s behaviour to the Custom House Officers
had been so extreemly gross, and he had so Publickly stigmatized them all under
the Exchange in Charlestown.....Captain Maitland had "Publickly
stigmatized all the Custom House Officers
1st August 1768 - Re Ann -- .....That this Deponent was informed by Capt.
Maitland who clear'd out at the Custom-House the day before Capt. Forten
attended to clear out the Ship Ann, That he gave Bond for such Nonenumerated
Goods as he had on board the very day on which he Cleared out and not before.
"1st August 1768 - Re Ann -- ....by Fenwick Bull, Esquire who being duly
sworn declareth that he became Security for Capt. Maitland in a Nonenumerated
Bond at the Custom-House after that Mr. Hatley the Deputy Collector had agreed
to clear his Vessel (being the day before his Vessel was finally cleared out)
altho' the Nonenumerated Goods were then all on Board the Vessel & further
to this Interrogatory the Deponent saith not.
Remark.4
Mr. Bull deposes possitively that Captain Maitland gave a
Nonenumerated Bond after Mr. Hatley had agreed to clear out his vessel, the
Non-Enumerated Goods being all on board, & that only on the very day before
the Ship Ann was seized. Let this be_Hatley evasively deposes above that
Captain Maitland more guarded executed the nonenumerated Bond some time before
his Vessel cleared out, and then Concludes with another Evasion, "
Maiden Voyage: March-Sept 1771
What was the Polly & Nancy, Maitland, from S. Carolina at Gravesend, 3/3/1772?? Was this Richard’s son Charles??
P490 Westminster, 5th October 1772 -- I should have told you Mr. Hawkins will Ship your several articles per Magna Charta & I hope the bounty on Leather will nearly pay Charges; Insurance excepted, on which you are silent. Mr. Grubb moved often for that employment but I did not think it would be pleasing to you nor would it have been generous.
also some seeds for HL.
Jan 1774-June 1774
Several letters about price of rice and freight this period. Implication that the “freight” was the value of the landed rice.
A number of Laurens letters were carried on this voyage, some making confirmatory remarks about departure and arrivals.
Aug 1774 – Sept 1774
Late 1774: A long set of letters about Richard Grubb in HL, including his death.
20th September 1774, letter from HL to JL and the Tea Party.
Henry Laurens papers Vol 9 finish here 12/12/1774, and the direct commercial connection with the Laurens’s and Richard Maitland, although James held onto his share for a little longer.
A long set of correspondence in the HL papers about the problems between Maitland & Laurens appears here.
Phillippa, formerly Magna Charta:
Letters from James Laurens in England June 1777 refer to Richard Maitland &
letters of marquee. This requires more reading!
HCA 26/60 (P112): Letters of Marque
2nd May 1777
Appeared personally Richard Maitland of Broad Street in the parish of St George
in the county of Middlesex mariner
and produced a Warrant from the right hon’ble the Lords Comm’r for executing
the Office of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland &c for the
granting of a Commission to him the said Rich’d Maitland and in pursuance of
his Majesty’s Instruction mage the following Declaration to wit that his the
said Rich’d Maitland’s Ship called the Philippa being Gally built with a Figure
Head has three masts, that the said ship in employed is Trade, that she goes in
Ballast to Cadiz and there takes in a Cargo of Wines – Salt and other Goods for
the use of his Majesty’s Army and Navy at New York – that the said ship is of
the burthen of two hundred and sixty tons, that the said Rich’d Maitland goeth
Commander of her, that she carries fourteen carriage guns carrying shot of four
pounds weight no cahorns and six swivel guns thirty five men, twenty stands of
small arms, twenty cutlasses, fifteen barrels of powder – thirty rounds of shot
and about two hundred weight of small shot, that the said ship is victualled
for eight months, has two shuits of sails five anchors three cables and about
one thousand Weight of Spare cordage, that George Beverage goes Mate or
Lieutenant John Knox Gunner James Thompson Boatswain James Atchison Carpenter
John Thompson Cook and Andrew Johnson Surgeon of the said Ship, that the said
ship is belonging to the Port of London and that she is bound on a voyage to
Cadiz and thence to New York and the West Indies and back to London.
and that James Bourdieu and Samuel Chollet, David Chollet John Nutt merchants
of London and the said Richard Maitland are the owners and setters out of the
said ship.
Richd Maitland
On the same day This decl was made before me And Collee Ducaret Surrogate
The like Commission as is enterd for 18 was granted to Richard Maitland to set
forth the Philippa, of the Burthen 260 Tons, belonging to the Port of London,
& whereof he the said Richard Maitland goeth Commr
Dated 2nd May 1777 and in the 17th Year of his Majesty’s
Reign.
A ship, the Philippa Harbin was also granted Letter of Marque 24th
January 1778, but this was not the same vessel[122]. She appears in Lloyd’s
list between England and Barbados.
This ship “Atlantic” cannot have been the Maitland version: John Maitland was
in Jamaica at this time from Lloyd’s Lists.
She is probably the Atlantic listed in the Register as being of 200 tons owned
by J Mather.
LL: Atlantic, Borg, arrived Dover from Lisbon, 23/4/1776.
PRO:
Item details SP 89/81: Sir John Hort to Viscount Weymouth. Manslaughter of a
sailor by the mate of the British ship Atlantic in the Tagus, and steps he has
taken in this case. The complaints against the Portuguese brokers, and British
seamen imprisoned for seven years without trial, are still unresolved. Spanish
naval and military preparations at Cadiz; Ferrol, and elsewhere.
dates 1776 Mar. 9 Lisbon
St James 2 April 1776
Sir John Hort
Sir,
Your letter to No 1 of this year have been received and laid before the King.
Proper attention shall be paid to the account you have given of the unfortunate
Scuffle on board the British Ship Atlantic, Thoms Borg, Master, between Alex
Kidd, the Chief Mate, and Robert Jackson, one of the sailors, in which Jackson,
by a Blow, or a Jostle of the other was thrown into the Tagus, and was drowned.
Notice will be given at the different Ports, that, on the arrival of the Vessel
the person of Kidd may be secured, that he may be tried for this offence.
You will please to acquaint me, for his Majesty's Information, what
circumstances prevent the Affair of this British Seaman, who has been seven
years in Prison, from being concluded in order that such steps may be taken as
may procure their trial or their release.
PRO:
Item details SP 89/82: Affidavit of Thos. Boog and others of the British ship Atlantic, relative to death of Robert Jackson after a scuffle with the mate, Alexander
Kidd. 1776 Mar. 2 Lisbon.
No5 Lisbon the 23 May 1776
My Lord,
I acknowledged by the last packet the honour of your Lordships letters of
the 23 & 26th past.
We since learn by the Clementine Cat Brown from Philadelphia, that they
left in Delaware bay two French armed ships frigate built and three merchant
ships of the same nation, all laden with military stores: As this vessel has
had a long passage and is several days arrived here, the news she brings will
probably have been received in London before this reaches your Lordship; I
mention it however, because the armed ships are talked of here as frigates,
but thought they are indeed said to be very stout vessels, I am assured they
are absolutely private property: I know not with what propriety I signify to
your Lordship, that having
Lord Viscount Weymouth
P2:
in private conversation on this news, with the French ambassador at this court,
hinted my wonder at the impolicy of his masters furnishing succours to the
Americas, he assured me very solemnly, that though he would not answer for the
boldness of private adventurers, tempted by most advantageous offers of barter,
yet he was perfectly persuaded that the present French administration were
honestly and thoroughly sensible, that France was interested against the
success of the Rebels, and would neither directly nor indirectly give them any
assistance.
Within these two days I have seen two English gentlemen just arrived after
a short passage from Philadelphia. They ventured to assert, that the Southern
colonies as far as New York inclusively, are generally disposed to return to
their duty, on what the stile reasonable terms: that the Northern settlements
are generally enough understood to mean independence: but would assuredly be
abandoned by the others, if equitable conditions were held out by Great
Britain; Entering into particulars, these gentlemen said they had been over the
greater part of Pennsylvania and discoursed repeatedly and freely with eight of
ten particular members of the congress, whose uniform capital article was
redress in the matter of taxation, but on my inquiry whether these particular
member had annexed any explicit sense to their idea of redress, on that head:
the answer was, what your Lordship has doubtless heard a thousand times, that
they agreed on the fitness of their contributions to the supplies of the state,
but tat unless each colony were permitted to ascertain its own quota, they were
not constitutionally Englishmen: In the mean time they say that hardly a boy of
sixteen years old is unarmed, through all that province.
Having signified to Mr Walpole your Lordships mention to one of the
dispositions in the affair of Alexander Kidd; he has put into my hands and I
have the honour of forwarding them to your Lordship with this letter.
I also enclose and affidavit made before the British vice consul in this
city, by William Darby and George Jay, two gentlemen on board the merchant ship
Turkey frigate, George Jenkins master: these men, not as I understand any
others of the crew, were ever upon by their captain to sign their contract for
wages; this neglect has been the occasion of many vexatious contests both in
the present occasion and in many other cases, I have therefore thought it
necessary to lay before your Lordship, in order to prosecution for the penalty
of £5 per seaman; which by the Statute 2: George 2, C 36; is forfeited to the
use of Greenwich hospital.
I have the honour to be
My Lord
your Lordships most humble
& obedient servant,
John Nort.
This part is included as part of the research into who Richard Maitland might
have been; a John Maitland was born of a Richard Maitland in Aberdeenshire, and
Richard being quoted as an excise man. It looks, however very unlikely that
this family had any close relationship with ours.
National Archives:
The Excise Board Minute Books in CUST 47, covering 1695 to 1867, can be used to
find appointments and postings of Excise men. There are also Excise Entry
Papers in CUST 116, covering 1820 to 1870; these have an alphabetical card
index in the Open Reading Room. The Entry Papers contain pairs of letters
folded together. One letter is a recommendation for appointment, giving details
of name, age, place of birth, marital status and a character reference. The
other letter is from the excise officer responsible for training of the new
recruit, giving details of their abilities. Irish Excise records can be found
in CUST 110 and CUST 119.
Pay lists for Excise men in England and Wales can be found in T 44, covering
1705 to 1835. Lists for Scotland are in T 45, covering 1708 to 1832.
Cust 47 Index between 9/1/1721 (vol 100) and 16/4/1739 (vol 170), contained no
references to any Richard Maitland – judging from the number of officers, this
probably covers England rather than Scotland. Some names reoccurred a number of
times, showing that the individuals were moved around not infrequently.
T45/1:
North Britain. Ann Account of the Officers and Employments under the
Commissioners of Excise in Scotland existing on 24 June 1708, being the
Termination of the first year of their management with the Number of Officers
employed at that time and their respective salaries as ordered by the Votes of
the Honble House of Commons of 15th February 1779.
Officers within the Office (inter alia):
John Maitland, examiner of the Country Officers Excise Books (one of 4)
Original Salary £40 pa, Present salary £40, joined 25 March 1709.
Richard Maitland does not appear in the lists at £35 pa, but they appear to be
as at 1708, probably before his time.
The original establishment had 260 gaugers.
T45/3, “establishment of officers for North Britain for salt duty” had no
relevance.
T45/4: 1733 piece 9B
Richard Maitland, gauger, 335, Aberdeen collection, 24 February 1732-3
Richard & John Maitland, other Parish Records
Scottish OPR’s:
This is a christening that would have fitted John & Richard’s death dates:
1. Banff Nov 7 (1735):
John lawful son of Richard Maitland Excise Officer was baptized Nov 9th
Wit: John Ogilvie, Colln John Maitland, Ogilvie Sheriff John Ru??, John Gordon,
John Nobb?, John Cruikshank, John Monro and John Duffus Mort?
The witness Colonel John Maitland was probably a son of the 5th earl
of Lauderdale, and brother of Charles, 6th Earl. This leads to the
question of who this Richard was – he must have been closely connected to the
Colonel’s family. According to Scots Peerage, this John, a Colonel in the
Guards, had 2 uncles, Thomas & Alexander, both of whose succession is
unclear in SP – could Richard Maitland have been one of these?? Maybe Richard
was an illegitimate son of one of the sons of the 3rd Earl; they
seemed to have married rather late in life!
This church seems to have been of some social consequence at the time – the
entry above had Lord Bracco as a witness – he became Earl of Fife.
There was a Richard Maitland, born Dundee, 1675, son of John Maitland,
collector of Excise in Dundee, of the line of Sir ROBERT MAITLAND – Burd-Alane.
The descendants of this Richard Maitland are probably not complete in the Clan
Tree. They were of the Pittrichie branch as referred to by Boddington.
This second alternative looks unlikely as our Richard Maitland was in Shadwell
by 1740, and does looks too humble for the sort of man Richard Maitland seems
to have been.
2. Jan 8th (1740) Richard Maitland in Cowbridgdale had a child
baptized named John before witnesses Robert Maitland and FFr Sinclair both in
Cowbridge
On same page:
Decr 18 (1739) John Maitland in Oyne had a daughter baptized Beatrix before
witnesses John Harper and Jas Anderson both in Kirktown
Apr 1st (1740) The said day Francis Sinclair in Cowbridge had a
child baptized named Hugh witnesses Robert Maitland and Wm Milne in
Cowbridgdale
Oyne to the North East of Aberdeen.
Also Agnes Maitland of Richard at Oyne, 10/2/1738. Richard Maitland of Parkbras
Also Robert Maitland in Milne of Woothace?? had Helen 10/9/1738
London Land Tax Records, 1692-1932
Richard Maitland
Shadwell, RM as tenant:
Capt:
1751 Rent £8-10, Tax £1-5-6d, Personal £0-3-9. SW
1751 Rent £8-10, Tax £0-17-0d, Personal £0-2-6. SW
1760 Rent £8-10, Tax £1-12-7d. SW
1761 Rent £8-10, Tax £1-14-0d, Personal £0-5-0. SW
1762 Rent £8-10, Tax £1-11-10½d, Personal £0-5-0. SW
Not Capt, but still Shadwell!
1763 Rent £8-10, Tax £1-11-2d, Personal £0-5-0d. SW
1764 Rent £8-10, Tax £1-14-0d, Personal £0-5-0d. SW
1765 Rent £9, Tax £1-14-6d Personal Est 0-5, Shakespear’s Walk
1766 Rent £9, tax £1-13-9d Shakespear’s Walk
1768 Rent £9, Tax £1-6-3d SW
1769 Rent £9, Tax £1-6-3d SW
1770 Rent £9, Tax £1-4-0d SW
1771 Rent £9, Tax £1-12-3d SW
1772 Rent £9, Tax £1-4-9d SW
Shakespear’s Walk was the site of a Rope Walk established by one John
Shakespear in 1642.
Henry Laurens (March 6, 1724 [O.S. February 24, 1723] – December 8, 1792)
was an American merchant and rice planter from South Carolina who became a
political leader during the Revolutionary War. A delegate to the Second
Continental Congress, Laurens succeeded John Hancock as President of the
Congress. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and President
when the constitution was passed on November 15, 1777.
Laurens had earned great wealth as a partner in the largest slave-trading
house in North America (Austin and Laurens). In the 1750s alone, this Charleston firm oversaw the sale of more than 8,000 enslaved Africans.[2] He was for a
time Vice-President of South Carolina and a diplomat to the Netherlands during the Revolutionary War. He was captured at sea and imprisoned for some time by the
British in the Tower of London.
His son John Laurens, a colonel in the Continental Army and officer on
Washington's staff, believed that Americans could not fight for their own
freedom while holding slaves. In 1779, he persuaded the Continental Congress to
authorize the recruitment of a brigade (3000 men) of slaves, who would be given
their freedom after the war. However, when he presented it to them, the South
Carolina Provincial Congress overwhelmingly rejected the proposal, and instead
voted to use confiscated slaves as payment to recruit more white soldiers. John
Laurens was killed in a skirmish in South Carolina in 1782.
The Maitland Extracts volume has a section of General Information of South
Carolina. He was the business agent in Charleston for the Bunce Island port in
Sierra Leone, the buildings of which are still visible and have been preserved.
HL: Henry Laurens
JL: James Laurens, his brother.
FROM JL to HL, V11/368 Teignmouth, Devon, June 19, 1777
My dear Brother
....
I wrote you 6th— May by Mr Burt via St Augustine; 15th May by Mr
Jn° Neufville via Nantz with Copy of the former— since then as Mr Jn°
Hawkins wrote me he could find no purchaser for H.P. & C°'s share of
Maitland's Ship3 either at public or private Sale. I writ to Messrs
Bourdieu & Chollet who are the principal owners even requesting it as a
favor that they wd purchase the Share upon their own terms, intimating that as
they had fitted the Ship at so great expense, they doubtless had a view of
profit, & knew better than any other person what to do with it_ that at all
events I would not hold a concern in a Vessel with a Letter of Marque &
fitted for War by this time Maitland (who has never answerd my Letters
or writ a Line to me since his first arrival from Jamaica) was ready to sail,
& to my great mortification Messrs Bourdieu answer'd me 31st
Ult° "That they would not accept of our 1/8, were it tended to them as a
present at the same time expressing their concern at my dislike to keep a share
in the Vessel, & assuring me that her Voyage was no secret Expedition, but
a plain one from hence to Cadiz & New York with a Cargo of Wines &c.
with a license from Government for that purpose that with respect to the Letter
of Marque their view in giving to Maitland was to obtain the premium of
Insurance lower, but at the same time had strongly enjoined the Captain not to
make any other use of it than in his own defence."— Utterly unsatisfied
with this I repeated my most earnest entreaty to Mr J. Hawkins to sell the 1/8
Share of H P & Co upon any terms whatever, which I hope he has done before
this, as the Vessel sailed sometime abt the beginning this Month, before she
sailed he obliged Maitland to get a New Register without my name— I have
troubled you with this addition to what I formerly wrote on the subject, that
you might, if necessary, be able to vindicate my whole conduct in the whole of
this matter— which possibly might have been put a final end to sooner, had I
had strength to do my own business__ I confess I have felt more uneasiness
about this affair, than about any thing that has occured for a long time past,
& you will perceive that I have had too much cause for it.
3 Richard Maitland’s ship Philippa, formerly Magna Charta, was built
in 1770. HL Papers VIII 289n: X.220.
FROM JAMES LAURENS to HL Teingmouth, July 15, 1777
V11P394
My Dear Brother
I wrote you 5th: May (via) Mr, Burt Via St. Augustine— 15th May (?)
Mr Jn°. Neufville Via Nantz. 19th & 20th June to be forwarded
by Madm: Babut & Co: of Nantz. wth: duplicates of each— I have none from
you since yr: favr: of 28th: March, but have just recd: a Letter from my Nephew
of 16th April informing of his arrival in Charles Town, on which happy event I
heartily Congratulate you & him in one or two of my former Letters of2
informed You how much I had been chagrin'd by Capt: Maitlands Conduct in
fitting out his Ship with a Letter of Marque— 18 Guns & 60 Men without
giving me or my friend Jno, Hawkins the Least intimation of his design, how I endeavour'd
(by the Agency of Mr. Hawkins) to get rid of my concern in that Ship by
offering our Share to Mess™' Bourdieu & Co: for any price they would be
pleas'd to name & by trying to Sell at Public & private Sale in Vain
the former who appeared not well pleas'd at my determination to Sell out,
answered me that they would not accept our Share if I would tender at as a
present, & no other purchaser could be found till after I wrote you Last,
when Mr Jn° Hawkins disposed of it (say 1/8th-3 the purchaser to
pay no part of the Late outfit,4 for 100 Guineas this was worse than
giving the Ship away as we shall have about as much more to pay after sinking
our Share— however it was a Sacrifice I was obliged to make to prevent
incurring the displeasure of my Countrymen, therefore had the Loss been ten
times as much I should have acted as I have done, rather than have risqued the
evil consequences that might have ensued notwithstanding Messrs Bourdieu’s
assurances that their Sole View in arming the Ship was to save in Premium &
that the Capt has their positive order to act merely on the defensive — What
Maitland & those Gentlemen may think of their conduct in keeping me totally
ignorant of their design in Arming & fitting the Ship at so great expence I
cant tell but I believe every reasonable Man will think them altogether
inexcusable__ thank God I have rid myself of the Concern, & my chief motive
in troubling you with so many particulars in this & former Letters, has
been to put it in yr: power to acquit me from every degree of censure, should
this matter be talk'd of on yr: side by persons ignorant of the true
state of the Case_ however unjustly & ungratefully Maitland
or his owners have acted towards me in this affair I have no desire to injure
them in the smallest respect & would even wish their conduct may not be
mentiond, except when necessary to exculpate the Innocent & injured from
Blame__
FROM JL to HL Teingmouth, September 9, 1777
V11/512:
My Dear Brother
The foregoing Copy's of my two Last will inform you how I have been treated by
Capt, Maitland & his friends in regard to his Ship & of my having
Sacrificed the Share of H.P & Co: in that Vessel rather than risque the
displeasure of my Countrymen, I would gladly do every thing in my power
consistent with my honor & Conscience I to avoid giving them offence &
on that Account I have been so troublesome to you (who I know will excuse me)
in this Occasion___
Richard Grubb seemed to be HL’s principal connection in London in the
early 1770’s, but was not always satisfactory. As said before, he was slow in
producing the stores needed to complete Magna Charta, delaying the maiden
voyage by many weeks. A letter from HL to RM in March 1772[123] suggesting a meeting at
the Carolina Coffee House[124]
between Grubb, Maitland & HL on the subject of Magna Charta’s last voyage
about 142 barrels of rice for HL (this must have been the maiden voyage as RM
had only just arrived back in London on her second voyage). The returns from
the 1st voyage were not what the Laurens’s had expected. The
Laurens’s became progressively more dissatisfied with Grubb’s performance until
Richard Grubb’s suicide in October 1774, leaving debts owed Laurens and
Maitland.
TO RICHARD GRUBB re Magna Charta
[Charles Town] 6th March 1771
Dear Sir,
I wrote to you this morning by the St. Helena, Capt. Arthar, for Insurance of part of my Interest in the new Ship Magna Charta, Richard Maitland Master. This incloses an Invoice and Bill of Loading for the Rice Part thereof, Vizt. 142 barrels amounting to £1,867.5.3 recommend to you to sell the said Rice when it arrives for Cash or short Credit. The Quality was of the very finest when it was ship'd the 9th January last but the Hold of the Ship may have some ill effect upon it, when stowed there so long as this probably will be 4 or 5 months. The delay of our Vessel on this Side will be very detrimental to us who are owners. Every body here blames our Partner Grubb, and says he is the Cause of our loosing several hundred, which might have been gained by a timely outset. Their Evidence is strong and pretty clear, but I wont judge until I hear both Sides. But be the Cause what it may, the Consequence I may say already is what they insinuate and alledge. However, that must be mended by more diligence and Attention for the future. She is really a fine Ship, and I believe the Captain will do every Thing in his Power to promote the general Interest.....
2 Richard Grubb did not send out the stores for Magna Charta until Sept. 15, 1770, which stores finally arrived in the ship Little Carpenter, John Maitland, on Dec. 29, 1770.
TO RICHARD GRUBB re RM & MC
26th June 1771 P 541
...You would not advise me of the Fate of my Rice in Maitland, and you wish that an Importing House had held the Share which I hold in the Magna Charta. Permit me to assure you, my good Sir! that I have often wished the same for your Sake, that I was so far from seeking a Concern in that Ship, that it was with great Reluctance I consented to hold a Share in her after much Solicitation, because I knew it was not in my Power to aid her in Freights outward from London. Nevertheless, I am certain that my Behaviour towards her in her first outset is an earnest of my Intention to do her no harm, and I shall and will at any Time for the Benefit of my Partners, readily transfer that 1/8th which I have paid for, whenever they shall desire it, and point out to whom, upon being reimbursed the Sum which I advanced....
Henry Laurens subsequently built another, larger ship to replace his share in Magna Charta in later 1771.
19/8/72 V8P422:
....But to return to our old friend. I have been dunning him a long time for
the Heart of Oak's last accounts & for Maitland's some objections were
made, they were easily removed, then promises followed, but hitherto, no
compliance. Yesterday by accident I found Mr. Choilley2 in the same
pursuit of the latter Accounts. He expostulated warmly on the conduct of our
manager, I should have said animadverted, & was glad to see me disposed to
second him. Upon the whole he has promised me most solemnly that both shall be
ready for me when I return to Town three Weeks hence.
I have more than a little cause to complain of a loss of
£100 or perhaps £200, which will happen by delay in the Sale of my Rice by
Heart of Oak. In April he sent me a note intimating that it would answer no
good purpose to keep it any longer, that he would accept 23/6 if I pleased. I
replied immediately in writing, sell it by all means. To my great surprise when
I returned from France the beginning of this Month I was told that my Rice was
still on hand & he has now found out that it is Red & perhaps may yield
20/ or less.
A slightly later letter[125]
in August to HL’s brother, James, expands on Grubb’s deficiencies. HL had been
“dunning” him for a long time, and refers to RM’s unsettled accounts for a
voyage in LC, arriving in Charleston in January 1769, and sailing again in
March. Grubb’s delay with some rice reduced the value from 23/6 to below 20/-;
RG also had two parcels of silk in his store, which he had not sold, in spite
of instructions to do so.
Another letter of the 18th June 1773[126], from HL to RG, lays down
more forcefully the financial difficulties with RG, saying inter alia, about
RM, ..."As to my Account with him (Mr. Grubb) he has render'd me no
Accounts of any of the Rice ship'd him since May 1768." Five years, and
more....
Grubb eventually committed suicide: The Gazette, Oct. 24, 1774, announced
that Richard Grubb, "Carolina Merchant," had "died
suddenly" on Aug. 11 at his house in George-Yard, Lombard-Street, London.
See also HL to John Davies, Aug. 22, 1774. Richard Maitland wrote James
Laurens, Oct. 2, 1774, that Richard Grubb had tried to commit suicide twice
before. He had grown morose reflecting upon a woman whom he had deluded and
promised marriage and who had by him a child. She and her infant had perished
through neglect. Grubb had gone upstairs "after Change hours," locked
the door, and "with a Cord provided for the purpose Compleated the Horrid
deed." John Nutt and Samuel Chollet, Sr., his executors, were called and
forced the door and thus revealed the dreadful spectacle. HL Papers, S.C. Hist
Soc.
The relationship between Richard Maitland, Henry Laurens and Richard Grubb
can be seen in Laurens’s letters. Richard Maitland as a partner in Magna Charta
was involved, but the main problem seems to have been with Grubb, who had
handled some of Laurens’s affairs in London for some time.
A notice on the Gazette of 27 August 1774 called for Grubb’s of George yard,
Lombard St, creditors to apply to his receiver.
The state records of North Carolina hold some invoice books of Grubb &
Watson owned by WC Bain, of Greensboro NC.
Henry Laurens wrote from Cowes to RM 14 March 1772 when RM was arrived in port in Portsmouth regarding what must have been Magna Charta’s maiden voyage shipment: “...I hope to be at the Carolina Coffee House early on Tuesday Morning, and I suppose that you may be best spared from the Ship next Week. I have no Objection on my Part, but can go no further. When you are in London, I shall be glad of a little Conversation with you and Mr. Grubb on the Subject of the Magna Charta's last Voyage. My Brother expresses much Dissatisfaction with her Accounts. I have seen none of them, but from the very small Credit borne to my Account for profit on Rice and Freight, it does appear necessary that there should be an Explanation and I make no Doubt that the Event will be pleasing to all parties.
The Good Quality of the HL's (The mark stamped on HL's
rice barrels )should be remark'd to Mr. Grubb. I hope they will turn out
free of Damage for the Honour of the Ship. Please to get Mr. Carver's Clerk to
take of the Weights and Tares of that Parcel, and bring the paper with you to
the Coffee House....”
This was followed by a letter to his brother James from Westminster, August 19th, 1772:
My Dear Brother,
I wrote to you the 6th by the Swallow Packet & the
15th by the hands of Mr. Roux. Some day in last Week I went to our friend
Grubb's counting House & after some struggle with myself I spoke to him
freely on your affairs. But he gave me no opportunity of going any further than
to open the case, for he pleaded Guilty, acknowledged that he had been very
much in fault but informed further cause of offence. He likewise produced
Policies to me for £800 Sterling Insured on your Houses. This latter act put a
stop to the attempts which by the assistance of Mr. Tappenden I was making to
the same business in one of the Public Offices. You talk of having £2,000 done.
Please to send me an exact description of the several risques & I will have
such Interest secured. .....
But to return to our old friend. I have been dunning him a long time for
the Heart of Oak's last accounts & for Maitland's some objections were
made, they were easily removed, then promises followed, but hitherto, no
compliance. Yesterday by accident I found Mr. Choilley2 in the same
pursuit of the latter Accounts. He expostulated warmly on the conduct of our
manager, I should have said animadverted, & was glad to see me disposed to
second him. Upon the whole he has promised me most solemnly that both shall be
ready for me when I return to Town three Weeks hence.
I have more than a little cause to complain of a loss of
£100 or perhaps £200, which will happen by delay in the Sale of my Rice by
Heart of Oak. In April he sent me a note intimating that it would answer no
good purpose to keep it any longer, that he would accept 23/6 if I pleased. I
replied immediately in writing, sell it by all means. To my great surprise when
I returned from France the beginning of this Month I was told that my Rice was
still on hand & he has now found out that it is Red & perhaps may yield
20/ or less.
The two parcels of Silk from Giraud & Boutiton have been in his custody
from arrival, the first Apology was that there had not been a public sale. I
have intreated him twenty times to put it off by private sale for the best
price to be obtained in order to render those poor Men their accounts, all to
no purpose. When I come to Town I must take it from him.
These things are exceedingly disagreeable to us both & I
am sorry to repeat them of a person for whom both of us have a friendship.
But they are not quite so bad as the Gentleman's case above-mentioned in
the Little Carpenter's3 Accounts which he told me were not settled
to this day. I believe you have also a concern there. I shall have once more
serious conversation with him & shew him the danger he is in of being
neglected in his old days by all his best friends. I wish he had acted more
judiciously, it has been in my power to serve him. I would have done so with
great pleasure in a more ample manner than I have done, at present I think it
necessary to keep my concerns in his hands within a narrow compass. I beg you
will not desert him until we have a further tryal which you shall hear of about
a Month after this.
2 This is most probably a copyist's error for
"Chollet." Samuel Chollet was a merchant at No. 45, Lime-street.
London Directories,
3The ship Little Carpenter had been brought to Charleston in January
1769 by Capt. Richard Maitland and had sailed for London on March 28,
1769. HL. Papers, VI, 421n.
A further letter[127]
from HL to RG which, inter alia, passes a message to RM to sell a Brigantine
for £500-700. Presumably this to be done while RM was in port in London. HL
then writes direct to RM about selling “the unfortunate Brigantine has been
intented for my Interest, but I have been so cruelly & ungratefully
requited for acts of kindness in that particular concern from first to last,
that I am desirous of putting her out of my sight & out of my mind, &
would rather sell her for £500 & give something more for another Vessel
than to keep her. Therefore I entreat you continue your endeavours to sell her
for this ensuing Week, & in the mean time you may look round you & see
for a proper Master & be further able to determine if such a freight as you
talk of may be expected, as a dernier resort in case you should be disappointed
in a Sale & you shall hear from me on Wednesday where to direct for me[128].”
Westminster, 22d August 1774 -- The Gazette, Oct. 24, 1774, announced that
Richard Grubb, "Carolina Merchant," had "died suddenly" on
Aug. 11 at his house in George-Yard, Lombard-Street, London. See also HL to
John Davies, Aug. 22, 1774. Richard Maitland wrote James Laurens, Oct. 2, 1774,
that Richard Grubb had tried to commit suicide twice before. He had grown
morose reflecting upon a woman whom he had deluded and promised marriage and
who had by him a child. She and her infant had perished through neglect. Grubb
had gone upstairs "after Change hours," locked the door, and
"with a Cord provided for the purpose Compleated the Horrid deed."
John Nutt and Samuel Chollet, Sr., his executors, were called and forced the
door and thus revealed the dreadful spectacle. HL Papers, S.C. Hist Soc.
TO RICHARD GRUBB Nanci, 18th June 1773
V9P79
Dear Sir,
I had put some dependence upon the Promise you made in Fludyer Street two days before I left London of writing to me at Geneve* because it was voluntary and repeated, but though I remain'd there many days longer than I had proposed to do, and often flatter'd my Acquaintance with Assurances of giving them a Budget full of English News, alluding to your Proposition, I came away disappointed and exposed to such Sentence as they should severally think proper to pass on my Pretensions. Nevertheless I would have reserved my Resentment for a personal Meeting, when a Glass of good Madeira might probably have been the Issue of our Quarrel, but a much worse Circumstance has happen'd which (out of regard to you) I find myself obliged to communicate without Delay, in order that you may have time before my Arrival in London, to do, what I should otherwise be forced to require you to do then, perhaps in too much haste.
About February 1772, by Request from my Brother I applied to you for a Discharge for £1,600, which he received on Messrs. Grubb & Watson's Account for their Assignees and remitted through your hands. You answer'd that "you had always believed that such a Discharge had been duely forwarded by Mr. Watson on whom you had relied." You blamed him for the Omission, and concluded by a strong Assurance that you would do that Business yourself and immediately too.
In April or May following, just before I came first to France, I call'd upon you again to know, if that paper was transmitted, you positively assured me that it was gone, that you had inclosed it in such a Letter.
In September or October, I made another Application in consequence of some new Complaint from my Brother. You repeated your Assurances that the paper was then gone forward, although from some Mistake, it had not been sent so early as you intended.
Just before I last left London, in March or April, I found it necessary from a continued Complaint, to renew my Application to you on the same Subject. In answer, you aver'd in the most absolute Terms, and with some warmth, that the Discharge or Receipt was gone (by Capt. Maitland) that you would send a Duplicate, nay you went so much too far, as to say, you would give me a Copy to send if I desired it, which seem'd a little unkind, because you knew that I would not, except in the last extremity, put you to such a Tryal. The last extremity, and I am exceedingly mortified by the Reflection, we seem now to be arrived at. Yesterday I receiv'd a Letter from my Brother so late as the 29th March, in which he recommends to my Consideration, his just Complaint of your amazing Neglect of him particularly with regard to the abovementioned long expected Paper. He has transmitted a Duplicate of a Letter wrote by him to Messrs. Grubb & Watson of so old a date as 28th March 1770, together with an extract of 17th September 1771 to yourself, and again entreats my Interposition to obtain Justice from you, in order that he may be acquitted from a Charge for £1,600 Sterling which the Assignees of G. & W. as his Lawyer advised may bring against him, in a Case in which without any Benefit to himself he did those Assignees or G. & W. great Service, and saved them an Expence of upwards of £120 Sterling. Thus much of that Branch. Next for his Account Current. After many repeated Applications accompanying those for the Discharge, as well as at other Times en passant you likewise seriously and absolutely assured me, that his Account was transmitted in your Letter by the same Capt. Maitland, and express'd a good deal of Concern on account of having so long delayed it.
Capt. Maitland arrived in Carolina in January, sailed from thence the middle of March, and now hear what our Friend writes, or part only of what he writes the 29th March— "As to my Account with him (Mr. Grubb) he has render'd me no Accounts of any of the Rice ship'd him since May 1768." Five years, and more. Now my old Friend, what shall I say to these Affairs. I am afraid to expatiate, but what can I say less, than to entreat and request as a favour, and to require (Gratitude aside) as an Act of common Justice, that you will be prepared to deliver into my hands at my Arrival in London about the 15th July, a perfect Acquittal of my Brother under the hands of Grubb and Watson's Assignees, from the said Sum of £ 1,600. And Also his Account Current together with Accounts of Sale of his Rice, his branches of Ship Accounts respectively, and in one word, All and every Account in which he is concerned in whole or in part.
This would be no more than a fair Request, admitting there had been no such just Complaints made, as I have with great Anxiety been compel'd to recapitulate. Every Merchant from a tender Regard for his own Credit, ought to comply with such Requests at the very first Instance. But you are in a most extraordinary Manner call'd upon. Review that Letter of my Brother's to you in particular, the 17th September 1771, and you will see at first Glance, with how little Justice, you imputed blame to Mr. Watson in February, April, October 1772.
Considering therefore how much time you have already had, and that if those Accounts and the Acquittal, which you aver'd were sent by you, have been miscarried, you have only to make Duplicates of them, a Work of Three Hours, for which full Three Weeks more is allow'd. I do expect that you will not disappoint me, but deliver the whole without Inaccuracy or Exception upon my next Application. If any Articles remain unadjusted, render an Account of them as they stand. And while you are making out his Accounts, think of those if you please in which I am concern'd, they are trifling ones, and can require no great Labour.
My Son has been so kind as to accompany me thus far and has
to return to Geneve, which will create an Expence that I had not provided for,
to save therefore the trouble of writing a special Letter, I shall take the
Liberty of drawing a Bill on you for Sixty Pounds Sterling to the order of Mr.
John Laurens, which please to pay, and charge to my Account, or to my Brother's
if it exceeds my Bounds. Recommending the main Subject of this Address
earnestly to your Attention, I remain. Dear Sir, Your most obedient Servant
Late 1774: A long set of letters about Richard Grubb in HL, including his
death.
TO GEORGE APPLEBY – re Grubb HLV9P535
Westminster, 22d August 1774
Dear Sir,
for the Stupid determination of my unfortunate
2Most probably a barbet, "A little
dog with long curly hair, a poodle." OED
3 Possibly Christopher Gadsden.
P 536
friend Grubb has barred me from £600 more which I had lent him, besides Some Balance of Account 'tis Said his Estate will be Sufficient but probably I Shall be long out of my Money. These are unlucky Raps, but I have Still the method of reconciling my Self, by reflecting they are not the consequence of a Coach & Six, & thanking God, ther is Something left...... You have heard of the unhappy determination of poor Grubb. This was one of the first accounts brought to me. I concluded that distressed circumstances had been the cause & that I was £600 the worse, for I had lent him that Sum not many Weeks before. But upon further enquiry it appears that his Estate is Sufficient for discharging all debts & probably to leave a Surplus for a Daughter whose existence was known to Scarcely any of his friends but my Self. He communicated that piece of his history to me about 12 Months ago. I charge his rash act to Insanity into which he had been gradually falling for Some Months. He was hyped, conceived himself Sick, that his old friends Slighted him & was mortally afraid of Dying & therefore took the Surest way to escape. Lord, what is Man? We are almost tempted to add, Who made him? Or who made him Such a Creature? But we know better than to propound Such impious Questions. We Shall know all things by & by. Let us wait the time with Submission.
22/8/1774: ref to per Magna Charta, Maitland. Sailed 4 August.
1 The Gazette, Oct. 24, 1774, announced that Richard Grubb,
"Carolina Merchant," had "died suddenly" on Aug. 11 at his
house in George-Yard, Lombard-Street, London. See also HL to John Davies, Aug.
22, 1774. Richard Maitland wrote James Laurens, Oct. 2, 1774, that Richard
Grubb had tried to commit suicide twice before. He had grown morose reflecting
upon a woman whom he had deluded and promised marriage and who had by him a
child. She and her infant had perished through neglect. Grubb had gone upstairs
"after Change hours," locked the door, and "with a Cord provided
for the purpose Compleated the Horrid deed." John Nutt and Samuel Chollet,
Sr., his executors, were called and forced the door and thus revealed the
dreadful spectacle. HL Papers, S.C. Hist Soc.
P617: footnote 3/11/1774
4 After John Nutt and Samuel Chollet, Sr., refused to act as the
executors of the estate of Richard Grubb, John Hawkins and two other creditors
took over the settling of Grubb's affairs. Richard Maitland to James Laurens,
Oct. 2, 1774. HL Papers, S.C. Hist. Soc. William Drayton (1732-1790) of South
Carolina had been appointed chief justice of East Florida by Gov. James Grant.
He was commissioned Feb. 1, 1768, suspended Feb. 13,1776, reinstated June 1776,
suspended Dec. 16, 1777, and resigned June 1778. Directory of the House, II,
205-207; Charles Loch Mowat, East Florida as a British Province, 1763-1784
(Gainesville, Fla., reprinted 1964), p. 162.
A letter from Charlestown, South Carolina, dated July 22, says, "The
Georgia post this day informs us, our people have extorted from the ship Magna
Charta, Maitland, all her gunpowder, arms ammunition, etc, which is no small
quantity, I assure you; they were sent to Georgia for the use of our domestic
enemies"NA
Philadelphia, July 20. Capt Maitland, from London, arrived lately at Georgia, and had on board 13000 weight of powder; the inhabitants boarded her, and took all the powder into their possessionNA.
By the Charles Town mail there is advice, that the provincials had seized seven tons of gunpowder, that was landing from on board Capt Loftus's ship, at St Augustine. Capt. Loftus was freighted by the government to carry stores to the above place, and when at anchor off the Bar, where large vessels usually deliver part of their cargos, in order to lighten them that they may go over safe, she was attacked by some armed boats from Beaufort, Port Royal and other towns in Carolina, that seized 140 barrels out of 500 that the vessel had in all on board, and made the best of their way to Beaufort, before the assistance from St Augustine [Florida] could come up with them, The ship afterwards proceeded to deliver the remainder of her cargo, as the gunpowder was what the armed boats came after, This is the second ship that has been attacked, and had her powder taken by these armed boats, viz. Capt Maitland, bound for Georgia and this vesselNA.
The following is a good summary of the affair; much of the references are ones
I had seen (from Jstor, 5/2022):
THE hostilities of the American Revolution included many seemingly minor events which played key roles in later patriot triumphs. In July 1775, less than three months after the Lexington and Concord skirmishes, one of the earliest yet most influential of these events took place in Savannah, Georgia.
The roots of this incident lay in the shipyards of South Carolina, where over three hundred vessels were built during the colonial period. Before 1760 these ships were almost exclusively small schooners, averaging about twenty tons each. Between 1760 and 1774, however, several of the colony's prominent merchants began recruiting skilled European artisans to construct bigger ocean-going vessels[iii]. Seventeen of these ships were built, launched, and registered in South Carolina, many of them specifically intended for trade between Charleston and Great Britain[iv].
Construction of one of these ocean-going vessels was begun during the spring of 1770 at Manson and Begbie’s shipyard in Hobcaw, South Carolina. Her investors and owners included Henry Laurens and his brother James, who were among the province's most prestigious merchant-planters; Thomas Loughton Smith and Roger Smith, prominent Charleston traders; James Boudreaux and John Grubb, London merchants with long-standing commercial ties in the Carolinas; and Captain Richard Maitland, an experienced English mariner with considerable business ties on both sides of the Atlantic.[v] Captain Maitland was engaged to remain in the colony and supervise the construction of the ship, which was launched on November 23, 1770. She was a splendid two-hundred-ton square-rigged ship, “as complete a vessel, and as elegantly decorated, as any that has been built in this Province,” according to the South Carolina Gazette. With apparent contemporary political connotations, she was christened Magna Charta in a naming ceremony that reportedly took place “amidst a very numerous company of Ladies and Gentlemen, who pur took of a cold Entertainment, and afterwards had a Ball”[vi]
Captain Maitland registered Magna Charta in Charleston on December 29, 1770. Because of a delay in the arrival of ship’s stores from England, however, the new vessel did not sail on her maiden voyage to London until the following March. Her cargo reflected South Carolina’s varied produce: “948 tierces (casks) of rice, 110 casks of indigo, besides deerskins and sundry other articles." Captain Maitland also was entrusted with delivering documents to various Englishmen involved in mercantile trade or in governmental positions. The initial Atlantic voyage of Magna Charta apparently proceeded smoothly; the ship arrived in London by the summer of 1771 and, on September 20, 1771, sailed on her return voyage to the Carolinas[vii].
These largely routine and perhaps tedious Carolina to London trading voyages marked Magna Charta activities for three years after her initial cruise. She was one of several vessels owned jointly by English and colonial entrepreneurs that plied the Carolina trade route. Rice was the principal export from South Carolina, although indigo, deerskins, and some naval stores also were listed on the ships’ manifests. From England they brought a variety of products including clothing, shoes, agricultural equipment, alcohol, and household items.[viii] After one trip, Sarah Minor, a cousin of Henry Laurens, noted her pleasure in receiving via Magna Charta “Fashionable Millinery articles and a great variety of Toys.” In August 1772, Henry Laurens, then residing in England, wrote his brother James that he was sending “the very best second Garden Engine to go upon wheels.” The ships also carried letters, books, newspapers, and occasionally passengers. Often the vessels did not proceed directly to South Carolina, but stopped off at ports in the Azores, the West Indies, Florida, or Georgia.[ix]
Political developments, however, brought an end to the placid commercial cruises of Magna Charta. In 1773, Parliament enacted the notorious Tea Act in order to aid the ailing East India Company. Colonial reaction came in the form of boycotts, threats, and the Boston Tea Party. In Charleston, the Sons of Liberty in early 1774 established a General Committee of Ninety-Nine designed to prevent importation of the offensive British tea. Under such ominous circumstances, Captain Maitland and Magna Charta set sail on her regular voyage from England in April 1774, carrying a cargo of “divers Goods, Wares and Merchandize” such as White Plains cloth, several dozen Cheshire cheeses, and “four casks of the finest bottled porter.” But besides these innocuous items, Captain Maitland also had on board two or three chests of East India tea consigned to two Charleston merchants.[x]
Magna Charta arrived in Charleston on June 26, 1774. When the tea was discovered on board ship, the General Committee demanded that Captain Maitland make no attempt to land this consignment. Committee members insisted, in fact, that he destroy all of it in their presence. Maitland claimed to have had no knowledge that the tea was part of his cargo. He promised the Charleston Committee that he would make no attempt to land the tea and that he would throw it overboard if its status could not be resolved. However, on July 19 Charles Pinckney, chairman of the General Committee, learned that the tea had not been destroyed but had been sequestered by the local collector of customs.[xi]
Almost immediately the wrath of Charleston’s patriots turned on Captain Maitland, and he was summoned before the General Committee. There the mariner admitted that he had failed to keep his promise, but he swore to burn the objectionable tea in their sight that very day. However, when Maitland again failed to fulfill his promise, the committee denounced his duplicity and sought an immediate boycott of his vessel. Worse yet for Magna Charta s master, the growing patriot resentment was soon “confirmed by the bells of the Great Church and the Dead peal rung to assemble the Mob.” Maitland himself barely escaped this menacing assemblage and sought refuge on HMS Glasgow, anchored in Charleston harbor. Her captain very wisely had his sailors cut Magna Charta from her dockside mooring and bring her to a safer anchorage in the outer harbor. Maitland remained in his sanctuary for a fortnight and then sailed toward England’s more hospitable shores, arriving there on September 17, 1774.[xii]
By the first months of the next year, Magna Charta had undergone several changes. The first, involving the vessel’s ownership, had occurred even as Captain Maitland was preparing for his ill-fated voyage to Charleston in April 1774. Henry Laurens, writing to his brother James, had then noted that “Messrs. Boudrieu and Chollet” had made “an offer to buy or sell at the Rate of £ 1800” for the whole vessel, and “I have accepted at £ 225 for my 1/8 part.”[xiii] Other Magna Charta investors also sold their shares, so that by the time of Maitland’s return London’s Boudrieu and Chollet mercantile firm had acquired majority ownership of the vessel. The new masters, no doubt aware of Magna Charta’s recent notoriety, decided upon a new, more discreet ship’s name. Consequently, when the vessel began her next voyage to America, still under the command of Captain Maitland (who retained his shares), her registry title had become Philippa.[xiv]
The newly renamed Philippa was readied for her next voyage during March and April 1775. She sailed not only under new ownership but also with a different kind of cargo, as well as with a different initial destination. Instead of general merchandise, she carried six-and-a-half tons of gunpowder, plus assorted firearms, flintlocks, lead, and musket-balls. This cargo was destined not for Charleston but rather for British officials and merchants in the Floridas who were trading with the local Indian tribes. The Privy Council had banned the shipment of such arms and ammunition to regular colonial ports in October 1774, but the Floridas were excluded from this edict.[xv]
Philippa’s new voyage began inauspiciously as Captain Maitland guided his merchant craft past the Thames estuary at Deal in the first days of May 1775. But he was making for dangerous waters. Before reaching his ultimate destination in East Florida, Maitland sailed for Savannah. He arrived the first week in July, unaware either of the outbreak of fighting at Lexington and Concord in April or of the repercussions this fighting would have within the Georgia colony.[xvi]
Even before July 1775, Georgia residents had been cognizant of the fighting in New England, and the news had exacerbated old tensions within the province. The previous January, a Provincial Congress meeting in Savannah had voted to send to the Continental Congress three delegates who subsequently endorsed the economic sanctions in Congress’s Continental Association. Georgia’s royal governor, Sir James Wright, had responded by dissolving the colony’s legislature, but patriot defiance persisted. On May 1 1, following news of the northern fighting, a mob seized most of the gunpowder stored in Savannah’s public magazine.[xvii]
During the remaining days of May and June 1775, royal authority in Georgia continued to erode. On June 2, twenty- one cannons overlooking Savannah were spiked by rebels who then erected liberty poles and trees and openly “Paraded about Town.” On June 14, a meeting of Savannah’s Whigs recommended the appointment of delegates to a new provincial congress and voted to establish a local group to protect their rights and liberties. This body subsequently became known as Savannah’s Parochial Committee. On June 22, a sixteen-man Council of Safety was established in Savannah to maintain a correspondence with similar groups in other provinces as well as with further groups that might be established in any of Georgia’s parishes.[xviii]
Governor Wright was less and less able to prevent these moves and the increasing extralegal activities of patriot mobs. By the beginning of July 1775 Georgia was, in effect, under rebel rule. On July 4 delegates from all but two of the colony’s parishes gathered at Tondee’s Tavern in Savannah, constituted themselves the colony’s Second Provincial Congress, and unanimously elected prominent Whigs Archibald Bullock president and George Walton secretary. This Second Provincial Congress, like the first, supported the Continental Association; in addition, it elected five delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia and created a new, more broadly empowered Council of Safety to supervise executive functions during the periods of adjournment. Such was the situation as Georgians awaited further news and shipping arrivals.[xix]
Governor Wright was aware of the impending arrival and the nature of the cargo of certain ships. In a letter to Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of State for America, dated June 20, 1775, Wright had mentioned “3 Vessels being expected here from London and a Considerable quantity of Gun Powder being on board for the Indian Trade.” He added that “several boats of armed men from South Carolina,” whose purpose was either to seize these vessels or to capture John Stuart, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, had been seen in the vicinity. Wright claimed that many Georgia patriots had charged Stuart with promoting a plan to arm the Indians against them. The letter also intimated that the South Carolinians were still uncertain about an approximate time or place for the arrival of Maitland’s vessel and were awaiting more definite information.[xx]
The Georgia patriots evidently had furnished them the specifics of Philippa’s progress. According to the memoirs of William Drayton, leader of South Carolina’s Secret Committee of Correspondence, about the beginning of July “a certain patriot gentleman” in Georgia sent word of Maitland’s approach to Thomas Savage in Charleston. Savage, a prominent South Carolina merchant and slave trader, was a member of that colony’s Provincial Congress and was married to a Georgian. His information galvanized the Carolina patriots into immediate action. The Secret Committee commissioned Captains John Barnwell and John Joyner, two congressional delegates from St. Helena’s Parish, to intercept the vessel and if possible to confiscate her cargo.[xxi]
The two Carolina delegates immediately assembled a force of about forty men from their parish and appropriated two barges in order to transport the men down the coast to Bloody Point on the southern tip of Daufuskie Island. Here, opposite Tybee Island Lighthouse, the Carolinians had an excellent view of the entrance to the Savannah River.[xxii]
Throughout this operation, Georgia’s Provincial Congress was acting to provide the Carolinians joint support. Their main concern was an armed British schooner patrolling the waters near Tybee Island. Since this schooner could easily thwart any attempt by the Carolina barges to intercept Philippa, the need to commission and arm a countering vessel was quite evident. Consequently, Elizabeth, a trading schooner owned by Savannah merchants Samuel Price and Richard Wright, was appropriated by order of the Congress and fitted with ten cannon plus smaller armaments. In effect the first ship of the Georgia state navy, Elizabeth was commissioned under her new name, Liberty, and placed under the command of Joseph Habersham and Oliver Bowen, two delegates to the Provincial Congress. Under her new command, Liberty slipped with a crew of nearly fifty down the Savannah River prepared to challenge the British schooner. Her royalist commander, Captain Grant, realizing that he was both outmanned and outgunned, quickly and discreetly sailed away to safer waters.[xxiii]
Philippa, unadvised of this loss of an armed protector and of the hostile forces gathered to intercept her, reached sight of land off Tybee Bar on July 7, 1775. Governor Wright knew of the patriot forces, however, and mentioned their presence in a letter to Lord Dartmouth on July 8. Yet this same letter reveals that the governor was unaware of Philippa s presence at Tybee and consequently was unable to send a warning to the ship. So it was that an unsuspecting Captain Maitland was at anchor on Monday morning, July 8, awaiting a pilot from Tybee Island to guide his ship up the twisting Savannah River.[xxiv]
The events of that early summer day were subsequently recorded by several eyewitnesses, but the most accurate and complete were those transcribed by the crew of Philippa. Samuel Burnett, the ship’s chief mate, and Richard Scriven, her steward, later gave individual accounts to royal officials in England; the most detailed description, however, was offered by Captain Maitland and countersigned by some of his crew in a sworn deposition to a Georgia magistrate on September 21, 1775. This deposition, summarized here, gives the following account of the day’s events:
The crew of Philippa, at anchor off Tybee Bar and waiting for a pilot to guide them up the Savannah River, perceived a strange schooner watching them from three or four miles out to sea. The pilot came aboard at 10:00 A.M., and by 1:00 P.M. Philippa got underway. But as she sailed around Tybee Bar the schooner closed in on her; its guns and its heavily armed crew became clearer and clearer as it approached.
On Maitland’s inquiry, the schooner’s captain, Oliver Bowen, announced that Philippa "belonged to Savannah’’ and that he and his crew intended to pilot the craft themselves. This they did, giving the "official" pilot directions and raising a red-bordered white flag imprinted with the words "American Liberty." They guided Philippa not to Savannah, however, but to anchorage at Cockspur Island.
Once anchored, the ship was immediately surrounded by boatloads of armed men who appeared to have been encamped on the island and on nearby Tybee Point. Bowen, in company with several other men, boarded Philippa and demanded to see the dockets and bills of lading for her cargo. They announced that they would take all firearms, gunpowder, shot, and lead and produced an order from the Georgia Provincial Congress directing them to do so.
Maitland answered that he would deliver these goods only to their rightful buyers, unless the buyers themselves authorized him to do otherwise. But the insurgents took, by Maitland’s testimony, “about six tons and a half’ of gunpowder, “seven hundred weight of lead bullets,” and all the lead shot and guns aboard the ship.[xxv] The depositions made by junior officers Samuel Burnett and Richard Scriven, otherwise similar to Maitland's, differ at this point. Burnett and Scriven reported that not all of Philippa s cargo was removed by the patriots. All the gunpowder had been taken and transferred to Liberty, but this smaller ship had been unable to carry much of Philippa’s remaining manifest. Consequently, as Scriven and Burnett noted, most of the rnusket-balls, lead, and firearms were still on board Philippa when she was ordered to Cockspur Island, a small marshy location two miles upriver from Tybee Lighthouse. Maitland, meanwhile, left the ship while the gunpowder was being removed and travelled to nearby Savannah to seek Governor Wright’s assistance.[xxvi]
The governor, no doubt sympathetic to the plight of Philippa’s master, was powerless to help. On July 10, Wright relayed to Lord Dartmouth Maitland’s message that all the gunpowder “is now in the hands of the Liberty people here who forcibly hold it against the owners.” He added that Maitland intended “to make a protest against them [the Provincial Congress], which if done before the vessel (by which this is to go) sails, I shall send your Lordships a copy of it for your more particular information.”[xxvii] But this was all Philippa’s captain could expect from Georgia’s royal governor. As Wright noted in the same letter, his own incoming mail from England was regularly being opened and read by patriot committees, and his outgoing correspondence was likewise being scrutinized. Consequently, he again requested recall to England, since “I begin to think a King’s governor has little or no business here.” Captain Maitland had no other recourse but to take Governor Wright’s letter back to his ship and await the next patriot move.[xxviii]
The patriot response came quickly. Philippa still carried a considerable quantity of firearms, lead, and musket-balls. Aware of the worth of these items and concerned that Maitland might attempt an escape, Georgia’s patriot leaders ordered that the ship be brought forthwith to Savannah and placed under the control of the Parochial Committee.[xxix]
On July 12, 1775, Savannah’s Parochial Committee acted to comply with its orders. Although the deposition submitted by Maitland and some of his crewmen the following September did not cite this day’s events, they were specifically noted in the subsequent accounts of crewmen Burnett and Scriven. Chief mate Burnett’s account reads as follows:
And this deponent further saith that on the twelfth day of July aforesaid, Orders were received ... to bring the said ship up to Savanna [sic]... . And that on her arrival there three persons came on board the said Ship (whereas a person who calls himself Ebenezer Smith Platt was one) who then declared that they were sent by the said Committee at Savannah to see that the said Musket Balls and small Arms were not landed according to the Bills of Lading signed by the said Richard Maitland in England, but to take the same into their Possession. ... And this Deponent further saith that the said Richard Maitland and his Officers and Seamen were obliged quietly to submit to whatever the said Ebenezer Smith Platt and the other two persons ordered, and directed because . . . from the time the said Ship was so seized until the Time this Deponent left the said Colony of Georgia, the Course of Public Justice was totally obstructed and his Majesty’s Governor . . . deprived of all power and Authority which was usurped by the said Provincial Congress or Committee.[xxx]
Ebenezer Smith Platt, also mentioned in the testimonies of Captain Maitland and Richard Scriven, was the twenty-two- year-old secretary of Savannah’s Parochial Committee. He was not a native of Georgia and in fact had arrived in the colony from New York only the previous March. Soon after his arrival he had become active in mercantile and patriot activities. His popularity was such that by June 1775 he was elected to the Parochial Committee. Consequently, the following month he was selected as one of the group to confiscate the remainder of Philippa s cargo. Later, Platt claimed that his committee had acted under instructions from Georgia’s Provincial Congress to save the remaining cargo from the mob, that Captain Maitland had approved of the removal, but that in fact during Platt’s time on board Philippa “no part of her cargo was landed save five horses for Governor Campbell of South Carolina.” (The fact that Platt made these declarations in 1777 in London’s Newgate Prison while awaiting trial on treason charges lends little credence to the accuracy of his description.)[xxxi]
The truth was that musket-balls, firearms, and lead were all taken from Philippa on July 12, 1775 and stored in Savannah’s powder-house. Undoubtedly, these developments further frustrated Captain Maitland, who along with Boudrieu and Chollet had financial investments in the ship’s manifest. It was useless to appeal to the patriots to return the arms and ammunition to him; while his ship lay under guard at the town docks, Maitland’s only option was to return once more to Governor Wright’s residence. The governor was still unable to do more than commiserate with him.[xxxii]
Maitland did look elsewhere for help, however, as the summer wore on. On July 28, he wrote to his former employer Henry Laurens in Charleston: “I am at a great loss what to do with my ship.” Realizing Laurens’s prominence and influential
patriot status, he added “I would beg of You Sir, a few lines by way of advice for the future Destination of my Ship, Your opinion I should greatly depend on.” However, only Savannah’s Parochial Committee could grant permission for any ship to leave the port. As Governor Wright noted on August 17, “fresh insults continue to be offered every day by them” to local British officials, and there were no signs of a royal naval force coming to their rescue. Maitland, aware of all this, nonetheless on September 8 petitioned Anthony Stokes, Georgia’s chief justice, for relief without having to “issue any warrant in this case."[xxxiii]
By autumn, however, the patriots had little reason to restrain Philippa or its crew any further. The vessel’s valuable cargo had already been removed and there was little advantage in pressing the ship herself into colony service. Also Maitland, who submitted yet another judicial deposition for redress (on September 21), appeared to be gaining local sympathy. The day after this deposition was submitted, John Wood, James Douglass, and William McCredie, all of Savannah, lodged supporting affidavits on his behalf with the colony’s chief justice. The Parochial Committee thus relented, and during the autumn of 1775 permitted Philippa to sail from Savannah harbor.[xxxiv]
Captain Maitland evidently made first for St. Augustine, where his consignees were waiting in vain for their arms and ammunition. From there he sailed with a different and less controversial cargo for the West Indies.[xxxv]
Meanwhile, Philippa’s original cargo had been distributed among her captors. Of the two colonies involved, Georgia's patriots retained over eight thousand pounds of the gunpowder. Almost two thousand pounds were sent to the "Indian Country” by the Provincial Congress, with the stipulation that the powder be a present to the natives, “not from the King or from the [royal] Government or the Traders, but from the People
of the Province.” The remainder of the colony’s share was left under guard in Savannah’s powder house.[xxxvi]
South Carolinians were eager for their share of Philippa’s manifest, but they received only 5,212 pounds of the gunpowder, six kegs of lead, and a small share of the firearms. The Carolina portion was transported to Charleston by John Joyner, and on July 17 it was placed under the control of the province’s Council of Safety.[xxxvii]
Not all the cargo remained in the southern colonies, though. Since the Continental Congress had already informed patriot organizations throughout America of the Continental Army’s dire need for arms and ammunition, South Carolina’s Council of Safety had ordered members William Drayton and Miles Brewton to Georgia immediately following word of Philippa’s capture. The two representatives easily persuaded Georgia’s Provincial Congress to grant them five thousand pounds of the gunpowder, plus one small cannon. These items were forthwith loaded on Drayton and Brewton’s brigantine under the command of James Dogherty (Doherty) and transported to Charleston. On July 19, South Carolina’s Council of Safety noted her imminent arrival and ordered council member Joseph Verrie to meet her, taking care “to prevent Loss or Damage to the Gunpowder by Fire or Otherwise.” But the council also noted that its supervision was to last only for a short time. Upon her arrival in Charleston, Dogherty’s brigantine sailed south to Tucker’s Island where, under the supervision of Verrie and Dogherty, her cargo was transferred to Polly, a trading schooner from Philadelphia. Polly, captained by Joseph Campbell, sailed on July 21, 1775 to Pennsylvania with her new manifest.[xxxviii]
The two-and-a-half tons of gunpowder were trans-shipped to Philadelphia and then sent to the Continental Army—an immeasurable asset to General Washington’s underequipped forces. Supplies had posed a serious problem since Washington had assumed command of the army in mid-June 1775. By the beginning of August the general learned that his troops besieging Boston had only thirty-six barrels of gunpowder on hand, or nine rounds per soldier. Under such circumstances, a concerted British attack would overwhelm his inexperienced forces. Thus, it must have been with considerable relief that he wrote on August 4, “I am very glad to hear of the acquisition of Powder in So. Carolina.”[xxxix] Sixteen days later this “very seasonable supply” reached the Continental Army. Even though some shortage of guns and ammunition persisted, this gunpowder played a decisive role in the continued successful envelopment of Boston. Therefore, on March 17, 1776, when the British forces admitted defeat and evacuated Boston, the American triumph could be traced in considerable measure to Philippa’s confiscated cargo.[xl]
None of the principal protagonists during Philippa's seizure were present at the subsequent siege of Boston, though they all continued to play distinctive roles in the American Revolution. The wartime activities of patriots such as Henry Laurens, William Brayton, George Walton, and Joseph Habersham have been prominently recorded. As for some of the less publicized careers, Captains John Barnwell and John Joyner continued as members of South Carolina’s Provincial Congress (afterwards the state legislature) during the early part of the Revolution. Barnwell served as an officer at the fall of Charleston in May 1780 and, after his release from British internment, was appointed brigadier general in the South Carolina militia. Joyner’s active duty was as an officer and later commander on the frigate South Carolina until her capture in December 1782. Oliver Bowen in Georgia also participated in maritime service and became commodore and commander of his state’s infant naval forces. In November 1778, however. Commodore Bowen was removed from his position following his role in an unsuccessful campaign against British posts in East Florida.[xli]
As for British participants in the Philippa affair, Governor Wright’s later activities have been repeatedly recounted. But the subsequent career of Captain Richard Maitland has been conspicuously ignored. Maitland sailed for Jamaica after leaving Savannah, and from there he returned to England in 1776. According to an affidavit filed on March 25, 1784 by his wife Sarah to the Loyalist Claims Commission, her husband was so distraught from the treatment and the financial losses he sustained in Georgia that his “health declined daily.” Later, however, Maitland did return to America to command a ship involved in transporting British troops in New York. He died in New York City in 1779, one year before the last listing of Philippa in Lloyd's Register of Shipping, but there is no evidence to substantiate his wife’s claim that his death was from a “broken Heart because of the loss of his property in America.”[xlii]
The story of Philippa's seizure has been noted by historians contemporary to the Revolutionary period such as David Ramsay and Hugh McCall. It also has been cited by the nineteenth- century southern historians Charles Jones and William Stevens and by such twentieth-century historians as E. M. Coulter and Kenneth Coleman.[xliii] In all their accounts, however, the coverage of this affair has been limited. The seizure of Philippa did have a very influential effect on one American Revolutionary victory. The story of its seizure also reveals the role that chance plays in history—the ironic accident that Captain Maitland’s ship should sail from London at precisely the wrong time for her own safety, stop first at Savannah rather than at St. Augustine, and thus help to prevent the British forces in Boston from scattering the Continental Army in its infancy. For these two reasons alone, the Philippa episode deserves a detailed recounting.
See Henry Laurens papers for:
P856, Sir James Wright, Governor of Georgia to Lord Dartmouth1
DOCUMENTS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1770-1783 (Colonial Office Series)
Volume XI TRANSCRIPTS
1775 July-December
Edited by K. G. DAVIES July 1775 P43
(Extract)
I wrote your lordship in my letter No. 51 that our inlet was guarded by boats with many armed men from Carolina; since which several have gone down there from Savannah, all waiting the arrival of a ship expected from London with gunpowder, it is said to seize upon the gunpowder, those from Carolina to take the gunpowder out belonging to the inhabitants of their province and those from hence to take out the powder belonging to the inhabitants of this province, at least this is what is given out. And Captain Grant in His Majesty's armed schooner having called in here, the Liberty gentlemen have fitted out a schooner, some say with 8 and some with 10 ]carriage-guns, many swivels and 50 men. Captain Grant is sailed and no vessel sent here yet by Admiral Graves. And when in Council, on the 4 inst., Mr Bailey the commissary (in whose charge the guns etc. belonging to His Majesty are) came there and informed me that a great many people were taking and carrying away some of the guns, carriages, shot, for the particulars of which I beg leave to refer to the enclosed copies of affidavits and to the enclosed extract of the minute of Council relative thereto.
And, my lord, I have just been informed that Sir Barnard Elliott (a captain in the troops raising by South Carolina) is in the back parts of this province enlisting men without having made the least application to me or taking any notice at all. Am also informed that the Committee in Charleston or Council of Safety (as they call themselves), it is not certain which, have appointed three persons as superintendents or managers of the Indian affairs in the Creek country and also three to manage the Indian affairs in the Cherokee country, which matters I also laid before the Council, and your lordship will see their opinions and advice by the enclosed extract of the minutes. And thus your lordship sees that the powers of government are wrested out of my hands, that law and government are nearly if not quite annihilated, and a mere nominal governor can be of little use and to me a most disagreeable situation, and it's not in my power to support either any longer. The principal reasons of this great and sudden change and falling off I gave your lordship in the above letters referred to. And your lordship will best judge what is necessary or proper to be done. My lord, pardon me but the more I think of the present state of affairs between Great Britain and the colonies, the more I am convinced of the propriety of what I mentioned in my letter of the 24 of August, No. 26 [Vol. VIII, No. XC).
The Provincial Congress is now sitting here and yesterday I received the enclosed application from them, to which your lordship will see my answer [Vol. X, No. 51 v], and had I not done so I presume they would (as in other provinces) have appointed one themselves. I am informed delegates are chosen to proceed immediately to Philadelphia and that our ports and courts are to be shut up, which I believe although I cannot positively assert it as nothing is yet published or made public. Signed. [C.O.5/664, fo. 146]
44
July 1775
XIV
Governor Sir James Wright to Earl of Dartmouth (No. 53) 10 July, Savannah
My Lord, since writing my last of the 8th inst, [above, No. XIII] Captain Maitland arrived. The warlike schooner fitted out as mentioned before went to sea and met with the ship about 4 leagues from the bar, conducted her in, and then took out all the gunpowder on board amounting to about six tons as the captain tells me and which is now in the hands of the Liberty people here who forcibly hold it against the owners. The captain is going to make a protest against them, which if done before the vessel (by which this is to go) sails I shall send your lordship a copy of it for your more particular information. I am also to acquaint your lordship that the Sandwich packet arrived at Charleston on the second inst. when your lordship's letters and those from Mr Pownall, and indeed every letter directed to me both public and private, were seized upon and opened in Charleston, and on the evening of the 8th inst. I received them sealed up again by the deputy postmaster-general in Charleston and endorsed thus “Opened by the Committee of Inspection at Charleston”: G. Roupell.
I must also acquaint your lordship that a committee from the Provincial Congress now sitting here was sent to the post office who ordered the deputy postmaster here not to send me any of my letters, but after the Congress had deliberated on the matter a message was sent to the postmaster that he might deliver them and I accordingly received them after about an hour's detention. So that your lordship sees there is an end of all correspondence and I cannot attempt to send any answers to your lordship's letters in future from hence by the post to Charleston in order to go by the packet, for were I to do it they would certainly be intercepted. The letters now received from your lordship are only the original and duplicate of your lordship's circular letter of the 15th of April [Vol. VII, No. 1089] last signifying His Majesty's pleasure that the orders of the commander-in-chief of the King's forces in North America, and under him of the major-generals and brigadier-generals, shall be supreme in all cases relative to the operation of the said troops and be obeyed accordingly, which will certainly be duly observed by me.
It being impossible, my lord, for me to submit to these daily insults I must again request His Majesty will be graciously pleased to give me leave to return to England.
My lord, I cannot write with freedom or [I should] have several things to say. God grant conciliatory measures may take place and I conceive there is not an hour to be lost. The state of affairs will not admit of the least delay.
I am this moment informed that the Congress intend to raise 300 men. Mr Habersham is gone to Philadelphia for the recovery of his health and I begin to think a King's governor has little or no business here. Signed. [C.O.5/664, fo. 157]
P49
On the ]8_instant at night two gentlemen came here from Charleston, sent as I was informed by the Council of Safety there, and they have prevailed on the Congress to let them have 5000 weight of the gunpowder and which they carried away with them, and I am informed that some of the Liberty people here assisted in putting on board the vessel they came in a brass field-piece and carriage belonging to His Majesty. This I did not hear of till afterwards but if I had I could not have prevented it.
I understand the Congress have agreed to send 2000 weight of gunpowder into the Indian country as a present from the people and it is particularly agreed that the Indians be acquainted that it is not from the King or from government or from the Superintendent or from the traders but from the people of the province, and I am much afraid this will raise strange ideas amongst the Indians and be attended with very bad consequences. They have appointed here what they call a Council of Safety and very nearly followed the example of the Carolinians except as to raising an army. It was proposed to raise 350 men but after great debates that was carried in the negative; and this province having now joined with the others, I am well informed that the gentlemen who came from Carolina assured the Congress here that if they should on any account want assistance they should
P52
By accounts received last night from Georgia that province has joined the general Association and appointed delegates to the Continental Congress. This apostasy will answer their purpose extremely well as they are amply stocked with all kinds of European goods of which we already feel the want very much. Three armed schooners from Savannah boarded the Philippa, Captain Maitland, bound from London for that port and seized 15,000 lbs of gunpowder; to such a helpless state are we reduced here. As Sir James Wright dare not attempt to write I transmit a Georgia paper which contains some of the late transactions in that province [Vol. X, No. 98x]. I had intended to finish this letter and dispatch the packet tomorrow morning but am just informed the Committee means to determine the fate of the Crown officers tomorrow. I have therefore resolved to detain her a day or two longer.
P125
Information of Richard Maitland and Others1
21 September, Georgia
The information of Richard Maitland, master of the ship Philippa belonging to the port of London but now lying in the River Savannah, of John Fullerton, first mate of the ship Philippa, and of Samuel Burnett, second mate of the said ship, taken on oath the twenty-first day of September, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, before Anthony Stokes, barrister-at-law, chief justice of the said province of Georgia.
The said deponents, being duly sworn on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, severally make oath and say that in the months of March and April last the said ship Philippa was loaded with sundry goods in the River Thames for different persons in the provinces of Georgia and East Florida, amongst which goods were gunpowder, arms, and lead, shipped by licence from His Majesty or the officers acting under his authority.
That the said ship sailed from the Downs on the second day of May last and came to an anchor off Tybee bar about nine miles without Tybee Point on the coast of Georgia on the seventh day of July last past, and there waited for a pilot to carry the said ship into Savannah River.
And these deponents further say that as the said ship was lying at anchor off Tybee bar as aforesaid they, these deponents, saw a schooner coming out of Savannah River on the eighth day of July with an ensign and pendant hoisted, which schooner went out to sea as far or farther than where the said ship lay, which schooner kept hovering round the said ship but did not come nearer to the said ship in the forenoon of the said eighth day of July than three or four miles.
And these deponents further say that at ten of the clock in the forenoon of the said eighth day of July a pilot came on board the said ship, but the said ship did not get under way until between one and two of the clock in the afternoon of the said eighth of July for want of wind.
And these deponents further say that when the said ship got under way they stood out to the eastward in order to open the channel of Tybee bar,
1 Enclosed to Governor Sir James Wright's letter to Dartmouth, 23 September 1775, below, No. LXXXII.
126 September 1775
and when the said ship was about four leagues distant from the bar the said schooner stood right athwart the said ship; and then the said deponents perceived that the said schooner was full of armed men and had ten carriage-guns mounted which these deponents took to be six-pounders, and the said schooner had also several pieces cut out of her second streak under the quarter-deck which were for smallarms in close quarters.
And these deponents further say that about half an hour after four of the clock in the afternoon of the said eighth day of July, when the said ship and schooner were at sea about four leagues without Tybee Point, the said schooner fired two muskets at the said ship with an intention, as these deponents believe, to bring the said ship to; and the said people on board the said schooner seemed as if they intended to board the said ship but the said ship veering up large prevented the said schooner from boarding her as they believe. That the said schooner then bore up after the said ship and hailed her, and being satisfied what ship it was and where she was bound to, the deponent Richard Maitland asked the people on board the said schooner where she belonged to and who commanded her, to which one Oliver Bowen, a person on board the said schooner, answered that the said schooner belonged to Savannah and that he commanded her.
And these deponents further say that before the said deponent Richard Maitland hailed the said schooner the said Oliver Bowen said they would pilot the said ship into Savannah River and would answer the consequences, but the said deponent Richard Maitland told the said Oliver Bowen that he had a pilot on board. Notwithstanding which the said Oliver Bowen and others on board the said schooner continued to give the pilot on board the said ship directions what course to steer.
And these deponents further say that after the people on board the said schooner had spoke to the people on board the said ship, they the people on board the said schooner hauled down their pendant and hoisted at the masthead a white flag with a red border, on the field of which flag was stamped or imprinted in large red letters the words 'American Liberty', and the people on board the said schooner said the schooner's name was the Liberty and that Oliver Bowen commanded her as before is mentioned.
And these deponents further say that at seven of the clock in the evening of the said eighth day of July a calm and an ebb tide obliged the said ship to anchor about four or five miles without Tybcc Point, and that when the said ship anchored the schooner anchored also and lay close by the said ship all night and the people on board the said schooner kept centinels all night and frequently passed the words 'All's well'.
And these deponents further say that about five of the clock in the morning of the ninth day of July last, when the said ship weighed anchor, the said schooner weighed also and the said schooner kept close to the said ship until the said ship ran in within Tybee Point, and then the people on board the said schooner ordered the pilot on board the said ship to run the said ship to Cockspur Island and anchor her there although the said ship was bound to Savannah and would have proceeded there immediately had she not been stopped by the said schooner, the wind being then at east and a flood tide corning on.
And these deponents further say that they saw an encampment of armed men on Tybee Point and also on Cockspur Island, the number of whom in the whole appeared to be about three hundred, besides what were in the schooner, and that immediately on the said ship being anchored the greatest part of the armed men that were on shore came off in boats and surrounded the said ship; and then Oliver Bowen, who appeared to be captain of said schooner and who is a resident in the town of Savannah and a lieutenant in the militia as these deponents have heard and believe, together with John , Joyner of Parris Island near Beaufort in the province of South Carolina and \ Seth John Cuthbert of Savannah, together with several other persons not known to the deponents, came on board the said ship.
And the said Richard Maitland for his part saith that when the several persons last abovementioned were in the ship-cabin with this deponent they demanded the ship-papers, and the said deponent Richard Maitland not being in a condition to dispute matters with them, he produced the dockets and bills of lading of the several goods on board the said ship. And when the said Bowen, Joiner and Cuthbert found that there were gunpowder and shot on board the ship, they told the deponent Richard Maitland that they would take all the gunpowder, shot, lead, and Indian trading arms, out of the said ship.
The said deponent Richard Maitland further saith that at that junction Joseph Habersham of Savannah, merchant, came on board the said ship and produced an order from the Provincial Congress of the province of Georgia signed on the left-hand side 'Geo. Walton Secretary', requiring them to take all the ammunition and arms out of the said ship wherever they found her or words to that effect. That the said Bowen and the other persons told the said deponent Richard Maitland that they had been looking out for the said ship three weeks. That the deponent Richard Maitland told them that the order from the Congress was nothing to him and that he could not deliver the goods until he had seen the proprietors and had their orders for so doing. That thereupon the said Bowen and the other persons said he might see whom he pleased; and immediately a great number of the said armed people out of the schooner and from on shore went to work and, against the will of the said Richard Maitland and his mariners, they the said armed men took out of the hold of the said ship about six tons and a half of gunpowder as nearly as this deponent can at present conjecture and about seven hundredweight of leaden bullets. And as the said ship was unloading her cargo several people by order of the Congress attended the unloading of the said ship and took away all the bar lead, sheet-lead, Indian trading arms, and shot, that were on board, but the particular quantity this deponent can't ascertain, not knowing the weight of the lead.
And the said deponent Richard Maitland further saith that he earnestly begged the said Oliver Bowen and the other persons who first came on board and took the gunpowder away by order of the Congress aforesaid to leave the gunpowder on board that was consigned to James Penman, merchant in Saint Augustine, but they answered 'If it was the King's they would take it.'
And the said Richard Maitland further saith that on their beginning to take the gunpowder away he immediately went to Savannah and acquainted his Excellency Sir James Wright therewith, who this deponent believes had it not in his power to take any measure or even enforce the laws.
And the said Richard Maitland further saith that he did not make any
application to the chief justice until the evening of the eighth of September instant from an apprehension that some injury might have been offered to his person or property, and also thinking from the circumstances of the times it is out of the power of the chief justice to bring the persons to justice; and the said deponent is rather confirmed in such his opinion from his having heard that when a man was lately remanded to the common gaol by the chief justice for enlisting men for the Carolina service, as it is called, a large number of people broke open the said gaol and released him, and for these reasons the said deponent Richard Maitland desires the chief justice will not issue any warrant in this case.
And the said deponent Richard Maitland further saith that in a conversation had with the said Joseph Habersham and others whom he knows not on the eleventh day of July last, the said persons who were in company with the said Joseph Habersham and this deponent at that time asked the said Joseph Habersham if he would surfer his name to be entered in a protest on the above occasion, to which the said Joseph Habersham replied *He wished he could see that man that dared to do it' or words to that effect; and from that and several other hints given to this deponent the protests are drawn in general terms and individuals are not mentioned in them, and the deponent is pretty sure that, had it not been with a view to get the powder bonds cancelled, it was more than his life was worth to have entered a protest or for a notary to have taken it from him, there being no civil or military power sufficient to protect him.
And the said Richard Maitland for his pan further saith that the schooner abovementioned belonged to one Samuel Price of Savannah (and one Richard Wright who was averse to the service she was on) but that the said Samuel Price was actually on board the said schooner and acted as pilot and master of her when she was on the above service; that the said schooner was originally called the Elizabeth and there were on board her at the time she was on the above service, besides the persons abovenamed, William Moore of Savannah, Charles Middleton of one of the southern parishes in the province, planter; and that the said deponents saw on Cockspur Island, among the armed men who were encamped as aforesaid, James Black of Beaufort in South Carolina, shipwright, and James Docharty, a lieutenant in John Barnwell's company of South Carolina provincials, and that the said John Barnwell, the captain, commanded at Tybee Point and the said Docharty at Cockspur Island, as this deponent has been informed and believes.
And lastly the said Richard Maitland for himself saith that some of the people that were on board the said schooner acknowledged to him that there were seventy men on board the said schooner besides the armed men on Tybee Point and Cockspur Island, but this deponent could not reckon more on board the said schooner than forty-five. Richard Maitland, John Fullerton, Samuel Burnett.
Sworn the day and year aforesaid before Anthony Stokes.
Georgia, Crown Office, 22 September 1775. We do hereby certify that this, together with the two annexed sheets of paper, do contain a true copy of the deposition of Richard Maitland, John Fullerton and Samuel Burnett, taken before the chief justice, the same being examined by Preston and Pryce. Copy. [C.O.5/664, fo. 228A]
Thursday 05 October 1775, Stamford Mercury reports:
London, Oct 2 (1775)
By the Charles Town Mail there is advice, that the Provincials had seized seven
tons of gunpowder, which was landing from on board Captain Loftus’s ship, at St
Augustine. Captain Loftus was freighted by Government to carry stores to the
above place, and when at anchor off the bar, where large vessels usually
deliver part of their cargo, in order to lighten them that they may go over
safe, she was attacked by some armed boats from Beaufort, Port Royal and other
towns in Carolina, they seized 140 barrels of powder out of 500 that the vessel
had in all on board, and made the best of their way to Beaufort, before the
assistance from St Augustine could come up with them. The ship afterwards
proceeded to deliver the remainder of her cargo, as the gunpowder was only what
the armed boats came after. This is the second ship that has been attacked, and
had her powder taken out by these armed boats, viz. Captain Maitland bound for
Georgia, and this vessel.
http://esr.lib.ttu.edu/bitstream/handle/2346/511/fulltext.pdf?sequence=1
University Libraries Faculty Research Texas Tech University Year 2007
Enough Gunpowder to Start a Revolution
Jon R. Huord
Texas Tech University, jon.hu_ord@ttu.edu
This paper is posted at eScholarship Repository.
http://esr.lib.ttu.edu/lib
fac research/34
NB Phillipa previously called the Magna Carta.
ENOUGH GUNPOWDER TO START A REVOLUTION
Jon R Hufford
Middle Georgia College
On June 27, 1775, Governor Sir James Wright, expecting interference with British
shipping at the entrance to the Savannah River, wrote to Admiral Sir Thomas Graves,
commander of British naval forces in North America, entreating him to send a
sloop-of-war to defend the approaches to the river.1 His immediate
concern was to assure the safe arrival of the merchant ship Phillipa, which had
left London on the second of May with thirteen thousand pounds of gunpowder,
small arms, and casks of musket balls, a cargo intended for the Indian trade
and for British troops and loyalists in Georgia and eastern Florida, the
Phillipa was due to arrive in Savannah shortly, so the tone of the governor's
letter was urgent. It would have been frantic had the governor been able to
foresee events of the next few weeks. The Phillipa's cargo, intercepted by
rebels, was destined to play an important role in the initial campaigns of the
American Revolution.
Fulfillment of the governor's desire to keep Georgia loyal to England during the rapidly expanding confrontation between mother country and colonies depended to an
important extent on continuing the alliance with the Creek and Cherokee Indian nations.2
Captain John Stuart, British agent to the Indians, possessed great influence over
them. Wright speculated that, once Stuart's Indian charges had received their share
of the gunpowder and shot. Stuart would be in a position to ensure their support
of His Majesty's colonial government. Thus far, Georgians had been quiet, if
not completely loyal, and Wright had not needed troops and ships-of-war to
bring this about. However, Charleston, a hot-bed of rebellion in the southern provinces,
was exerting significant influence on the small but growing number of colonial
patriots in Savannah. Wright knew that some Georgia citizens were already preparing
secretly to overthrow the colonial government and establish a committee of safety
and provincial congress in its place.3 He was aware of the serious consequences
for England if the cargo should fall into patriot hands and was determined to
do all in his power to see that this could not happen.
One week earlier, on June 20th. Wright had written to his administrative superior,
William Legge, Earl of Dartmouth, who was Secretary of State for the Colonies,
expressing his suspicion that Charleston patriots had plans to seize the Phillipa's
shipment. He explained that some South Carolinians feared that when the munitions
had been distributed Captain Stuart would incite the Cherokees to attack settlements.4
A few Charlestonians were using this fear to persuade men to enlist in the
"Liberty Boys" and assist in an effort to seize the Phillipa. As the governor
saw it, everything depended on Admiral Graves' cooperation. The Admiral might
very well have sent a sloop-of-war as requested if Wright's letter of June 27th
had reached him. However, agents of the Charleston Committee of Safety had
intercepted that letter and substituted a forged one explaining that Georgia
was peaceful and needed no military assistance.5 A few days earlier
a party of about forty Beaufort "Liberty Boys" commanded by Captains John
Barnwell and John Joyner had set out in two small barges for Bloody Point and
Tybee Island, the landfall for all ships entering the Savannah River.6
Their purpose was to take the Phillipa.
Over Governor Wright's protests, the Georgia Provincial Congress met on the 4th
of July at Tondee's Long Room in Savannah. One of its final acts was to offer
assistance to Barnwell and Joyner in taking the Phillipa.7 It
informed the South Carolinians that a small British armed schooner had
unexpectedly arrived at Tybee from Saint Augustine, Florida, and it offered to
help take that vessel also. This offer was accepted, and the Georgia Congress
dispatched to Tybee its newly commissioned schooner, the Liberty, commanded by
Oliver Bowen and Joseph Habersham.8 Thus began a cooperative venture
which was to develop into one of the earliest naval operations of the
Revolution. No fighting took place and consequently there were no casualties,
but the result of this operation was acquisition of a much-needed supply of
gunpowder and small arms for the Georgia and South Carolina militias and the
fledgling American army then encamped outside Boston.
As soon as the Liberty was discovered approaching Tybee, the British schooner put
to sea. Its captain had decided that a fight with this newly arrived opponent, assisted
by the smaller vessels which he knew were present at nearby Bloody Point, would
be too one-sided.9 Consequently, when on July seventh the Phillipa anchored
off Tybee Bar to await its pilot, there was no British naval presence to afford
protection. The Liberty was waiting out of sight not far from Tybee and on the
morning of July eighth approached to within three or four miles before anchoring
in a location the Phillipa would have to pass as it moved upriver.10
That move began in the early afternoon of the same day. Too late the Phillipa's
captain, Richard Maitland, spotted the Liberty waiting, full of armed men and
mounting ten six-pound cannon ready for action. Before he realized fully what
was happening, two warning shots were fired at the Phillipa. After a futile
attempt to escape, Maitland hove to and responded to the Liberty Boy's demand
to identify his ship.
During a short discourse in which Maitland declined Bowen's offer to act as pilot,
a flag with the words "American Liberty" stamped on it was hoisted to
the schooner's masthead. There was no longer room for doubt; the rebels had revealed
their identity.
Before anything could be resolved, sudden contrary winds followed by an ebb tide
forced both vessels to anchor. They remained at anchor until the following morning.
Then Maitland had little choice but to obey Bowen's order to accompany the Liberty up the Savannah to Cockspur Island, where there was an encampment of about three
hundred armed men.11 Shortly after both vessels anchored there, they
were joined by the South Carolina barges. Bowen, Joyner, and Seth Cuthbert of
Savannah led a boarding party which forced Maitland to hand over his ship's papers,
including the cargo manifest. Then Joseph Habersham came aboard with a written
order from the Georgia Provincial Congress which authorized him to seize all
the arms, gunpowder, and whatever else was included in the cargo.12
When the unloading had begun, Maitland was allowed to depart for Savannah in
order to inform Governor Wright of what had happened. The rebels recognized
that there was little else he could do.
An account of events following Maitland's departure can be constructed from the
affidavits of Samuel Burnett, the Phillipa's chief mate, and Richard Scriven,
her steward, who gave their stories to William Addington. Justice of the Peace
for Middlesex, England, almost two years later. All the gunpowder, along with a
few kegs of musket balls, was transferred to the Liberty. But there was no room
aboard the Liberty for most of the kegs and the small arms, so the Phillipa's
crew was instructed to keep her at anchor near Cockspur Island until further
notice. A guard was left on board to make sure these instructions were carried
out. On July twelfth the Phillipa received instructions from the Georgia
Committee of Safety to proceed to Savannah.13 There a second
boarding party, led by William Platt, a Savannah merchant, and under the
overall direction of the Committee, unloaded the rest of the cargo into boats
and transported it to the city magazine for storage. Both the mate and the steward
took pains to explain that the entire crew was under duress and obliged to carry
out the "Liberty Boys" demands.
Maitland had returned to his ship before July twelfth, aware that British civil
and military power was no longer effective in Georgia.14 The
Committee of Safety now governed the province. Governor Wright had urged
Maitland to leave a deposition with Anthony Stokes, the King's Chief Justice,
but he knew that any warrants Stokes might issue were unenforceable. For his
part, Maitland prudently put off taking this action until September for fear of
reprisal. The necessity of having the cargo's bonds cancelled finally forced
him to follow the governor's advice.
Eventually the Phillipa's, cargo was divided. Georgia's share was substantial —
nine thousand pounds of gunpowder and most of the small arms. The "Liberty
Boys" of Beaufort got the rest. Following the urgent request of the
Continental Congress sitting at Philadelphia, five thousand pounds of Georgia's
share of the powder was sent to that city. The troops of Richard Montgomery and
Benedict Arnold used some of it during their invasion of Canada in November.
Much of the rest enabled George Washington's army to drive the British forces
under General William Howe out of Boston in March of the following year.15
The Georgia militia found its portion useful later on, when fighting began in
the southern provinces. One week after July fourth, 1775, Georgia had shed its
loyalist stance and was moving toward active and significant participation in
the rebellion.
Notes to Above:
1. In this letter the Governor mentioned another letter sent to him by the Earl
of Dartmouth some time earlier which explained that an order had been sent from
the Admiralty to the admiral directing him to send an armed ship to Georgia. John Drayton.
Memoirs of the American Revolution, 2 vols. (Charleston, 1821; repr. New York, 1969), 1: 348-50; and Ronald G. Killion and Charles T. Waller, Georgia and the Revolution (Atlanta, 1975), 140, 141.
2. The Indians of Georgia outnumbered white settlers in 1775. Allen D. Candler,
comp., The Revolutionary Records of the State of Georgia, 3 vols. (Atlanta, 1908), 1: 300-1.
3. William Harden, A History of Savannah and South Georgia, 2 vols. (Chicago, 1913; repr. Atlanta, 1969), 1: 178, 1.
4. Allen D. Candler and Lucian Lamar Knight, comps., The Colonial Records of
the State of Georgia, 26 vols. (Atlanta. 1904-1937), vols. 27-39 manuscripts at
Georgia's Department of Archives and History, 38, pi. I: 475-77.
5. This forged letter also commented on the earlier letter from Dartmouth but
explained that there was no longer a need for an armed vessel. John Draylon.
Memoirs of the American Revolution, 2 vols., supra.
6. William Bacon Stevens, A History of Georgia, 2 vols. (Philadelphia, 1847-1859),
2: 103.
7. Ibid.
8. The Liberty, formerly the Elizabeth, was owned by Samuel Price and Richard
Wright of Savannah. Price cooperated with the Congress acting as ship's pilot
following its commissioning. Allen D. Candler and Lucian Lamar Knight, comps..
The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia, 26 vols., vols. 27-39
manuscripts, 38, pt. I: 614, 615.
9. Ibid.
10. Affidavit of Richard Maitland, 21 September 1775. Allen D. Candler and
Lucian La-mar Knight, comps., The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia. 26 vols., vol. 2 manuscript, 38, pt. 1; 606-614
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Affidavits of Richard Scriven and Samuel Burnett, 10 January 1777. Old Bailey
Sessions Papers, Greater London Record Office, Middlesex Records. London,
England. (Reference Number: o17770219-1, re Ebenezer Smith Platt, charged with
High Treason on affidavits by RS & SB, AM 11/08).
14. Allen D. Candler and Lucian Lamar Knight, comps.. The Colonial Records of
the Stale of Georgia. 26 Vols., Vols. 27-39 manuscripts. 38. pt. 1: 613, 614.
15. Hugh McCall, the History of Georgia, 2 vols. (Savannah: 1811-1816; repr. Atlanta, 1909). 291; and William Bacon Stevens, A History of Georgia, 2 Vols. 2: 104.
July 9, 1775 at Bloody Point, South Carolina - The South
Carolina Council of Safety learned that a gunpowder shipment was on the way to
Savannah. The gunpowder would be used to supply the Indians. The council sent 2
barges to Bloody Point to intercept the gunpowder shipment. Capts. John Joyner
and John Barnwell, of the 1st South Carolina Regiment, commanded the barges.
When they arrived at Bloody Point, they got a schooner, the Liberty, outfitted
with 10 carriage guns, commanded by Capt. Oliver Bowen, to join the barges. The
British shipment was escorted by the armed schooner, HMS Phillippa, which was
commanded by Capt. Richard Maitland.
Note: no record in PRO of HMS Phillipa, probably not naval.
Robert S. Davis of Wallace State Community College, Hanceville, AL, has sent me
an advance copy of an article he has written, to be published in the Georgia
Historical Quarterly some time next year. It is about Ebenezer Smith Platt
(#132-111, p. 93 in the 1963 Richard Platt Genealogy), b. Smithtown, NY 1753,
no death info, m. Elizabeth Lovell Wright. A note in the Genealogy says,
"Taken prisoner in Revolution and conveyed to London. His release obtained
from George III through intercession of Mrs. Wright, well-known wax-works
modeler, whose daughter he later married."
PRO 20/29/3/5 17
1039
Granville Papers
17
Provincial Georgia::
Sir James Wright in his letter of the 1st Febry, acquaints Lord
Dartmouth, that he had met the Assembly in January, expecting their being
allowed to sit would have prevented their sending Deputies to the General
Congress, in which he was disappointed. That the Carolinians had set every
Engine to work to draw the Georgians into their Marines?, and threatened Blood
and Devastation if they refused; which, had raised the Spirits of the factions,
and those who were well disposed were born away by the Torrent of Party. That
he had reason to think there was a Design to seize upon him as a Hostage for
such of the Faction as might be taken up for their treasonable practices, but
that
1040
at present the people behave towards him with decency, yet complains of a total
want of Land and naval forces.
In his Letter of the 24 Febry he gives and account of a Riot at Savannah,
in consequence of the Collector having seized several Hogsheads of Sugar and
Molasses, and set a watch to guard them; that a Number of armed people came to
beat the Watch away, (one of whom, fell overboard and was drowned), and carried
off the Hogsheads.
The Governor had issued a Proclamation upon the occasion which had no other
effect than exposing the weakness of Gover’t.
Before these Advices were rec’d Lord Dartmouth had in his Dispatch of the 1st
Febry acquainted Sir James Wright, that orders were given to Admiral
1041
Graves to station a Sloop of War at Savannah, and to Gener’l Gage to send a
Detachment of 100 Men from St Augustine.
Sir James on the 24th April write, that by his Management the
departure of the three Deputies appointed by the Assembly to join the intended
Congress at Philadelphia was delayed. That the Carolinians continue to threaten
to cut the throats of the People of Georgia, if any Blood was spilt in New
England, which extravagant Idea he thinks flows from the Congressional Resolve
of making Reprisals. He speaks of a few Fanatics in the Parish of Saint John’s
who had sent a Deputy to the Congress, and states the necessity of sending him
some Soldiers, as well as Powder to supply the Indians.
525
1042
In his Letter of the 12th May he says, that the night before the
King’s Gunpowder Magazine was robbed of about 600 lbs of Powder, and that not
more than 300 lbs remained of the King’s, and about the same amount of the
Merchants.
That he had issued a Proclamation with reward for discovering the Offenders,
but had no hope of its success. That things wore a gloomy Aspect, and he has no
prospect of a change for the better.
On 25th May he says the people were thrown into a great ferment
by the account of the Skirmish near Boston of the 19th April
accompanied with copies of this Letter laid before Parliament which had been
very
1043
prejudicial to himself and the King’s affairs. That now a few Soldiers would
only serve to irritate the people, as there is an appearance throughout the
Colonies of a Spirit of universal Rebellion, and therefore declines to make use
of the order he had received from General Gage for the Detachment of the 100
men from St Augustine. That his only hope is in the Moderation of the
Continental Congress.
In his Letter of the 9th June he thinks his Life is exposed to
danger, and fears Georgia will be invaded by the People of Carolina, and
therefore begs his Majesty’s permission to return home in the Spring. That
several proscribed friends to Govern’t had been required to quit the Province
in a few days and on the 17th
526
1044
he writes that 3 or 400 Liberty folkd had assembled to drive off the proscribed
persons, some of whom had departed and others pacified the Mob. That it had
been debated to shut up the Courts of Justice, but that Design was laid aside
for some time. They had entered into an Association and adopted the Resolve of
the continental Congress without Opposition from the Friends of Government, who
finding no Support were afraid to be exposed to the insults of the Rabble, that
the Council were of opinion that no public notice should be taken of their
illegal practices, as it would only serve to expose the Weakness of Government,
and exasperate the People. And he states in another Letter of the same date the
1045
necessity of having a Body of 500 Men to restore Government with a Fortress
erected on the Common suitable to contain them. He says they pretended to have
account of Mr Stuart endeavouring to bring down the Cherokees upon the
Inhabitants, and under that colour they had resolved to raise 300 men. That Mr
Stuart had been pursued by armes Boats from Carolina, but had effected his
Escape, and that the Boat has pillaged a Ship coming into Savannah of a
quantity of Gunpowder she had on board for the Indian Trade
(ie the Phillippa)
Lord Dartmouth having learned that Admiral Graves had not sent a Sloop to
Georgia in his Letter of the 2nd Aug’t acquaints Governor Wright
that the Admiralty had
527
Orders to send one of His Majesty’s Ships of War hence to the Mouth of the
Savannah River, and at the same time sends Him the King’s Leave to return to
England
In his Letter of the 8th July he says, that a number of people
carried away some of the King’s Guns and Carriages from Savannah; that the
Commer in Charlestown, or Council of Safety, had appointed 3 managers of Indian
Affairs in the Creek Country and 3 in the Cherokee Country. That the party who
had boarded the Ship had taken about 6 Tons of Gunpowder and opined the Letter
returning such as they did not find for their purpose to keep.
Upon receipt of these advices, Mr Pownell in the absence
1047
of Lord Dartmouth in a Letter of 4th October gives the Governor to
hope, that an Expedition in the open part of the Winter might possibly effect a
Change in the State of Affairs in Georgia, and therefore that the friends of
Government should not despair; and sends several Gazettes containing Addresses
to the King from several Counties expressing the Resolution to support His
Majesty in extinguishing the Rebellion in America. Mr Pownall likewise
acquaints the Governor that the Packets are changed to Advice Boats, as
occasion requires, and that Admiral Graves will give facility
528
1048
to the Conveyance of public Dispatches.
The Provincial Congress having met, the Governor says, in his Letter of the 18th
July, that they had charged him with not allowing the Assembly to sit, and with
having misrepresented the State of the Province, and that he had laid their
Address before the Council, who had refuted their Charges; that the Assembly
becoming refractory and proceeding without Order, the Governor by Advice of the
Council, thought fit to prorogue them; that two Persons from Charles town and
of the Council of Safety there, had prevailed on the Congress to
1049
let them have 5000~weight of the Gunpowder, when out of the Ship, which they
carried away with them and a Brass field piece belonging to His Majesty; that
he understands the Congress have agreed to send the Indians 2000 weight of
Gunpowder as a present from the people, not from the King and Government, which
he fears may have a bad tendency. That they had appointed a Council of Safety
who had proposed to raise 350 Men, but, it was carried in the Negative. That
Carolina offered to assist them with 1000 Men.
529
He
1050
He says in his Letter of 29th July, that the Council of Safety had
forbid the Rector of the Parish, (who had disobliged them by not officiating on
their fast day.) to preach in the Church; that the Mob had tarred and feathered
Mr Hopkins a Pilot, for having spoken disrespectfully of the Congress: that the
Delegates were gone to Philadelphia and that he Committee admitted Vessels, or
made them depart, as they pleased: that issued £10000 in Paper bills for
defraying the Charges of their Military and Committees. One McCarthy having
been committed to Gaol by the Chief Justice for inlisting Men to
1051
serve against the King, he was released by the Mob, who, after taking
possession of the public Magazine, set a guard of 20 Men over it. And by threat
and menaces compelled many people to sign the Association; Under pretence of
the Militia chusing their own Officers
they had attempted to wrest the Command of the Militia out of the hands of the
Governor. In his Letter of the 27th August, he gives a further
detail of the rebellious proceed of the People. That they had appointed one Sheftall,
a Jew, Chairman of the parochial Committee, who had taken upon
530
him
1052
to issue Orders to the Captains of Vessels in the most despotic manner. And
that the Rebels assuming uncontroulable Authority treat the few friends of
Government they cannot force into their Association with great Barbarity.
1053
1. Précis of letters from lord Dartmouth to the Plantations General 7 feb- 4
Oct (1775)
2. 13 Feb-24 July (1775), Précis of correspondence between Lord Dartmouth and
Mr Grey Johnson (Superintendent of Indian Affairs) and Mr John Stuart
3. 20 january – 16 October 1775 Minutes of Lord Dartmouth’s correspondence into
other Officers and King’s servants.
4 1st Feb-15 Oct 1775 Advices and communications to Lord Dartmouth
from other offices.
5 18 Nov 1774-25 Sept 1775 Précis of correspondence between Governor Carleton
and Lord Dartmouth on the affairs at Quebec.
6 30 Oct-20 Aug 1775 Précis of correspondence between General Gage and Lord
Dartmouth (Massachusetts Bay)
7. Précis of correspondence between Governor Wentworth and Lord Dartmouth (New Hampshire)
8. 1st March-7 Aug 1775 Précis of correspondence between Liet
Governor Colden, Governor Tryon and Lord Dartmouth (New York)
9. 6 Dec (1774)-12 july (1775) Précis of correspondence between governor
Franklin and Lord Dartmouth (New Jersey)
10 14 March-2 Aug (1775) Précis of correspondence between Lord Dumore and Lord
Dartmouth (Virginia)
11 30 Dec 1774-5 July 1775 Précis of correspondence between Deputy Governor
Eden and Lord Dartmouth (Maryland)
12 6 Dec 1774-5 Sept 1775 Précis of correspondence between Deputy Governor
Perrin and Lord Dartmouth (Pennsylvania)
13 3 jan 1775-3 july (1775) Précis of correspondence between Governor Wonton
and Lord Dartmouth (Rhode Island)
14 10 March 1775 Précis of correspondence between Governor Trimbull and Lord
Dartmouth (Connecticut)
15 7 Apr-15 Spet (1775) Précis of correspondence between Governor Martin and
Lord Dartmouth (N Carolina)
16 20 jan- 20 jul (1775) Précis of correspondence between Lieut Governor Bull
and Lord Dartmouth (S Carolina)
17 1 feb – 29 July (1775) Précis of correspondence between Sir James Wright and
Lord Dartmouth (Georgia)
From Rootsweb:
The article gives a lot more detail about Ebenezer's exciting life. He was sent
to Savannah by his father, Jonas, with a cargo of merchandise and instructions
to purchase a plantation. His father joined him and they prepared to enter the
slave trade, which enterprise was interrupted by the Revolutionary War. Jonas
died soon after. His mother then joined him in 1775, but also died suddenly.
Ebenezer then became involved in trade and privateering on behalf of the
Georgia rebels. After various adventures, he was captured and taken to London
in chains.
The above quote summarizes what happened next. The article seems to be
well-documented, and raises some difficulties for us. No death date is given
for Jonas5 in the Genealogy, but it has him dying in Smithtown. The article has
his death in Savannah about 1774. The death of Ebenezer's mother, Temperance
Smith is given in the Genealogy as 21 March 1813, but, as mentioned above, the
article tells of her sudden death in Savannah in November 1775. The Genealogy
gives the death date of Ebenezer's wife, Elizabeth Lovell Wright, as 23 February
1786, but the article has her death occurring in Bordentown, NJ in 1792. The
article also mentions that he had a second wife, name unknown. Also, his date
and place of death are unknown, but the article traces him to Baltimore, where
he was living in poverty in 1804.
To
Benjamin Franklin from Elizabeth Wright, 13 February 1777
http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-23-02-0204
From Elizabeth Wright6
als: American Philosophical Society
Pall mall London Febuy. th 13 1777Honourd Sir
Your known Goodness of Heart and Generosity in Releiving and Suckouring the injured or oppres’d has Emboldned me to trouble you with the Case of Mr. Plat now a Prisoner in Newgate, On a charge of High Treason Comitted in America, that thro your Means or influence his Frinds may be made acquaintd with his Situation in order that they may take some Precautions for his being acquited, or at least, that he may Receive some Remittances for his Support in His Disagreable Unhappy Confinement, which I am apprehensive will be of some Continuence, as I fear this new Act that is now passing,7 is made allmost on Purpose to Detain Him with Several Others Nearly in the same Situation, Without Bail or Tryall as Prisoners of Warr, to be Confined in the Severeest Maner, in Goals, or Dungeons, as Criminals and God only knows where it may End, Perhaps Hang’d. Wee was intimately Acquainted with Mr. Plat in New York of Which Place He is A Native. His Father was A Merchant There a Man of Fortune and unspotted Reputation and He Himself is a very Amiable young Man, and A Credit to His Country. His Uncle of the same Name, no Doubt Sir, you are Acquainted with, As He is One of the Members of the Congress.8 About 3 years Ago Mr. Plats Father setled Him in Georgia at His own Request, where he Purchased 5000 Acres of Land, intending to turn Planter, but meeting with some Obstructions with Regard to Negros to Stock His Farm He Entred into Trade And became much known and Esteemed in Georgia as A Worthy Young Man. His Father Came from New York to see him and unfortunately Died whilest on the Vissit. His Mother A Brother and two Sisters are now on Long Island and have not heard from Him since He wrote them an Account of his Fathers Death. The 13th of Jully 1775 there Arived A Vessel in Savanah Harbour Commanded by A Captain Maitlord,9 Laden with Goods and some Powder and Arms from Merchants in England Consignd to their Correspondents, Merchants in Georgia. The People of Georgia at that Time had just formd a Congress amongst themselves and began as well as the Other Provinces to be Divided into Liberty and tory Partys. The Merchants to whom the Goods were Consigned were of these different Oppinions. A Stoppage of Trade then takeing Place and Goods being rather Scarce the Congress Previous to the Arival of the Vessel Purchased the Goods of the Merchants at An Advanced Price, but rather against the Will of those of them who were in the opposition to the Congress, in Consequence of which the others fearing there might be any obstruction to the Landing the Goods or that Possibly a Mob might be Rais’d to Destroy or Prevent the Congress from obtaining them, applied to Mr. Plat with two other Gentleman to go on board the Vessel which Lay some Miles off and see that She was safe brought up to the Town and that none of the Goods should be Landed till Her Arival There. They gave them an order to the Captn. and Mate to Receive and Entertain them in the best Maner on Board. But they seeing the Captn. aterwards in Town shew’d Him the order, and as He was not going on Board again just then He gave them an order to the Mate, much to the same Purpose as the other, viz., to Receive and treat them well, and was very Polite and Friendly. But by what hapned afterwards it appears that He was rather Averse to the Congress haveing the Cargo. They staid on Board 6 Days, saw the Vessel brought up to the Town and Nothing Landed Except some Horses for Governor Campbell at Charlestown south Carolina. They then went on shore thought no more of it and Another Commite was sent in their stead, who Landed the Cargo. After Captn. Maitland had Cleard his Vessel in Georgia he set sail with a Cargo from thence for Jamaica and soon after Mr. Plat went as Merchant in a Vessel of His own which He had fitted out for the same Port leaving his Partner to superintend his Business and Property in the Mean time. After his Arival in Jamaica He saw Captain Maitland There who was Exceeding Friendly to Him and invited Him to Make His home on Board His ship whilest He staid in Kingston. This offer He Declined but they frequently fell in Company with Each other and allways upon the footing of Friendship for about 8 weeks when they hapned one Evening to Meet in A Coffee House in a good deal of other Company amongst which was Captain Miller of New York, with several other Captains. Some of them had got a little heated with the Liquor and one Amongst the rest, gave as a Toast “Damnation to all Americans” to which Mr. Plat Reply’d, that No Gentlemen of Honour or Goodness could drink such a Toast as it was Repugnant to the Rules of Society, on which the other grew warm as well as some of the Company, and Mr. Plat fearing A Quarrel imediately Withdrew. Captain Maitland who by this time had grown warm with the Liquor and Conversation soon after His Departure, Cryd out “That Damnd fellow was one of them on Board my Ship at Georgia with an order from the Congress and Landed the Powder and Arms for them.” Most of the Company was Exceedingly Pleasd at the Discovery and the next Day Reported it all over the town, not omiting the Governor Sir Bassil Keith1 who imediately sent word to Captain Maitland that He ought to come and Exhibit an information against Mr. Plat. The Captn. having grown sober again was Exceedingly Sorry for what he had said and sent word to Mr. Plat that He wish’d he would absent Himself or Leave the Place. Elce He must be obliged to Comply with the Governors Comands. Mr. Plat Amazed, tho’ indiffirent, at his information returnd Answer that His Business did not suit him to leave the Place at that Time, that He had nothing to dread from any information He Could make against Him, and that He was at liberty to act as he thought Proper in the Case. Mr. Plat was at that Time haveing Disposed of his Vessel and Cargo fitting out another for Turtling and fishing before His Return to Georgia. As He Lay off in the River Prepared to Sail the Admiral’s Boat Came allong Side and Askd for Mr. Plat the Captain Reply’d that He was on Board on which they imediately seiz’d the Vessel and Crew alledging it was on account of An information of Captain Maitlands against Mr. Plat, before the Governor. Mr. Plats Captain and Crew were set at Liberty about 3 weeks afterward, but Mr. Plat was Confind in Irons and for a fortnight Debard from Seeing or writeing to Any of His Friends, and treated with the greatest insolence and indignities by the Sailors. He was afterwards Permited to write to His Friends on shore who Procured for him a Habeas Corpus on which He was brought to Trial on the affadavit of Captn. Maitland His Mate and 3 of His Men who deposed that he had been on Board their Vessel in Georgia with an order from the Congress and Landed for them the Powder and Arms which the Governor Deem’d Rebelion and Treason but finding it rather Difficult to Prove He Deliverd Him intirely into the Admiral Gaytons Hands2 who was both His Prosecuter and Goalor. Mr. Plat had a Negro Boy which with his own Cloaths they had when His Vessel was seiz’d Permitted Him to keep. Him He was oblidged to sell in order to defray the Expences of His tryal. Mr. Plats Council Pleaded that at the Time these goods Arived in Georgia that Province was not Declared in Rebelion, as this hapned in July and that Declaration was not made till in the fall and that as to Seizing His Vessel, the Act3 intitled them to Seize American Privateers and did not Extend to A Private Vessel which had been cleard out for Turtling and Fishing. The admirals Council made their Cheif Plea wich was addressing themselves to the Judge, Pleas your Honour if your Honour should set the Prisoner at Liberty it will cost the Admiral 6000 Pound Damages for falce imprisoment to which the Judge Reply’d “Well I acquit the Prisoner of the Charges laid to Him but Return Him on Board as an Able Bodied Seaman to do Duty in Consequence of a late Act that all Masters and Mariners so taken, should serve on Board His Majestys frigates in His Majesty’s Service. To this it was answerd that Mr. Plat was neither Master nor Mariner but Merchant on Board His own Vessel, that this the Captain and crew could Prove. But this Assertion was Evaded and he was again Caried on Board the Admirals Ship and from thence Remov’d to several others and after some time sent home by the Admiral under Pretence of tryal in England in order Chiefly to Secure Himself from Prosecution, which He fear’d had Mr. Plat been set at Liberty. He arived at Portsmouth after having been A Prisoner 10 Months and sent to London for A Habeas, obtain’d it but there was the greatest Precautions taken in order to Render it inefectual. He was Remov’d with the greatest Expedition into Another Vessel, but He still Persisting in desire to be Brought to Tryall, 2 of Sir Johnfeildin[g’s4 Men?] Was sent for Him to Portsmouth. He wa[s brought] to Town and Carry’d before Him but He not ch[oosing] to Medle with so intricate a Cause He was Carryd before another Majistrate and Comanded to Prison, with a charge of Treason tending to Piracy on the written affadavit of two of Captn. Maitlands Sailors Previously Prepared by Council and not appearing to Confront Him in a new, and diffirent Maner from that at Jamaica. A Copy of it Refused Him, and the Comitment wrote in such a Maner that his tryall Cannot be brought on till the Kings Pleasure wich no doubt according to this New Act will not be during the Warr unless He could be Exchanged for some English Prisoner. I could not help wishing you sir and his Uncle knew his situation, as it Distresses us Exceedingly tho he himself is Exceeding chearful under it and says that if it can in any respect conduce to the good of his country he shall bear it with Pleasure Even tho his Life was Required of him. If you Sir approve of it, I should Esteem it as a Favour if you would send this to his Uncle or whatever you think best. I Reman with the greatest Respect
Elizabeth Wright
My Mother Brother Sister and Self desire our best Love and duty to You.
Addressed in another hand: Doctor Franklin
[Note numbering follows the Franklin Papers source.]
6. The daughter of Patience Wright (above, xix, 93) joined her mother in London at some time before November, 1775, and became like her a modeler in wax. London Mag.…, xliv (1775), 555–6; Charles C. Sellers, Patience Wright, American Artist and Spy … (Middletown, Conn., [1976]), pp. 90, 225–6.
7. An act regarding arrest for treason or piracy, 17 Geo. III, c. 9, passed on Feb. 17: Public Advertiser, Feb. 19, 1777.
8. Young Platt was born on Long Island in 1753; Elizabeth presumably had a more than charitable interest in him, for after his release from prison in 1778 she married him: Sellers, op. cit., pp. 105–6, 118. A slim pamphlet, The Case of Mr. Ebenezer Smith Platt, Merchant of Georgia, Now Confined in Irons in Newgate, on a Charge of High Treason ([London, 1777?]), is now among bf’s papers in the APS; it must have been enclosed with this letter or with Patience Wright’s below of March 7, for in Platt’s letter of March 10 he assumes that it is in bf’s hands. The uncle, Zephaniah Platt, was at this time a member of the N.Y. provincial congress: Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1744–1961 ([Washington, D.C., 1961]), p. 1464.
9. Capt. Richard Maitland, in the Philippa, had left Deal on May 1: London Chron., April 29–May 2, 1775.
1. Sir Basil, the brother of Sir Robert Murray Keith, British Ambassador to Vienna, was governor from 1774 until his death in 1777; see George Metcalf, Royal Government and Political Conflict in Jamaica, 1729–1783 ([London], 1965), pp. 182–98.
2. For Clark Gayton, commanding the Jamaica squadron, see the DNB.
3. The Prohibitory Act.
4. Fielding (1721–80) was the half-brother of
Henry Fielding, and succeeded him as magistrate after his death: DNB; Ronald
Leslie-Melville, The Life and Works of Sir John Fielding (London, [1934]).
10 July 1775[129]
In early June 1775 the South Carolina Council of Safety
learned of a shipment of gunpowder due to arrive in Savannah, Georgia. The
information was that this was the annual present of gunpowder for the Indians.
Since gunpowder and ammunition were in critically short supply in all the
colonies, the Council of Safety determined to intercept the shipment.1
Two barges were sent from South Carolina, commanded by Captains John Joyner and
John Barnwell of the 1st South Carolina regiment,2
with a total of about forty men each. These proceeded to Bloody Point to
intercept the powder.3
Bloody Point, on Daufaskie Island, was the landfall for all vessels entering
the Savannah River. From Bloody Point new arrivals were visible, as was the
town of Savannah.4
Georgia Royal Governor Sir James Wright had anticipated trouble with the
shipping in the river. Governor Wright had no military forces available in the
colony and had written to General Gage and Admiral Graves for help.5
Help was coming, although not in response to Wright’s letter. On 27 June HM
Schooner St. John (Lieutenant William Grant) sailed from St. Augustine,
East Florida with dispatches for Wright, from Governor Patrick Tonyn.6
St. John arrived off Tybee Island lighthouse on 29 June. At 1400 she was
nine to twelve miles south southeast of the lighthouse. Here she stopped a
sloop from New Providence and searched her, and apparently kept her for the
time being. At 1730 she anchored off the lighthouse, observing a tent on the
beach and many men ashore and in boats, and the “liberty flag” flying from the
top of the lighthouse. Grant sent a letter to Sir James Wright in the sloop,
and went to quarters, where the crew stayed all night. 7
The men ashore were the South Carolinians and, probably, some assorted Georgia
“Liberty Boys.”
The next day Grant observed boats passing and re-passing to Tybee Island.
He sent his master and a boat to find a conveyance for a letter to Sir James
Wright at St. Augustine. In the afternoon St. John fired a few shots at
a Carolina pilot boat, which refused to stop. St. John stopped another
schooner from South Carolina and searched her, but she only had passengers for
Georgia aboard. Grant’s men then boarded and searched a schooner from St.
Vincent. Finally, Grant sent a boat and officer to town with a letter for the
governor.8
On 4 July 1775 the Second Georgia Provincial Congress convened, and joined the
Continental Association on 6 July. This brought the colony squarely into the
rebellion.9
The Georgians had been aware of the presence of the South Carolinians and now
blessed the enterprise by co-operating. The Georgians informed Barnwell and
Joyner of the presence of the St. John. The schooner Elizabeth,
owned by Samuel Price and Richard Wright of Savannah, was taken up and
commissioned as the Liberty. Price cooperated with the Provincial
Congress acting as schooner’s pilot.10
The Provincial Congress authorized Captain Oliver Bowen and Captain Joseph
Habersham as commanders of the newly outfitted ten gun schooner. They were
ordered to assist Captains Joyner and Barnwell of South Carolina (whose troops
were on Tybee Island) in the capture of the incoming powder vessel. A secondary
purpose was to nullify the St. John.11
Other reports list this vessel as having eight to ten guns, swivels, and a
fifty-man crew.12
The cannon were 6-pounders. [cite]
The merchant ship in question was the 270-ton Phillipa [Philipa,
Philippa, formerly the Magna Carta] (Richard Maitland),13
which had sailed from London, England on 2 May 1775 with a cargo of 13000
pounds of gunpowder, as well as small arms, and casks of musket balls. The
cargo was intended for the Indian trade and for British troops and loyalists in
Georgia and eastern Florida.14
Grant was making every effort to find the powder vessel first. On 3 July he ran
down a ship outside the bar, but she was from Barbados in ballast and was
released.15
The presence of the Liberty and the two barges may have influenced
Grant, and he moved further out to sea. On 9 July two more ships were stopped
and searched for powder, but were released.16
Unknown to Grant, he had already missed his chance.
On 7 July17
the Phillipa anchored nine miles from Tybee Point, to await a pilot to
take her up to Savannah. The Liberty was anchored out of sight from
Tybee, but Bowen and Habersham were no doubt informed of the arrival of a large
ship. On 8 July Liberty moved up and anchored in the ship channel about
three or four miles from the Phillipa. If the powder ship moved up river
it would have to pass the schooner.18
At 1400 a pilot went aboard the Phillippa and she got underway.19
Map of the entrance to the Savannah River. The action
seems to be usually known as “Bloody Point” for no good reason.
As Phillippa moved upriver, Maitland got a closer look at the
schooner. “The schooner was full of armed men and had ten carriage-guns
mounted.” Below her deck several boards had been removed “which were for small
arms in close quarters.”20
At 1600 the Liberty fired two muskets at the Phillipa as a signal
to heave to, and ordered Maitland to identify himself.21
Maitland was suspicious, having had a previous experience in South Carolina,
when he had violated the Continental Association and been exposed for it. [cite]
Maitland made a futile effort to escape before he hove to.22
Maitland demanded to know who the schooner was.23
Bowen offered to serve as a pilot for the ship, which Maitland declined.24
Bowen then “hauled down their pendant and hoisted at the masthead a white
flag with a red border, on the field of which flag was stamped or imprinted in
large red letters the word ‘American Liberty’, and the people on board the
schooner said the schooner’s name was the Liberty.”25
Modern interpretation of the Georgia "Liberty" flag flown by the
Georgia Navy Schooner Liberty.
A change in the wind and an ebb tide forced both vessels to anchor. They
remained at anchor until the following morning. Then Maitland was ordered to
sail up the Savannah to Cockspur Island, with Liberty following. About
three hundred men were camped there. Maitland was ordered to anchor, and the
two South Carolina barges came out and joined the schooner. Bowen, Joyner, and
Seth Cuthbert of Savannah led a boarding party to the Phillipa. Maitland
was forced to hand over his papers. Next Captain Joseph Habersham came aboard.
He had a written order from the Provincial Congress which authorized him to
seize the arms, gunpowder, and whatever else was included in the cargo.26
Maitland was informed that the Americans would “take all the gunpowder, shot,
lead, and Indian trading arms.”27
When the unloading had begun, Maitland was allowed to depart for Savannah in
order to inform Governor Wright of what had happened.28
The Americans were able to take off 16,000 pounds of powder and “seven
hundredweight of leaden bullets.” They also “took away all the bar-lead,
sheet-lead, Indian trading arms, and shot, that were on board.” The Carolinians
and the Georgians divided the cargo between them.29
All the gunpowder, along with a few kegs of musket balls, was transferred to
the Liberty. There was no room aboard the Liberty for many of the
kegs of powder and the small arms, so the Phillipa’s crew was instructed
to keep her at anchor near Cockspur Island. A “prize crew” was put aboard to
insure that she stayed put. On 12 July the Phillipa received
instructions from the Georgia Committee of Safety to proceed to Savannah.30
There a second boarding party, led by William Platt, a Savannah merchant,
and under the overall direction of the Committee, unloaded the rest of the
cargo into boats and transported it to the city magazine for storage.31
Maitland met his ship at Savannah and was aboard by 12 July. Governor Wright
urged Maitland to file a protest or affidavit with Anthony Stokes, the chief
justice of the province. This would have had no effect but to draw more
attention to Maitland. The necessity of having the cargo’s bonds cancelled
finally forced Maitland to file an affidavit on 21 September 1775.32
The very real risk these early rebels ran was exemplified by the case of
Ebenezer Smith Platt. Platt moved to Savannah from New York in March 1775. At
Savannah, Platt was in the mercantile business.33
Platt became a member of the committee of Savannah, and was among those that
boarded the Philippa at Savannah.34
In January 1776 Platt was en route to Saint-Domingue to purchase arms for the
Provincial Congress. The prize was taken in to Jamaica. Because the vessel was
registered as English, Platt was ordered to sell his cargo, but escaped prison.
On his return voyage, in another vessel, Platt was again captured.35
This time he was recognized as a leader in the Philippa affair. Platt was
confined aboard a ship of war from March 1776 to January 1777. He was then
taken to England, where he was heavily ironed and imprisoned in Newgate,
charged with high treason.36
An unofficial British committee working for relief of American prisoners
petitioned, in mid-March 1778,37
that he be tried or admitted to bail.38
Platt was released by 3 April 1778 and planned to go to France to return to
America.39
__________
1
Patrick O’Kelley, “Nothing but Blood and Slaughter:” Military Operations and
Order of Battle of the Revolutionary War in the Carolinas, Volume One
1771-1779, Booklocker.com: 2004, p. 32
2
O’Kelley, NBBAS, 1:32
3
O’Kelley, NBBAS, 1:32
4
Hufford, Jon R., “Enough Gunpowder to Start a Revolution,” paper. Texas Tech University. 2007, 315. http://esr.lib.ttu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=lib_fac_research
Accessed 1/28/08
5
Hufford, 315
6
NDAR, “Journal of His Majesty’s Schooner St. John, Lieut. William Grant,
Commanding,” I, 766-767
7
NDAR, “Journal of His Majesty’s Schooner St. John, Lieutenant William
Grant, Commanding,” I, 783
8
NDAR, “Journal of His Majesty’s Schooner St. John, Lieut. William Grant,
Commanding,” I, 794
9
http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/wars/Revolution/revolution06.html. 1/24/08
10
Hufford, 316n8. This is from Allen D. Candler and Lucian Lamar Knight,
comps.. The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia, 26 vols., vols. 27-39
anuscripts, 38, pt. I: 614, 615.
11Paullin,
Charles Oscar, The Navy of the American Revolution, The Burrows Brothers
Company: Cleveland, 1906, 459; NDAR, “Sir James Wright, Governor of Georgia, to
Lord Dartmouth,” I, 845
12Paullin,
Navy of the American Revolution, 459; NDAR, “Sir James Wright, Governor
of Georgia, to Lord Dartmouth,” I, 845
13Coleman,
Georgia, 53; Paullin, Navy of the American Revolution, 460; NDAR,
“Sir James Wright, Governor of Georgia, to Lord Dartmouth,” I, 856; “Henry
Laurens to John Laurens, London,” I, 885
14
Hufford, 315
15NDAR,
“Journal of His Majesty’s Schooner St. John, Leut. William Grant,
Commanding,” I, 812
16NDAR,
“Journal of His Majesty’s Schooner St. John, Leut. William Grant,
Commanding,” I, 848
17
Hufford, 317
18
Hufford, 317. Hufford cites the Affidavit of Richard Maitland, 21 September
1775, from Allen D. Candler and Lucian Lamar Knight, comps., The Colonial
Records of the Stale of Georgia. 26 vols., vol. 2 manuscript, 38, pt. 1;
606-614
19
O’Kelley, NBBAS, 1:33. Not on 9 July, as stated, however.
20
O’Kelley, NBBAS, 1:33. Quotations from Maitland’s affidavit.
21
O’Kelley, NBBAS, 1:33
22
Hufford, 317. Affidavit of Richard Maitland, 21 September 1775.
23
O’Kelley, NBBAS, 1:33
24
Hufford, 317. Affidavit of Richard Maitland, 21 September 1775.
25
O’Kelley, NBBAS, 1:33. Quotations from Maitland’s affidavit.
26
Hufford, 317. Affidavit of Richard Maitland, 21 September 1775.
27
O’Kelley, NBBAS, 1:33. Quotations from Maitland’s affidavit.
28
Hufford, 317. Affidavit of Richard Maitland, 21 September 1775.
29
O’Kelley, NBBAS, 1:33. Quotations from Maitland’s affidavit.
30
Hufford, 318 and 318n13. Citing the Affidavits of First Mate Samuel Burnett and
Steward Richard Scriven, on 10 January 1777. Old Baily
Sessions Papers, Greater London Record Office, Middlesex Records. London,
England.
31
Ibid.
32
Hufford, 318
33
Laurens, Henry. The Papers of Henry Laurens. University of South
Carolina Press: Columbia, 1999, 413n18
34
Andrews, Charles MacLean. Guide to the Materials for American History to
1783 in the Public Record Office of Great Britain, Volume II: Departmental
and Miscellaneous Papers . Carnegie Institute of Washington: Washington. 1914,
268
35
Laurens, Henry. The Papers of Henry Laurens. University of South
Carolina Press: Columbia, 1999, 413n18
36
Andrews, Charles MacLean. Guide to the Materials for American History to
1783 in the Public Record Office of Great Britain, Volume II: Departmental
and Miscellaneous Papers . Carnegie Institute of Washington: Washington. 1914,
268
37
Laurens, Henry. The Papers of Henry Laurens. University of South
Carolina Press: Columbia, 1999, 413n18
38
Andrews, Charles MacLean. Guide to the Materials for American History to
1783 in the Public Record Office of Great Britain, Volume II: Departmental
and Miscellaneous Papers . Carnegie Institute of Washington: Washington. 1914,
268
39
The Record of the Celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth
of Benjamin Franklin Under the Auspices of the American Philosophical Society
Held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowledge April the Seventeenth to
April the Twentieth A.D. Nineteen Hundred and Six. The American
Philosophical Society: Philadelphia, 1908. Vol II, 388.
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/a/r/Richard-J-Harvey/GENE4-0007.html
3/2010
Child of JONAS PLATT and TEMPERANCE SMITH is:
i. EBENEZER SMITH8 PLATT, b. 1753, Smithtown L.I. N.Y.; m. ELIZABETH LOVELL
WRIGHT.
The Odyssey of Ebenezer Smith Platt
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 January 2009
Sheldon S. Cohen
Journal of American Studies, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Aug., 1984), pp. 255-274 (20
pages) (JSTOR) Extract.
Following a merchanting voyage to Haiti, in January 1776
....Misfortunes plagued the next stage of Platt's adventures. A storm separated
the two small trading ships after eight days at sea. Then (as he later
recounted in a letter to the American Commissioners in Paris), Ebenezer’s ship “unfortunately
was taken within a few leagues of her destined Port by Her Majs. (Majesty's]
Ship Maidstone of (commanded by] Captain Gardner and carried into Kingston in
Jamaica." In Kingston Platt was obliged to sell his cargo and discharge
his ship. At first his political loyalties were not closely examined by local
naval officials. In fact, the young colonial merchant had purchased and stocked
another small ship and was preparing a return voyage to Georgia when his old
adversary Captain Richard Maitland reappeared. Maitland, who had sailed
Philippa to Jamaica following his Savannah humiliation, readily recognized his
former antagonist. Initially, Maitland treated Platt in a surprisingly amicable
and cordial manner, although after several weeks he apparently tired of toying
with his patriot nemesis. His opportunity for revenge materialized during an
evening's rowdy gathering in a Kingston tavern when Platt obstinately refused
to drink the toast, “damnation to all Americans," proposed by a royal
naval officer. Platt then left the tavern. Maitland, who was also present,
disclosed the events surrounding Philippa’s detention in Savannah to the
assembled naval officers. Word quickly reached royal magistrates in Kingston,
and though Platt allegedly swore to them that “he was conscious to himself that
he had done nothing criminal," his days at liberty were numbered.
On 28 March 1776, as Platt was departing from Port Royal near Kingston for his journey back to Georgia, his ship was stopped by H.M.S. Antelope, and a naval officer informed him of his arrest on affidavits of Captain Maitland and five of Philippa's crewmen. Vice Admiral Clark Gayton, commander of royal naval forces in Jamaica, who was then on board Antelope, had the accused colonist straightway confined in irons. The vessel that he had purchased in Kingston was later sold, and most of her crew were soon released. Shortly thereafter Gayton wrote to Admiralty officials of Platt’s incarceration, adding, “I presume he must be tryed on this Island for Roberry and Executed on this Island.”
Admiral Gayton’s presumptions, however, proved premature. The Admiral had informed Sir Basil Keith, Jamaica’s royal governor, about the case and transmitted the affidavits of Maitland and his crewmen to the governor, but Platt had somehow managed to apply for a writ of habeas corpus. Perplexed by the complicated legal issues, Governor Keith referred the matter to Thomas Harrison, the Island’s attorney general, since the American prisoner was to be arraigned before the Chief Justice in Kingston. Later it was claimed that the judge had “honourably acquitted” Ebenezer Platt of all charges and that he was rearrested only when he threatened a six-thousand-pound suit against Admiral Gayton for false return.21 More likely, the real cause of his continued detention was the written opinion of Attorney General Harrison (10 April 1776) that since Platt’s alleged “Robbery and High Treason” had occurred outside Jamaica and Gayton’s jurisdiction, the case could only be tried in England. Harrison added that the Admiral, “if he shall judge proper, may send him to England there to be dealt with according to law.” Whatever the actual causes, Platt, soon after his initial hearing, was again put in custody aboard Antelope to await his removal to England.
The voyage to England took far longer than the imprisoned Long Islander probably anticipated. He remained on Antelope for almost three months following his re-arrest in April 1776. He was then transferred to the frigate H.M.S. Boreas, but when this ship was ordered to transport troops to General Sir William Howe in New York, he was transferred to H.M.S. Pallas. On 28 July 1776 Admiral Gayton wrote to royal officials that Platt had sailed for England on board Pallas, and he enclosed a number of particulars concerning the case. Several weeks later Pallas finally docked in Portsmouth harbour with three of Philippa's crewmen as prosecution witnesses and the accused American prisoner still confined in irons. Earlier....
Journal of the American Revolution (re Savanna)
https://allthingsliberty.com/
November 28, 2017
A Georgian and a New Country:
Ebenezer Platt's Imprisonment in Newgate for Treason in "The Year of the
Hangman," 1777
By Robert S. Davis Jr.
EBENEZER SMITH PLATT: AN AMERICAN IN NEWGATE PRISON IN 1777
by Robert Scott Davis
In the early summer of 1775, South Carolinia patriots outfitted the
schooner Liberty (formally the Elizabeth) as what historian Charles C. Jones
called as the first privateer of the American Revolution. They gave command of
the ship to Oliver Bowen and Joseph Habersham of Georgia for the mission of
intercepting a cargo of munitions coming on an expected British gunpowder ship
due in Savannah, Georgia.
On July 9, while flying a white flag bordered in red that read “American
Liberty,” the schooner’s crew mistook the Philippa, a merchant ship with
several tons of munitions, for their prey.[1] Unaware that royal authority in
these colonies had been supplanted by the American rebels, the ship arrived at
Savannah, Georgia. The Liberty chased the Philippa out to sea before using the
threat of ten cannons and numerous swivel guns to force it to nearby Cockspur
Island.
Three hundred rebels, flying their red and white flag, used two barges
provided by South Carolina to board the ship. The Philippa‘s captain, Richard
Maitland, protested, although the previous year he had nearly suffered tarring
and feathering for trying to import banned British tea into South Carolina.
The rebels presented their orders from George Walton, secretary of the
Georgia Provincial Congress and later a signer of the Declaration of
Independence. They seized the cargo of powder and a large quantity of small
arms and shot. The Georgia Provincial Congress ordered the vessel brought up
river to Savannah, where a committee of Mordecai Sheftall, Joseph Spencer, and
Ebenezer Smith Platt took charge of the ship and its cargo.[2] Georgia and
South Carolina eventually sent 10,212 pounds of the powder and six kegs of the
lead to the Continental Congress. The munitions supplied the Americans at the
siege of Boston and in the invasion of Canada.[3]
Ebenezer Smith Platt could not have known the ramifications of his presence on
the ship. Born in 1753 in Smithtown, Long Island, New York, he came from a
prominent family. His uncle, Judge Zephariah Platt, founded Plattsburg, New
York and served in the Continental Congress. Ebenezer’s brother Richard served
as an aide de camp to Gen. Richard Montgomery in the ill-fated American invasion
of Canada in 1775. In his arms, Montgomery died.
In March 1775, Ebenezer Smith Platt, by then a New York watch and clock
maker, went south to Savannah on behalf of his father Jonas with a cargo of
merchant goods and instructions to purchase a plantation. With the goods, he
bought some 5,000 acres of land. His father soon joined him and they began a
venture to import slaves from Africa when Georgia joined the Continental
Association and closed trade with Britain. His father died shortly thereafter,
as did his mother.[4]
In November 1775, Ebenezer started the firm of Cuthbert & Platt and
involved himself in local politics. Savannah’s rebels elected him to their
newly created Parochial Committee that met at Tondee’s tavern. He actively
worked to enforce, sometimes violently, the ban on trade with the British.
Years later, Georgia’s restored Loyalist colonial government placed his name on
its list of traitors.[5]
The following January, Platt and his partner Mordecai Sheftall loaded two
ships to take to St. Nicholas in Haiti to trade goods for more munitions. A
storm separated the two vessels in a storm and just short of their destination.
The British warship HMS Maidstone then captured Platt’s vessel. Taken to
Jamaica, Platt obtained the release of his ship as English property but with
the requirement that he sell his cargo there.
Platt then encountered Captain Maitland He had captained the Philippa to
there after leaving Georgia. They spent eight weeks together in Jamaica. During
a drunken party, Platt left rather than drink to “damnation to all Americans.”
In his absence, Maitland told of Ebenezer’s involvement in the Philippa affair.
The governor ordered an interview with Platt but then had the Georgia merchant
released.
As Platt tried to sail away from Jamaica in March 1776, however, crewmen
from a vessel of the Royal Navy boarded the ship upon which he had taken
passage. The King’s men had Platt and his black servant seized. The prisoners
found themselves confined on the British ship HMS Antelope for Platt having
aided the rebels. British Vice-Admiral Clark Gayton had Platt’s vessel sold and
predicted that the Georgian would be tried and hanged in Jamaica.
The naval officers, however, had not arrested Platt; they had impressed as
an able-bodied seaman as an excuse to seize him. A Jamaican court ordered him
released but Admiral Gayton, supposedly fearing a lawsuit from Platt, kept him
imprisoned. The local attorney general argued that, as Platt did not commit
crimes in Jamaica, he had to answer to charges in England.
Ebenezer Smith Platt stood in danger of becoming the American
Revolution’s equivalent of the “man in the iron mask,” forgotten and unable to
be released until he died. Still in chains, Platt found himself moved from ship
to ship to prevent his release by an attorney using a writ of habeas corpus. He
sold his servant to pay for his necessities. Platt even spent time in a British
warship in New York harbour. Eventually arriving in England, he used a writ of
habeas corpus to force his transfer ashore for trial on December 4, 1776. By
then, he had spent eight months at sea in chains.[6]
After spending two days in London’s Clerkenwell Prison, Platt found
himself before Sir John Fielding and Sir William Addington, justices of the
peace of Middlesex County, on January 23, 1777. Witnesses brought to England to
testify against Platt fled custody but the authorities recaptured two and, with
the newly arrived Captain Maitland and his officers, they made depositions in private
against Platt. Addington ordered the prisoner held for treason in Newgate, the
500-year-old prison that served Middlesex, London, and all courts above local
jurisdiction.
Ebenezer did not realize the depth of his troubles as he passed beneath
Newgate’s nude statutes of “Justice,” “Mercy,” and “Truth.” Newgate Prison’s
reputation for brutal and unsanitary conditions still finds a place in the
annals of the world’s worst prisons, especially for inmates without money and
influence. Escapes from the prison frequently occurred but not by men held in
chains. A committee that raised money to help Americans incarcerated there
described it as a den of “thieves, highwaymen, housebreakers, and murderers”
without any allowance for food or clothes. Prisoners had to pay to have chains
removed and for food other than the standard inadequate fare. They survived by
staying perpetually drunk on gin and some of them committed suicide. Platt
“must have perished but for private benevolence.”[7]
Ebenezer Smith Platt stood before the English judicial system as an
English citizen guilty of treason or as a civilian prisoner of war. What would
be the consequences in America for loyal British subjects and for Americans
later taken as prisoners? Were his actions on the Philippa acts of piracy
against a commercial vessel or of a bystander engaged in legal political
descent? Did his seizure represent a legal arrest, impressment, or an act of
piracy and kidnapping by the Royal Navy?[8]
Platt petitioned the Lord Mayor of London for trial. The court in the
adjoining Old Bailey courthouse, however, ruled that it had no authority to
try, release, or grant bail to Platt. Platt’s attorney argued for trial before
the appellate court of the King’s Bench. The judges of that court refused
because if they had Platt hanged, the Americans would retaliate against British
subjects. A trial of Platt threatened to expose that the Royal Navy had
secretly received orders in Jamaica to prey upon American commercial shipping
months before Parliament legalized such seizures.
American rebels had already begun to torture and even execute other
Americans for remaining loyal to the British government. The British military,
in turn, only with great reluctance avoided treating American prisoners as
common criminals and traitors. Parliament limited the power to grant habeas
corpus only to the King’s Privy Council for persons held for treason. Platt’s
attorney argued unsuccessfully that this act exceeded the authority of
Parliament.[9]
Without a legal means to force his trial or release, Platt risked staying
an occupant of Newgate indefinitely. Growing economic and social unrest in
England, made worse by the failing fortunes of the British military in America,
did not offer him any hope of sympathy from His Majesty’s increasingly
inflexible authorities. Had Platt remained long enough in Newgate, he might
have found release with the other prisoners liberated when the Gordon Riots, in
protest of the Papist Act of 1778, resulted in the destruction of Newgate on
June 6, 1780.[10]
Platt’s situation drew powerful allies to his aid, however. British and
American gazettes described him as the first American civilian held for treason
rather than as a prisoner of war. Hundreds of thousands of Americans had also
provided aid to the rebellion and could theoretically suffer the same fate. The
Georgia delegates to the Continental Congress petitioned to have Benjamin
Franklin, the American representative in France, work for Platt’s release.[11]
Patience Lovell Wright, American wax worker (an artist who made busts),
spy for the rebels, and high-ranking socialite (she referred to the King and
Queen by their first names) worked on behalf of Platt. With her help, Platt
published a pamphlet calling for his release. She started a fund to help all
American prisoners held by the British, although Platt appeared as the only
named beneficiary. Wright wrote to her friend Benjamin Franklin with letters on
Platt’s behalf. By Platt’s own admission, the governor of Newgate treated him
well but even the powerful politician John Wilkes failed to have Platt’s chains
removed.
American papers that carried the news of Platt’s arrest also reported on
British attempts to have Franklin arrested and extradited to England. Except
for French intractability, Franklin might well have joined Platt at Newgate.
Aiding Platt started Franklin’s efforts at obtaining the freedom of all
American prisoners.[12]
Under great pressure from Wilkes and the public, the King’s Privy Council
allowed Platt a release on bail. He married Patience Wright’s daughter
Elizabeth on March 26, 1778. She had regularly visited him in jail while
accompanied by her mother, and she helped in winning Franklin’s help. The
couple fled to France, where Franklin gave them thirty guineas with which to
return to America. John Adams hosted a dinner in their honor. They left
Bordeaux, France aboard the brig New Friends of Charlestown on June 6, 1778, a
ship intended to take salt and dry goods to Edenton and Charlestown.
A British privateer, however, captured that ship on June 14, 1778. The
Platts spent several months in Scotland, where they were allowed to move about
on liberty as prisoners on parole. By the end of the 1778, they finally reached
Philadelphia, where Platt unsuccessfully petitioned the Continental Congress
for 100 pounds he had heard that they had voted him as compensation for his
troubles.[13]
Platt’s story did not end well. In 1783, while the Platts lived in
Philadelphia, his captain stole his ship and his money. Platt moved to New York
for a time and signed a document witnessed by the famous Aaron Burr before, in
1785, his legal ward reported him as having “absconded.” Ebenezer returned to
Georgia briefly before moving to Kentucky in the late 1780s where, by 1792, he
worked as a clock and watchmaker in Lexington.[14]
Elizabeth, who had been a prominent wax worker in New York since 1787,
died in Bordentown, New Jersey in 1792 leaving a will that made no mention of
her husband. Ebenezer Platt may have remarried, either to Lucy Jett in Madison
County, Kentucky, on January 9, 1791, or to Ann Foulger in Clark County,
Kentucky, in 1794. He served under George Rogers Clark in a campaign against
the Indians and likely participated in Clark’s failed scheme to capture Natchez
from Spain. By 1799, Platt disappeared, leaving the famous Daniel Boone holding
a bond for the property he took.[15]
By 1804, Ebenezer Smith Platt faced bankruptcy. Three years later, by
then a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, he unsuccessfully petitioned Congress
for a pension based upon his months of imprisonment.[16] He unsuccessfully
filed another petition from Philadelphia in 1809.[17] His date and place of
death remain a mystery.
Historians published the tale of Platt’s imprisonment but he is largely
forgotten in the present. Even a plaque in Savannah that commemorates the
capture of the Philippa by the Liberty makes no mention of the man made to pay
for that victory.
[1] For the history of the ship Philippa, see Sheldon S. Cohen, “The Philippa
Affair,” Georgia Historical Quarterly 69 (fall, 1985): 338-54.
[2] Charles C. Jones, Jr., The History of Georgia, 2 vols. (Boston: Houghton,
Mifflin and Co., 1883), 2: 181-82; John A. McManemin, Captains of the State
Navies During the Revolutionary War (Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ: Ho-Ho-Kus Publishing,
1984), 39; petition of Ebenezer Smith Platt, Petitions and Memorials, 9th
Congress (1805-1809), HR 9A-F1.1, Records of the U. S. House of
Representatives, Record Group 233, National Archives and Records Administration
(hereafter NARA); depositions of Samuel Burnett and Richard Scriven, January
10, 1777, OB SP 1777 /4a-b, Greater London Record Office, Corporation of
London; Richard Maitland to Henry Laurens, July 28, 1777, in Henry Laurens, The
Papers of Henry Laurens, ed. David Chesnutt et al. (Columbia, SC: University of
South Carolina Press, 1964-), 10: 250-51; Sheldon S. Cohen, “The Odyssey of
Ebenezer Smith Platt,” Journal of American Studies 18 (1984): 259; deposition
of Richard Maitland, September 22, 1775, in Allen D. Candler, comp., “The
Colonial Records of the State of Georgia,” (unpublished typescript, Georgia
Archives, Morrow, 1902), 38, pt. 1-B, pp. 606-16.
[3] Georgia Gazette (Savannah), July 8, 1784, p. 3, c. 2-3; Lilla M. Hawes,
ed., “The Papers of James Jackson, 1781-1798,” Collections of the Georgia
Historical Society (Savannah, GA: Georgia Historical Society, 1995), 11: 14;
Jones, History of Georgia, 2: 181; William Bell Clark, ed., Naval Documents of
the American Revolution, (Washington, 1964) 1: 730-31, 856, 931-32; Laurens,
The Papers of Henry Laurens, 10: 221, 230; John Drayton, Memoirs of the
American Revolution From Its Commencement to the Year 1776 (Charleston, 1821),
1: 268, 304.
[4] Rita Susswein Gottesman, comp., “The Arts and Crafts in New York
1726-1776,” in Collections of the New York Historical Society 49 (New York: New
York Historical Society, 1938), 159; Charles Coleman Sellers, Patience Wright:
American Artist and Spy in George III’s London (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan,
1976), 105; Ebenezer Smith Platt, The Case of Mr. Ebenezer Smith Platt,
Merchant of Georgia (London, 1777), n. p.
[5] Genealogical Committee of the Georgia Historical Society, Early Deaths in
Savannah, Georgia 1763-1803: Obituaries and Legal Notices (Savannah: Georgia
Historical Society, 1993), 21; “Genealogy Department,” Georgia Historical
Quarterly 12 (winter 1928): 195; Allen D. Candler, comp., The Revolutionary
Records of the State of Georgia (Atlanta: The Franklin Turner Co., 1908), 1:
76; idem., “The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia,” vol. 38, pt. i,
464-65, pt. ii, 32, 34; Robert S. Davis, comp., Georgia Citizens and Soldiers
of the American Revolution (Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1979), 68.
[6] Laurens to William Maine, December 25, 1775, in Laurens, The Papers of
Henry Laurens, 10: 558; Ebenezer Smith Platt to Commissioners of the United
States of America, April 21, 1778, Adams Trust Manuscript, Massachusetts
Historical Society, Boston; Cohen, “The Odyssey of Ebenezer Smith Platt,”
262-64; Platt, The Case of Mr. Ebenezer Smith Platt, n. p.
[7] Francis Abell, Prisoners of War in Britain 1756 to 1815 (London: Oxford
University Press, 1914), 11; Diana Preston, Paradise in Chains: The Bounty
Mutiny and the Founding of Australia (New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2017), 226.
[8] For a discussion of the problems between the British military and civilian
prisoners, see Frederick B. Weiner, Civilians under Military Justice: the
British Practice since 1689, especially in America (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1967).
[9] King vs. Ebenezer Platt, Treasury Solicitor’s Papers, TS 11/4710, British
Public Records Office, London; petition of Ebenezer Smith Platt, NARA;
supplementary Material: Ebenezer Smith Platt, 19th February, 1777, Proceedings
of the Old Bailey Ref: 017770219-1, oldbaileyonline.org. For treatment of
civilians and soldiers in the American Revolution, see Holger Hoock, Scars of
Independence: America’s Violent Birth (New York: Crown Publishers, 2017).
[10] Cohen, “The Odyssey of Ebenezer Smith Platt,” 264-65 and J. H. Baker,
“Criminal Courts and Procedure at Common Law, 1550-1880,” in J. S. Cockburn,
Crime in England, 1550-1800 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977), 26,
35; Frank McLynn, Crime and Punishment in Eighteenth Century England (London:
Routledge, 1989), 234. For conditions at Newgate, see W. J. Sheehan, “Finding
Solace in Eighteenth Century Newgate,” in Cockburn, Crime in England, 229-45.
[11] Virginia Gazette (Purdie), May 2, 1777; Virginia Gazette (Dixon &
Hunter), May 9, 1777; Sellers, Patience Wright, 117.
[12] Sellers, Patience Wright, 117; Catherine M. Prelinger, “Benjamin Franklin
and the American Prisoners of War in England during the American Revolution,”
William and Mary Quarterly Series III, vol. 32 (1975): 265-66.
[13] William Cutter, ed., “A Yankee Privateersman in Prison in England,
1777-1779,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register 31 (1877): 285;
Cohen, “The Odyssey of Ebenezer Smith Platt,” 266-71; K. G. Davies, comp.,
Documents of the American Revolution 1770-1783 21 vols. (Shannon: Irish
University Press, 1973-1979), 13: 321; Sellers, Patience Wright, 105-7, 111,
117-18; petition of Ebenezer Smith Platt, NARA; statements concerning the
capture of the New Friends, July 3, 1778, Treasury 1/541/5818, National
Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew, copy in 76.1969.1-3, North Carolina
Archives, Raleigh.
[14] Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia), July 23, 1783; Ebenezer S. Platt,
indenture, October 7, 1784, Fuller Collection of Aaron Burr (1756-1836),
Manuscripts Department, Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton
University, Princeton; Ebenezer Smith Platt to John Copp, October 7, 1787,
Chatham County Deed Book F (1787-1789), 41-43, microfilm library, Georgia
Archives, Morrow; Elizabeth Kilbourne, comp., Savannah Georgia Newspaper
Clippings (Georgia Gazette) (Savannah: E. E. Kilbourne, 2000- ), 3: 146, 155;
Kenneth Scott, ed., Records of the Chancery Court Province and State of New
York Guardianships, 1691-1815 (New York: Holland Society of New York, 1971),
41, 45; John Montgomery et al, promissory note in favor of William Wells,
December 4, 1786, Papers of the Continental Congress, National Archives
microcopy M247, reel 85, i71, vol. 2, p. 514, NARA; Karen Mauer Green, The Kentucky
Gazette 1787-1800 (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1983), 60, 74, 221, 224, 246;
James Rood Robertson, Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky to the
General Assembly of Virginia 1769 to 1792 (Louisville, KY: John P. Morton &
Co., 1914), 219.
[15] Karen Mauer Green, The Kentucky Gazette 1801-1820 (Baltimore: Genealogical
Publishing Co., 1985), 38; Sellers, Patience Wright, 226; Kentucky Marriage
Records (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983), 477; Elmer T.
Hutchinson, “Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Administrations, etc.,” Archives of
the State of New Jersey Series I, vol. 37 (1942): 286; Cohen, “The Odyssey of
Ebenezer Smith Platt,” 271-73.
[16] Petition of Ebenezer Smith Platt, NARA; and Laurens, Papers of Henry
Laurens, 10: 220-21.
[17] House Journal, February 12, 1807 and March 1, 1807, Senate Journal,
January 10, 1809, A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, memory.loc.gov;
petition of Ebenezer Smith Platt, NARA. An E. Platt only appears in
Philadelphia city directories as a grocerer in 1809. W. Platt, however, appears
as a baker in the directories for 1808 and 1810 but not in 1809. Jack
Gumbrecht, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, to author, February 1, 2006.
Hijacking Gunpowder for the Colonies
East Fork-Trinity Chapter Newsletter
Texas Section Sons of the American Revolution
Volume ?, Issue 3 March 22, 2012
As the Revolutionary War developed into being in 1775, a major problem facing
patriots of the American Colonies was the critical shortage of gunpowder for
the Continental Army and the state militia forces. This point was driven home
to the South Carolina Provincial Congress when the South Carolina delegates
attending the Continental Congress in Philadelphia sent an urgent letter dated
July 1, 1775, asking of that body: "...to procure from you a quantity of
gun-powder for the use of the armies in the field for the service of
America..." The need was made even more apparent as the delegates also
re-quested that any damaged gunpowder be sent to Philadelphia for recovery
along with any surplus saltpeter for the manufacture of gunpowder. This
gunpowder shortage dilemma of the colonial patriots was not lost on British
authorities as several groups of patriots had already raided British Army
arsenals and spirited away precious gunpowder stores.
In June of 1775, Sir James Wright, Royal Governor of Georgia, learned through
loyalist spies that certain citizens of Charleston, South Carolina, and in the
patriot cause were laying plans to intercept and seize a British armed merchant
ship, the Phillipa, destined for Savannah, and carrying
gunpowder, muskets, and other military goods in its hold. Wright immediately
sent a letter to Admiral Samuel Graves in New York, commander of all British
Navy vessels and personnel in North America, requesting that armed vessels be
posted to the Port of Savannah to protect British shipping coming in and out of
the harbor. Wright feared, rightly so, that capture of this ship loaded with
gunpowder would spell major difficulties in the governor's ef-forts in Georgia,
as well as governors and the British military in the rest of the colonies in
North America, in foiling a growing rebellion. Wright was also aware that
patriots had intercepted information that the gunpowder and munitions on the Phillipa
were destined for distribution to Creek and Cherokee Indian tribes, to
be encouraged by British Army officers to mount attacks on patriot settlements
along the western colonial border.
South Carolina's revolutionary governing body issued orders
in early June to Captain John Barnwell of the 1ST South Carolina Regiment, and
John Joyner, the Port Royal, South Carolina, harbor pilot to execute such a
venture. Their orders were to take com-
mand of and equip two armed barges, recruit a crew of forty men, and await
orders to sail to Bloody Point, on the southern tip of Daufuske Island, north
of the mouth of the Savannah River. Once there, they were to lay in wait, and
upon arrival of the Philippa, seize the ship and her cargo of
gunpowder and arms.
Bloody Point, the north landfall for all ships entering or
exiting the Savannah River, would give the South Carolinians an excellent vantage
point to watch for the Philippa or any other ships of interest.
Around mid-June, Barnwell and Joyner completed preparations including recruiting
crews for both barges. Thus ready, they received orders to sail, departed from
Beaufort with their armed barges manned by a contingent of sailors and
militiamen, moved down the coast, and took up station at Bloody Point.
Reports from loyalist spies of the presence of the two barges at Bloody Point
and patriot-fomented unrest in the Savannah River area weighed heavily on
Governor Wright, waiting for much needed naval aid from Admiral Graves. Unfortunately
for Wright, his letter to Graves requesting armed British naval vessels be sent
to his aid was intercepted by agents of the South Carolina Committee of Safety.
A forgery was produced and sent on to Graves assuring him that all was peaceful
and that no naval or military assistance was currently needed.
Some fortune finally seemed to smile on Governor Wright in the form of the
British naval schooner HMS St. John, Lieutenant William Grant,
commanding. Grant had set out from St. Augustine, East Florida on June 27,
1775, with dispatches for Wright from Florida's Royal Governor Patrick Tonyn.
On June 29, when less than a dozen miles off Tybee Lighthouse, marking the
southern side of the mouth of the Savannah River, Grant intercepted and
temporarily detained a sloop from Providence, Rhode Island. Grant sailed the HMS
St. John and the intercepted vessel to the southern entrance to the
Savannah River and anchored near the Tybee Lighthouse. In plain view of Grant
and his ship's crew was a tent erected next to the lighthouse, and several
boats grounded along the shore. What he saw was a group of South Carolinian
patriots sent by small boat from the two barges at Bloody Point along with a
reinforcement of a few Georgia "Liberty Boys", all of whom had seized
the light-house and encamped there to guard the southern side of the river. Not
knowing who was at the lighthouse, and leaning towards the cautious side, Grant
ordered his crew on alert and dispatched the detained sloop on to Savannah with
a letter to inform Governor Wright of his arrival.
On his own initiative, Grant began sending his small boats to intercept and
search vessels entering and leaving the bay, looking for illicit goods being
smuggled in or out of Savannah. The results were disappointing and after a
couple of days of fruitless activity and hearing nothing from Governor Wright,
he sent another letter to Savannah via a ship's officer in one of HMS St.
John's small boats.
As events on the river and in the sound were unfolding, the situation in
Savannah turned worse for Governor Wright when, on July 4, the Second
Provincial Congress of Georgia convened, and joined the American Association
and the rebellion. Georgia patriots in Savannah, encouraged by letters from the
South Carolina Committee on Safety urging them to assist the South Carolinians
anchored off of Bloody Point, decided to participate in capturing the Phillipa.
Fig. 3. USS Wasp, 1775. Armed Schooner similar to the Liberty. US
Navy Photo.
Georgia patriots quickly acquired the schooner Elizabeth, owned by Samuel Price
and Richard Wright, both of Savannah, and commissioned her the Georgia Navy
Ship Liberty. James Habersham, a leading member of the Georgia Provincial
Con-gress, was assigned the task of outfitting and arm-ing the Liberty. Habersham
had already participated, in the company of other prominent Georgians, in a
raid relieving the British Army of 600 pounds of gunpowder at their magazines
in Savan-nah. He quickly fitted the ship with ten eight-pound naval carriage
guns and several swivel guns, and recruited a crew of fifty patriot sailors. Oliver
Bowen, later to be appointed commodore of the Georgia Navy Department, was
commissioned as captain of the Liberty, and Samuel Price as the
ship's pilot. Bowen's orders were to join with and assist South Carolinian
Captains Joyner and Barnwell in capturing the Phillipa and
seizing its gunpowder and munitions cargo.
The British armed merchant ship Phillipa, Captain Richard
Maitland commanding, had left London on May 2, and had on board a load of 16000
pounds of gunpowder, Indian trade muskets and other military materials.
Enjoying favorable southern route trade winds, Maitland, with no inkling of a
planned hijacking, was anticipating arrival at the Savannah River mouth around
the end of the first week in July.
New reports of two hostile barges at Bloody Point along with his previous
observation of the unidentified group of men at Tybee Lighthouse, who were now
flying a strange flag, gave Grant further cause for concern. The overly
cautious lieutenant moved the HMS St. John further out to sea, in
the process hampering his ability to observe all ships entering or leaving the
mouth of the river. This move would prove disastrous for Grant and for Governor
Wright as well, for on July 7, Maitland and the Phillipa sailed
up on the Savannah River and anchored nine miles off of Tybee Point, out of
sight of Grant.
Still more misfortune was in store for Governor Wright as, upon anchoring,
Maitland sent a boat in to Savannah requesting a pilot, an act alerting the
Georgia patriots of the arrival of the Phillipa. The next day
Captain Bowen moved the Liberty to the river's mouth and anchored
in the middle of the main stream, positioning his ship to block Maitland from
passing on to Savannah. Unaware of the presence of the Liberty, Mait-land
took on board a pilot, weighed anchor and proceeded towards the mouth of the
Sa-vannah River. It would appear that the pilot was loyal to the patriot cause
as he said nothing to Maitland about the presence of patriot barges, common
knowledge to anyone in Savannah, or the Liberty, which he had to
pass as it was anchored in plain sight in the entrance to the Savannah River.
As the Phillipa sailed down on the Liberty, Maitland
observed that "...the schooner was full of armed men and had ten carriage
guns mounted". As Maitland's ship neared the Liberty, Bowen
fired two musket shots and hailed Maitland to identify himself and drop anchor.
Maitland attempted evasive maneuvers, but his efforts were futile, and he was
forced to haul in sail and drop anchor in compliance with Bowen's orders. There
were a few tense moments as some hot words were exchanged between the two
captains, though the patriots did not attempt boarding the Phillipa. Bowen
raised a white flag bordered in red with the words "American Liberty"
also in red, and identified his ship as being an armed vessel of the Georgia
Navy. Seeing that the Phillipa was outgunned and outmanned,
Maitland wisely chose to comply with Bowen's demands.
Contrary winds and an ebb tide convinced Bowen not to try the passage of the
two ships up the river that night, and ordered the Phillipa to
anchor in close to and under the watchful eye of the crew of the Liberty.
Next morning Bowen ordered Maitland to move his ship up the Savannah
River ahead of the Liberty to Cockspur Island and again anchor close
by the Liberty. At the same time the two South Carolina barges
were moving up river to join the Liberty, and upon arrival,
Bowen, Joyner, and an armed party of patriots boarded the Phillipa. Maitland
was forced to surrender his papers, at which point Joseph Habersham, acting on
behalf of the Georgia Provincial Congress, handed Mait-land an order seizing
his cargo.
On board the Phillipa were found the anticipated 16000 pounds of
gunpowder, plus "seven hundredweight of leaden bullets" along with
"bar-lead, sheet-lead, and shot." Also found were Indian trade
muskets, confirming the suspicions of the colonists of the intent of the
British to arm hostile Indians. Part of the gunpowder was immediately loaded
aboard the Liberty along with several kegs of musket balls, and
the rest was left on board the Phillipa to be unloaded at the
docks in Savannah later that day.
At the Savannah docks the remaining gunpowder was divided between Georgia and
South Carolina, with Georgia getting 9,000 pounds of powder and most of the
small arms. The Georgian gunpowder and arms were transported to and stored in
the Savannah city magazine for safe keeping, and later 5,000 pounds of
Georgia's gunpowder share were sent to Philadelphia for use by the Continental
Army.
The South Carolinian patriots took 7,000 pounds of seized gunpowder to
Beaufort, South Carolina, to be placed in the care of Colonel Stephen Bull,
commanding the patriot militia in the Beaufort District. In response to the
request from their representatives in the Continental Congress, the South
Carolina Provincial Congress sent 4,000 pounds of their share to Philadelphia.
Amazingly, it was a bloodless affair as no firefights occurred and no
casualties were suffered on either side. The cooperation of Georgians with
South Carolinians resulted in the capture of the Phillipa and the
acquisition and distribution of much needed gunpowder for the two colonies as
well as for use in the muskets and cannons of the Continental Army.
Author's Notes:
Fig 4. The term "barge" seems to be synonymous
with the term "row galleys", which are small boats with no sail, and
mounting one long gun facing over the bow, and two or more long guns facing
starboard and port and located towards the stern. When fitted with a lateen
sail, the term "gunboat" seems sometimes to be used.
Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 4 P588
Admiral Clark Gayton to Philip Stevens (1)
Antelope Port Royal March 30th 1776 at7PM
Sir In great haste as the Grantham Pacquet sails Early to Morrow Morning,
I beg leave to send the inclosed Express to you for their Lordships
information; which I received Just now from Mr John Brown Chief Justice of His
Majesty's Island of [New] Providence (2); I shall do all in my Power with what
Force I have, to assist the Island when required. I shall write to the
Commanding Officer at Boston and acquaint [him] with this Express to me.
I am farther to acquaint their Lordships that I have seized one Mr [Ebenezer
Smith] Platt -he was a Committee Man at Georgia, and is the Man that Boarded
the Phillips, one [Richard] Maitland Master of Georgia last Year & seized
all the Government Gun Powder & carried it to the Rebels. I have had him
some days in Irons, but could not get the iden[t]ity of his Persons sworn to
until1 this afternoon, which was from the above Maitland, and his people that
was with him when the Powder was seized and is now here loading with Sugar and
as I have seized the above Platt at Port Royal, I presume he must be tried on
this Island for the Robbery and Executed on this Island. I shall let his
Excellency Sir Basil Keith know about him tomorrow morning and shall inform
their Lordships by the next Pacquet what is done with the same Platt,(3) I am
with great respect Sir [kc.]
Clark Gayton
1. PRO, Colonial Office, 51124, 71b.
2. See John Brown's letter to Gayton, March 22, 1776.
3. What Gayton summarized in a paragraph regarding Ebenezer Smith Platt was
described in detail later by Elizabeth Wright, daughter of Patience Wright, the
wax modeller, in a letter to Benjamin Franklin. It reads in part:
the 13th of July 1775 there Arrived A Vessel in Savannah Harbour Commanded by A
Captain Maitland, Laden with Goods and some Powder & Arms from Merchants in
England Consigned to their Correspondents - Merchants in Georgia - the People
of Georgia at that Time had just formed a Congress amongst themselves and began
as well as the Other Provinces to be Divided into Liberty & Tory
Parties-The Merchants to whom the Goods were Consigned were of these different
Opinions - A Stoppage of Trade then taking Place and Goods being rather Scarce-
the Congress Previous to the Arrival of the Vessel Purchased the Goods of the
Merchants at An Advanced Price- but rather against the Will of those of them
who were in the opposition to the Congress- in Consequence of which the others
fearing there might be any obstruction to the Landing the Goods or that
Possibly A Mob might be Raised to Destroy or Prevent the Congress from
obtaining them - applied to Mr Plat with two other Gentlemen to go on board the
Vessel which Lay some Miles off and see that She was Safe brought up to the
Town and that none of the Goods Should be Landed ti1 Her Arrival There - they
gave them an order to the Captn & Mate to Receive and Entertain them in the
best Manner on Board- but they seeing the Captn afterwards in Town showed Him
the Order - and As He was not going on Board again just then He gave them an
order to the Mate, much to the same Purpose as the other, viz, to Receive &
treat them well -& was very Polite & Friendly - but by what happened
afterwards it appears that He was rather Averse to the Congress having the
Cargo- they staid on Board 6 Days - Saw the Vessel brought up to the Town and
Nothing Landed Except some Horses for Governor Campbell at Charlestown south
Carolina- they then went on Shore thought No more of it and Another Committee
was sent in their stead, who Landed the Cargo- after Captn Maitland had Cleared
His Vessel in Georgia he set sail with a Cargo from there for Jamaica-and soon
after Mr Plat went as Merchant in a Vessel of His own which He had fitted out
for the same Port leaving his Partner to superintend his Business &
Property in the Mean time - After His Arrival in Jamaica He Saw Captain
Maitland There who was Exceeding Friendly to Him & invited Him to Make His
home on Board His ship whilst he Staid in Kingston - this offer He Declined -
but they frequently fell in Company with Each other and always upon the footing
of Friendship for about 8 weeks when they happened one Evening to Meet in a
Coffee House in a good deal of other Company amongst which was Captain Miller
of New York, with several other Captains some of them had got a little heated
with the Liquor and one amongst the rest, gave as A Toast "Damnation to
all Americans" to which Mr Plat, Replied, that No Gentleman of Honour or
Goodness Could drink such a Toast as it was Repugnant to the Rules of Society
-on which the other grew warm as well as some of the Company - and Mr Plat
fearing A Quarrel immediately Withdrew-Captain Maitland who by this time had
grown warm with the Liquor and Conversation soon after His Departure, Cryd out
"That Damned fellow was one of them on Board my Ship at Georgia with an
order from the Congress and Landed the Powder and Arms for them["] -most
of the Company was Exceedingly Pleased at the Discovery and the next Day
Reported it all over the town, not omitting the Governor Sir Bassi1 Keith- who
immediately sent word to Captain Maitland that He ought to Come & Exhibit
an information Against Mr Plat - the Captn having grown sober again was
Exceedingly Sorry for what he had said and sent word to Mr. Plat that He wished
he would Absent Himself or Leave the Place, Else He must be obliged to Comply
with the Governors Commands Mr Plat Amazed, tho indifferent, at his information
returned Answer that His business did not Suit him to leave the Place at that
Time - that He had nothing to dread from any information He Could make against
Him- and that He was at liberty to act as he thought proper in the Case - Mr
Plat was at that Time having Disposed of his Vessel & Cargo fitting out
another for Turtling & fishing before His Return to Georgia - as He Lay off
in the River Prepared to Sail - the Admiral's Boat Came along Side and Asked
for Mr Plat the Captain Replied that He was on Board -on which they immediately
Seized the Vessel & Crew alleging it was on account of An information of
Captain Maitlands against Mr Plat, before the Governor-Mr Plats Captain &
.Crew were Set at Liberty about 3 weeks afterward - but Mr Plat was Confined in
Irons and for a fortnight Debard from Seeing or writing to Any of His Friends -
and treated with the greatest insolence and indignities by the Sailors.
Franklin Papers, V, 56, APS.
Thomas Harrison to Governor Sir Basil Keith[130]:
COPY
Sir In obedience to your Excellency's commands, signified to me by your Letter
of yesterday I have perused the Admiral's Letter, and the affidavits therein
inclosed. The affidavits I have submitted to the consideration of the Judge of
the Admiralty, and we are both of opinion, that the Offence therein charged,
being committed by a person coming from shore, while the Ship lay off Savannah,
which is within the body of the Province of Georgia, arises out of the
Admiralty jurisdiction, and is not cognizable thereby, or by any other criminal
jurisdiction of this Island. The forcibly taking away Stores, belonging to, or
intended for the use of the Kings Forts, with intent to assist, in carrying on
hostile measures then on foot against His Majesty, raises the Offence from
Robbery to High Treason, which being committed in Georgia, is cognizable there
on the 25th Edward 3d, or in England by that Statute, and the jurisdiction
given by the 33d or 35th of Henry 8th But the State of Georgia, wherein the
administration of civil and criminal justice, is silenced by arms, makes in
effect this offence triable, for the present in England only. Under these
circumstances I am of opinion, that William Platt ' cannot be in such proper
and safe custody, as tha[t] of the Admiral, who, if he shall judge proper, may
send him to England, there to be dealt with according to Law - Had William
Platt been apprehended by any civil Magistrate, I do suppose, the Admiral would
have been applied to, through your Excellency, to take him under his charge and
send him to England, for the purpose aforesaid. I am, with the greatest respect
Sir [kc.]
April 10th 1776 Tho: Harrison
1. PRO, Admiralty 11240. Harrison was attorney general at Jamaica.
2. The prisoner was Ebenezer Smith Platt, not William Platt, a name which
Admiral Gayton had mistakenly given him.
P762
Kieth to Vice Admiral Clark Gaydon.
Sir As your Letter of yesterday's date comprehends questions of Law, wherein it
is my duty to be advised by His Majesty's Attorney General, I directly sent it,
with the Depositions accompanying it, to Mr [Thomas] Harrison for his guidance;
and at the same time desired him, to lose no time in furnishing me, with his
written opinion on the matter, and advice what part I ought to take in it, as
Governor of the Island - Inclosed I send you his answer, by which I conceive
myself precluded from any interference, in this affair - This being the case,
I return you the Depositions of the Evidences against [Ebenezer Smith] Platt -
I am Sir [&c.]
Basil Keith
1. PRO, Admiralty 11240.
2. Ibid., Gayton, in his letter of June 13 to Philip Stephens, endorsed this
letter: "April 10th
1776 Letter from the Govr Inclosing the Attorney Generals opinion respecting
William Platt who I apprehended on information of being concern'd in taking
Amunition belonging to Governmt out of the Ship Philippa, Richd Maitland
Master, at Georgia in July 1775."
P794:
copy [Spanish Town] April 12th 1776
Sir I cannot advise your Excellency, to receive William Platt, and the two
Witnesses against him, from the Admiral, for the purpose of having them
committed, to the Kingston goal; as well for the reasons contained in my former
Letter, as because I am certain, that William Platt would be less secure there,
than under the Admirals custody, in the Dock-Yard. - In regard to the Witnesses,
nothing less than the most absolute necessity, can justify their being so
strictly confined. From what I hear, of the character and disposition of Mr
Maitland, the Master of the Philippa, I am satisfied means can be contrived,
between the Admiral and him, to put their appearance past a question - I am
with the highest respect Sir [kc.]
Tho: Harrison
1. PRO. Admiralty 1/240.
2. Ebenezer Smith Platt.
From the 1819 Horwood Map of London:
Broad St, St Georges in the East is probably Reardon St, E1.
Stair Street (leading up from King James Stair) becomes Monza Street.
Shakespeare Walk disappeared under Shadwell Dock Basin between Monza Street and
the Churchyard.
ESP 952 Richard M letter – 5/1/1777:
Sir
I presume the bearer Mr Richd Scriven who is now Master of the Ship Philippa,
and was on board when the transaction wherein Platt was concerned hapend
Together with the Chief mate Samuel Burnett, will be sufficient Testimony, to
go to Portsmouth on this occasion as their Evidence must be more particular
than mine, they being Constantly onb(oar)d whilst Platt was there and I most
frequently Onsh(o)r(e), if this will do Shall wait on you Early with them
tomorrow morning which will be Saving time both to you and me not taking me
from My Business, you pleased to Note yr approbation and bearer to me.
I am Sir your most obdt humble Servant
Richd Maitland,
N.B. your pleased remember Sufficient protection for them.
Broad Street St Georges in East
5 Jany 1777-11 AM.
ESP 998 Richard M to Wm Chamberlain 30/01/1777
Sir
I now Inform you that I Now am, thank god, able to go out about Business, and
if I am to appear Against that wretch Platt, please to signify to me the Time.
But would wish for reasons you may guess that I Could be served with an other
Summons, if it can be done with Propriety; Scriven is not yet Come out of the
County, Burnett is out on an other Ship to which I Can Direct your So that ???
to give me a days notice that I may not be other wise Engaged-
I am Sir your most obdt humble Servant
Richd Maitland,
Broad Street St Georges in the East
30 Jany 1777
To Wm Chamberlain Esq.
920 – Richard M to Chamberlain - 6/1/1777
Cover:
To Chamberlaine esq,
Garth (Gauth/Gorth) Square, Fleet Street
Captain Maitland’s letter recd 6th Jany 1776 ¼ after 11 forenoon.
921
Sir,
I find its uncertain whether a Protection can be had for Samuel Burnet or not,
upon the Business to Portsmouth. There were six Examinations Taken at Jamaica,
I may Say Seven, for one was taken from me by the Clerks of the Peace, another
by the same Officer at the request of Mr Harrison the Attorney General which no
doubt has been sent to Administration.
Three of the six were sent home with the Prisoner two of which three I offered
Admiral Gayton Security for, Barring Mortality. By what means they let them
Slip I am no Judge of, but their friends who came to me with Power to Receive
their Wages told me the first moment that had leave to go on Shore for Asking,
The taking of these three men brought me under an Expence of Thirty Pounds
Sterling to get men in their rooms to bring my Ship home.
Now Sir if Admiral Gayton has sent a Prisoner home without force enough to
bring him to Tryal, or if he has made any mistake after having three Widenis in
his Possesion why should I be made the dupe of to commence a New prosecution
and I have to have been called upon momently since I have been at home, to have
appeared against this man and am ready and willing to prosecute every rebel or
Enemy that his Majesty know, and more so upon this occasion but why are not the
Crown Officers who made their Escape from Georgia who I dare say must know this
man Platt personally and can give a good Account of him and the opposition he
made against the Crown in Georgia. Why are not the Proprietors of the Property
that was pirated out of my Ship calld upon to prosecute, but all those People
are to be Screen’d, and must I be exposed to the Prejudice of American Fools
here, and the Property that have been laying in that Country may be for ever
lost, and in Case of a Settlement with those Rebels, If I was to go there to
look after my property, might be Sacrificed for being too Busy in this Affair,
Altho’ it is well known in this Town that I have suffered a great deal in America
for my Attachment to Government for I have every honourable Opinion of you that
one Gentleman can have for another, but until I am more Clear in what I am
doing, and Regularly Call’d upon by a Proper Summons I will take no hand in it
---- I am pretty Clear that my Second Examination at Jamaica, by the Request of
the Attorny Genrl was to Strengthen Admiral Gayton’s hands for holding the
Prisoner against some Mistakes that was made on the first Detention And am
sorry the same thing is to be done over again, I say again Sir, I am very Ready
and Willing to bring Platt to Justice, and will call Stronger Widines there
myself, that know his Situation in Georgia, and I dare say can positively
convince you whether he was a Member of the Provincial Congress or Committee. I
have caught a very great Cold or would have waited you this morning according
to Promise.
I am etc,
Rich’d Maitland
Broad Street, St Georges in the East,
Jany 6th 9 AM.
924 – Platt to Capt Hughes, Cantaur - 4/12/1776
Cover:
4th December 1776
Copy of a letter from Ebenezer S Platt to Capt Hughes of the Centaur
(No 10)
In the Lords of the Admly’s Decr 9 1776.
925
Copy
Sir,
I humbly beg your permission for leave to send for an attorney on board that I
may lay before him a State of my Case, in order to have the benefit of the
habeas Corpus Act, as I have been detained a Prisoner then eight months upon
the accusation of one Captn Maitland and want nothing but to be tried by the
Laws of my King and Country.
Ebenezer S Platt
4th Decr 1776.
926: - Admiral Gaydon to M Stephens - 25/7/1776
Cover
25 July 1776.
Admiral Gayton to M Stephens
(No 61)
In the Lords of the Admly’s Decr 9 1776.
927
Copy of a Letter from Vice Adml Gayton Commr in Chief of His Majt Ships and
Vessels at Jamaica, to Mr Stephens dated the 25th July 1776.
Sir,
I be leave to inclose their Lordships the several affidavits relative to
William Platt, who I have sent to England in the Pallas to take trial for the
Crime he has committed, which I hope their Lordships will approve.
928-933
2 copies, slight changes between them (copied without all the “saids”:
The information of Richard Scriven late Ships Steward and mow Master and
Commander of the ship Philippa now lying in the Thames whereof Richard Maitland
was Master taken before me William Addington Esquire one of his Majesty’s
Justices of the Peace in and for the said County this 10th day of
January 1777.
Who being upon Oath Saith that in the month of March or April in the year 1775
the Ship Phillippa Sailed from the River Thames under the Command of the
Richard Maitland having on board among Sundry other Goods, Gunpowder, Arms and
Lead and several Casks of Bullets Consigned to different persons in the
provinces of Georgia and East Florida in North America
And this Deponent further Saith that the Ship on or about the Seventh day of
July then next following arrived on the Coast of Georgia and came to Anchor off
Tyhee bar where she was hailed by a Schooner full of Armed Men which had
hoisted at the Mast Head a White Flag with a Red Border on the Field of which
Flag was Stampt in large Red Letters the Words “American Liberty” and that some
of the men on board the Ship gave orders that the Ship Phillippa should follow
the said Schooner up the River Savanna and bring to in Cockspur Road which she
accordingly doing.
Three persons from the Schooner attended by about forty armed men then came on
board the Ship Phillippa and took by force all the Gun powder out of the Ship
and a few kegs of the musket Balls and carried them on board the Schooner at
the same time declaring they would then have carried with them all the musket
balls and the Small Arms if they could have got at them but gave Orders to the
Mates of the Ship Phillippa not to land any of the Small Arms or Musket Balls
at their peril but to Remain in Cockspur Road until they should receive further
orders from the Committee at Savannah
And this Dep’t further Saith that Orders were received on board
929
the Ship Phillippa on the twelfth day of July aforesaid from the Committee to
bring the ship up to Savanna which was accordingly done and upon her Arrival
Three persons (One of whom was named William Platt – otherwise Ebenezer Smith
Platt and whom this Informant hath heard and Verily believes to be a prisoner
on board one of his Majesty’s Ships at Portsmouth came on board the Ship and
declared they were sent by the Committee to see that the Small Arms and Musket
Balls were not landed according to the Bills of Lading Signed by Richard
Maitland but to take the same into their possession as the same should come to
hand in unloading the ship and to send them to the Committee and accordingly
did take into their possession against the Will of Richard Maitland all the
Small Arms and Musket Balls in the Ship as the same came to hand in unloading and
caused the same to be put into two Boats and Ordered the people in the boats to
carry the Small Arms and Musket Balls to Savanna and then Platt and the other
two persons embarked themselves in another boat and followed
And this informant further Saith that Richard Maitland and his Officers and
Mariners were afraid to make any resistance to Platt and his Company because
from the Time the Ship Phillippa was so detained until the Time this Deponent
left the Colony of Georgia there was a Rebellion in the Colony and the Course
of public justice thereby totally Obstructed And his Majesty’s Governor in the
Province deprived of all power and Authority which was usurped by an Assembly
of Men at Savanna aforesaid Stiling themselves the provincial Congress or Committee
under whose Authority divers people were in Arms to oppose his Majesty’s
Government and to carry all the Orders of the Committee if opposed into
Execution by force
And which armed force Platt and his Companions (who were willing actors in the
sd Rebellion) this Deponent knew could command and therefore any Resistance
made to their Orders might be attended with the utmost Danger to the lives of
Richard Maitland his Officers and Mariners
Richd Scriven
Sworn before me
January 10 1777
W Addington.
934-5-6 – Bensted to Chamberlain - 13/1/1777
Cover:
Mr Bensted 13th Jany 77
To
Wm Chamberlaine Esq,
Solicitor of the Treasury,
Gough Square,
LONDON.
Portsmouth 13th Jany 1777
Sir,
Captn Milbank is in London, we have heard nothing of any Habeas Corpus, but Platt
about two days ago writ a Letter to Sir James Douglas requesting that he might
be discharged, to which the Admiral gave no answer.
Persons are not confined, in general, by a written order in a military Way. The
fact was that Adm Gayton at Jamaica sent home in the Pallas a Lieutt and eight
Seamen of an armed Schooner called the Independence besides Platt and the three
witnesses, Sir James Douglas in his Hurry writes the Admlty of the arrival of a
Lieut and 12 men of an Armed Schooner at Spithead, the Admlty by their
Secretary acquaint Sir James that Lord Suffolk had directed that they should be
detained till further Order. This is the true mode of their detention but the
only way Capt Hughes of the Centaur can form a Return is as follows:
”That he detains Ebenezer Platt on Bd his majesty’s Ship Centaur under his
Command by virtue of a (vessel) order from Vice Adml Sir Jas Douglas Knt
Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s Ships and vessels at Spithead and
Portsmouth, who acquainted him Capt Hughes that the said Ebenezer Platt had
been sent home from Jamaica in Irons by Vice Adm Gayton commanding there by
sea, to Spithead in His Majesty’s Ship Pallas, on a Charge of having been
guilty of High Treason at of near Georgia in America.
Capt Hughes proposes if he should be found with a Habeas Corpus to send a
midshipman and another man in a Post Chaise to Town with Platt, but is anxious
to know how he is to be repaid the Expense of the Chaise.
I am, Sir
Your most Obdt Servant,
Thos Bensted.
937/9
Mr Chamberlain esq, Colton
Mr Platt is now confined in double Irons. Its in your power at least to prevent
this Extrutiating Torment – Humanity I hope will direct you to write to Mr
Aikerman (how my uncle and men are not acquainted with) to alleviate this
Torture – I shall proceed in the Petition for Tryal as expeditiously as
possible – I’m Jo? For Whittaker and self,
Your most hble Lord,
G Colton,
Symonds Inn,
25 Jan 1777.
939/40:
Copy Ebenezer Smith Platt
Commitment.
Woldlesxto wit??
To the Keeper of His Majesty’s Gaol of Newgate or his Deputy.
These are in His Majesty’s Name to authorise and require you to receive into
your Custody the Body of Ebenezer Smith Platt herewith sent You charged before
me upon the Oaths of Richard Scriven and Samuel Burnett with High Treason at
Savannah in the Colony of Georgia in North America and You are to keep him safe
until he should be delivered by due course of Law and for so doing this shall
be your warrant Given under my Hand and Seal this 23rd day of January 1777.
W Addington.
941/2:
To Wm Chamberlayne Esq
----
Ant Charmier?
------
St James’s 13th Dec 1776
Sir,
I have just sent the Attorney General and am to desire You will take no steps
respecting Platt Till you receive further Directions
I am
Sir
Your most Obed ...
Robt Charmier
943:
Document much crossed out – looks like a draft of a statement.
... The Town of Savannah and there moored and that after his arrival there One
schooner and two other persons under the Authy of the Committee came on board
the said Ship Phillippa and remained on board her during the time she was
unloading which took up in all abt...
951
To ----- Chamberlain Esq
Gough Square
Fleet Street
FF Mr Scriven.
944
(Also contains some corrections)
Side note (partial image): Dec 1776 Copied this – and sent in by express – Mr
Bistead Hon – Law Portsmouth.
Sir,
By some Depositions that were taken before the Judge of the Admiralty Court in
Jamaica that the Ship Philippa whereof Richard Maitland was bound from the port
of London to Savannah in the Colony of Georgia in New England and having on
board a Considerable Quantity of Gun Powder and some Chests of Small Arms and
several Kegs of Musket Balls to be delivered at Savannah “afd” for the Use of
the Indians Friendly to the British Government and for the Use of his Majesty’s
Forts and Fortifications there and elsewhere
about the Seventh day of July 1775 Arrived at the Mouth of the River Savannah
in Georgia that soon after her arrival She was hailed by a Schooner full of
Armed Men some of whom Gave Orders that the said Ship Philippa should follow
the Schooner up the River Savannah and bring to in Cockspur Road that the said
Ship Philippa did proceed to
946
Cockspur Road aforesaid and there came to an anchor during all which time the
said Schooner kept Close to her Course to an Anchor near her Port
soon after three Persons (Supported by and Armed force which came off in Boats
from Cockspur X
Side Note: X Island where there appeared to be an Incamp ???? Tybee.
came from the Schooner on board the said Ship Philippa and Demanded and took
from the Master all the Ships Papers and Manifest of her Cargo
947 N/A (crossed out)
948
and that the Colony of Georgia were shown in Open Rebellion and that an
Assembly of Men at Savannah Stiling themselves the Provincial Congress of the
Province Georgia or Committee had illegally Userped the Government of the said
Colony and had seized and inbodied? A great number of Men in Order to oppose
his Majesty’s Government there and who were daily ??ined with Colonists that
while
949
The said Ship lay at Cockspur Island and great number of Armed Men under the
Authority of the same Congress or Committee came on board the said Ship
Philippa and took out of her Hold and Carried away agst the Will of the Master
and Mariners a great Quantity of Gunpowder and Lead and a few Kegs of Musket
Balls and Declared they would have Carried away all the said Musket Balls and
all the Fire Arms if they those could have got at them
950
and gave Orders to the Master of the Ship Philippa not to Land any of the said
Musket Balls or Small Arms at their peril but to Remain in Cockspur Road until
they should Receive further Order from the said Committee
that and Order afterwards came from the Committee that in Obedience thereto the
said Ship Philippa was on an/or...
952:
I presume the bearer of Mr Richard Scriven who is now Master of the ship
Philippa, and was on board when the transaction wherein Platt was concerned
happened together with the Chief Mate Samuel Burnett will be sufficient
testimony, to go to Portsmouth on this occasion as their evidence must be more
particular then mine, they being constantly on bd whilst Platt was there, and I
most frequently onshr(?), if this will do shall wait on you early with them
tomorrow morning which will be saveing to me both to you and me and not taking
me from my business, you pleased to not your approbation by bearer to me,
etc Broad St, St George in the East 5th Jan 1777 11 am.
953
To
Wm Chamberlayne Esq
Solicitor of the Treasury
Gough Square
London
Sent Express to Portsmouth 10 Dec
Do 6th January 1777
1-13-6
954
Sir,
I had the Favor of your letter this morning by Express relative to Ebenezer
Platt, and have fixed with Adml Sir James Douglas to have the Witnesses brought
on Shore to morrow morning at nine O’clock, when Your Directions shall be
pursued, I am
Sir Your most Obedt Servant
Thos Binsteed.
955
Copy
Captain Cornwallis Sir
M Stephens
26 Dec 1776
956:
Pallas, Portsmouth Harbour, 25 Decr 1776
Sir,
In answer to your letter of the 23rd Inst relative to the Evidences
against Mr William Platt having made their Escape, I beg you will be pleased to
acquaint their Ldps that I intended to send them on board a Guardship before we
went into the Harbour, it was late in Evening when the Pilot came on board, and
we had no Opportunity, the Men had been detained a long time and turned from
Ship to Ship, I therefore thought it rather hard to put them in Irons as they
had always behaved remarkably well, and I had not the least Reason to suppose
they intended to get away, I believe they made their Escape in the night. The
Philippa, Maitland, the merchant Ship they were taken out of is now in the
River, I apprehend it would not be difficult for him to procure Evidence. I did
not give them Leave to go on Shore, not do I think they had leave from any of
the Officers.
I am etc
W Cornwallis.
Philip Stephens Esq
958
Mr Stephens to Sir Stanier Posten?
Admiralty Offices, 26th Dec 1776.
959
Copy
Admiralty Office 26th Dec 1776
Sir,
Lord Weymouth having in his Letter of the 21st Inst, transmitted to
my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty a Copy of one from Mr Binsteed, giving
an Account that the three witnesses against Platt, the Committee man of
Georgia, who were sent to England with hime in His Majesty’s Ship Pallas, had
made their Escape from her, their Lordships directed Capt Cornwallis late
Commander of the said Ship, to let them know why he suffered them to go on
Shore, and whether he can give them any Information where they are or may be
heard fo, which he having done in his Letter of the 25th Inst, I am
commanded by their Lordships to send you the inclosed Copy these for Lord
Weymouth’s Information, and am etc,
PW Stephen.
PS,
Their Lsps understand that Mr Maitland, who is mentioned in
the inclosed Letter may be heard of at the Jamaica Coffee House.
960/1
Sir Stanier Posten villa??? Ld Weymouth to find out Captain
Maitland.
St James’s 29th Dec 1776.
Sir,
Lord Weymouth has directed me to transmit to you herewith copy of a Letter from
Mr Stephens, and one to him from Captain Cornwallis late Commander of the
Pallas Frigate, and his Lordship desires you would endeavour to find out
Captain Maitland who may be heard of at the Jamaica Coffee House and as his
ship Phillippa is said to be still in the River, it may be in his Power to get other
Witnesses to supply the place of those escaped from the Pallas, and in case any
Witnesses might be forthcoming, his Lordship desires You would direct without
loss of time the examination to be taken in the manner at first intended,
acquainting me for his Lordship’s Information, with the result of you Inquiries
thereupon.
I am,
Sir,
your most obedient
humble Servant,
Stanier Posten,
William Chamberlayne Esq.
962:
Sir,
The ?? here of Mr Sam’l Burnett and he is accomponyed by W’m Scriven the former
late Chief Mate of the Cutter late Ship Steward and now the Master &
Commander of the Ship Philippa who I hope will arrive fine enough with you to
Stop Mr Platt’s Journey, Mr Burnett I myself have Examined and have Di?? Out
his Examination which accompany’s them whereby it fully appears the part he
took in the Rebellion certainly amounts to High Treason I understand Mr
Scriven’s Evidence will be as Strong and that he will Confirm Burnett in every
particular but when you take his Examination you will know that, I myself have
not been able to take it.
As it behoves him to ?? Captain Milbank of his Changes as soon as Possible I
Submit to you whether it would not loosing time to get a Warrant from the
Magistrate for Apprehending Plat and bringing him before him upon the Verbal
Information (taken upon Oath) of the Witnesse and then you may at Your Leisure
desire Mr Scriven’s Information and Copy Over Mr Burnett and make any
alterations therein as you may think necessary, I formerly sent you the Form of
a Warrant of Commitment
I flatter myself to hear Plat is Committed to Winchester Gaol instead of coming
to London which I convince he would never have thought on if he had not if he
had not read the Witnesses sworn ?? story,
I am, Sir (etc)
Wm Chamberlayne,
London, Sunday Night,
You will please not to forget to ?? Examination taken in W???
964/5:
7 January 1777,
Sir Stanyer Postern.
St James’s Tuesday 7 January 1777,
Sir,
On receipt this morning of your Letter of last night, I lost no time in laying
it before Lord Weymouth by whose Directions I am to acquaint you, that although
it appears necessary that the Informations should be taken here from Captain
Maitland, the Mate Samuel Burnett and the young man returned from
Northamptonshire, or from any two of them, his his Lordship wishes You would
stake the whole to the Attorney General and receive his Sentiment thereupon.
I am (etc)
Stanier Posten,
W Chamberlayne.
966:
5 January 1776 (7??)
Sir Stanyer Postern
abt Protestation
St James’s Sunday 5 Janry 1776
Sir, I waited all yesterday in expectation of receiving from the Admiralty the
Protection for Samuel Burnet, as Mr Seddon assured me it would be sent to me in
the afternoon. As soon as I received your letter this morning, I lost no time
in writing to Mr Stephens how essentially necessary it was that we should have
the Protection this day, and as I know he has dispatched a Messenger to Lord
Sandwich to get it signed, I make no doubt but you may depend on my sending it
to you this evening, and Burnet should set off to morrow morning for
Portsmouth.
I am Sir etc
Stanier Posten,
W Chamberlayne esq.
968/9,
7th January 1777,
Mr Binstead
Portsmouth 7th January 1777
Sir,
I had the favour of your Letter by Express, but we have heard nothing here of
any Habeas Corpus, but from your Letters, Sir James Douglas removed Platt to
the Centaur on Sunday last, where he now is, whenever the Habeas is Seinged you
shall hear further from me by Express of the time that Plat will arrive, in the
meantime as I may mistake the mode of a Return to the Habeas in print form, be
so good as to Lend me one, and the Cause assigned for receiving and detaining
him here shall be fully set forth in that Return,
I am etc,
Tho Binsteed.
970,
W’m Chamberlayne Esq,
Solicitor of the Treasury,
Gough Sq,
London,
10 January 77 Binsteed
Portsmouth 10th January 1777
Sir,
your favor of last night was received, I have seen Sir James Douglas this
morning, who as not heard any thing of Habeas Corpus. If any had been served he
would have heard it, We know nothing of Platt or his friends, having no
Communication with the Ships at Spithead, whenever the Habeas is served you
Directions shall be pursued, in the mean time I think that the Removal again to
the Barfleur would seem ????
I am etc,
Thos Binsteed.
972/3
Mr Eden with Plat in Petition.
Davies Street January 17th
Sir,
I am directed by the Earl of Suffolk to transmit the inclosed paper to you and
to desire that you will, as soon as you can, see the Att(orney) and Sol(icitor)
General with regard to it – Here is a Disposition in his Majesty to set the
Petitioner at Liberty in Consideration of all the Circumstance attending the
Case and Confinement – but it should be previously ascertained that there is no
Design to abuse this Clemency by bringing actions against the Justice etc, and
on this point Mr Whitaker the Solc(itor) for the Petitioner can give
Information and having an excellent Character in his possession may be relied
on – The next point is as to the form of Release, We are without any precedent
in our offices upon a Case exactly like this, but the Att’y and Sol’r G. will
possibly think it legal and right that we ?? give the King’s Warrant reciting
in General “Circumstances laving been represented and “therefore” “is pleased
to order the said E.P. to be discharged”
It is much wished that this matter may not be delayed.
I am with Esteem and regard,
W. Eden,
W Chamberlayne.
974
County of Southampton
for the Information of Samuel Burnett Chief Mate of the Ship Philippa now lying
in the River Thames taken upon Oath before me
Who being upon Oath Saith that in the month of March or April in the year of
our Lord 1775 the Ship Philippa Sailed from the River Thames with Sundry other
Goods on board Consigned to different persons residing in the provinces of
Georgia and East Florida in North America and amongst the Goods were Gun Powder
Arms and Lead Shipped by Licence of His Majesty or the
And this Deponent further Saith that on the Second day of May then next
following the said Ship sailed from the Downs and Came to an Anchor off Tybee
Bar on the Coast of Georgia on the Seventh day of July then next following and
that two days after a Schooner which had hoisted at the Mast Head a White Flag
with a Red Border on the Field of which Flag was Stampt or Imprinted in large
Red Letters the Words “American Liberty” and Carrying Ten Guns kept Close to
the said Ship until the said Ship ran within Tybee Point and that then the
people on board the Schooner ordered the Pilot on board the Ship Phillippa to
run the said Ship to Cockspur Island and Anchor her there And this Deponent
further Saith that he saw an Incampment of Armed Men in Tybee Point and also on
Cockspur Island the number of whom in the whole appeared to be about Three
hundred besides what were in the Schooner and that immediately on the Ship
Philippa being Anchored
The Greatest part of the Armed Men that were on Shore came off in Boats and
Surrounded the said Ship and then three persons unknown to this Deponent on of
whom appeared to be the Commander of the Schooner and several other Persons
came on board the Ship Phillippa and Demanded and took from Richard Maitland
all the Ship’s Papers and manifests & ??? and this Deponent being unable to
resist delivered the same and this Deponent further Saith that just at that instant
Joseph Habersham of Savannah Merchant came on board the said Ship and produced
and Order of an Assembly of Men Styling themselves the Provincial Congress of
the Province of Georgia Signed on the left hand side “George Walton Secretary”
requiring them to take all the Arms and Ammunition out of the said Ship
wherever they found her or Words to that effect and that in Pursuance of such
Order the said Armed Men did take out of the Hold of the said Ship and against
the Wish and Consent of Richard Maitland and his Mariners Six Ton and a half of
Gun Powder as nearly as this Deponent can at present Conjecture and about Seven
hundred Weight of Lead and Bullets and Declared they would have then Carryied
away all the Musket Balls and Small Arms if they could have come at them but
gave Orders to him this Deponent and the other master of the Ship (Richard
Maitland having gone on Shore) not to land any of the Small Arms and Musket
Balls on board the Ship at their peril and to remain in Cockspur Road until
they should Receive further Orders from the Committee sitting at Savannah
And this Deponent Saith that Orders were received on board the Ship from the
said Committee
977
Laws and Customs of England these follows the Commandant to the Sherriff to
Summmon the ???
Commission of Gaol Director??
George &C
Know ye that We have Constituted you or any two of you our Justices to Deliver
our Goal of Newgate of the Prisoners therein being And therefore We Command you
that at certain Days and Places which you or any two of you shall appoint for
their purpose You must at the ?? City or Sub?? Of the same to Deliver that
Goal being therein what to Justice appertains according to the Laws and
Customs of our Kingdom of England Saving to the American ?? and other things to
the form there answering for the Command of Sherriff of London and Middlesex
that at certain days and places which you or any two or more of you shall
appoint they ??? all the Prisoners of the same Goal and therein Atte?? Before
you or any two of more of you those to Come “In Witago??”
978
George etc
To our Trusty ?? Granting
Know you that We have assigned you or any two or more of you our Justices to
inquire most fully the truth by the Oath of Good and lawfull men of our County
of Middx and by other ways and Means and Methoda by which you shall or may
better know (with in Liberty) without by whom the Truth of the Matter may be
better known of all Treason Misprivion?? of S?? Insurrection Rebellion And of
all matters Felony etc all other Evil Doings Affairs and Injuries whatsoever
and also the A??? of them within the County afsd (or well within Liberty or without) by whomsoever and in what manner soever has committed perpetrated and
by whom and to whom wheresoever and after what manner and of all other Articles
and Circumstances concerning the ??? and every of them or any of them in any
manner whatsoever ?? the viz Treason and other ?? to have and determine
according to the Laws and Customs of England
And therefore ?? Command you that at certain days and places which you or any
two or more of you shall appoint foir their purpose
You make Deligent Inquiry about the prosecutes and having Determined all and
singular the personal day fulfil therein form afd doing therein what to Justice
apportain according to the
979
27th jan 1777
Copied for the Atty Genrl
980
Ebenezer Platts Case
On this 7th of July 1775 The Ship Phillippa Capt Maitland Master
Laden with Gun Powder Arms and Lead conveyed to different persons in the
Province of Georgia in America came to an anchor off Tybee Bar on the Coast of
Georgia.
On the 9th of July a Schooner hoist a White Flagg with a Red border
with the words American Liberty summounted – 10 guns came up with the Phillippa
at Tybee Point and the Peoples on board this Schooner immediately orderes the
Pilot on board the Phillippa to run her to Cockspur Island and Anchor there –
At this time there was an Encampment of about 300 Armed Men on Tybee Point and
on Cockspur Island who immediately after the Phillippa was
981/2
who charged him in his Majesty’s Ship Pallas to England where he arrived about
the month of December 1776.
4th December 1776 Platt applied to the Commander of the Ship where
he was a Prisoner for leave to send for an attorney in order to advise about
applying for a Habeas Corpus.
4th January 1777 Lord Mansfield Allowed a Habeas Corpus but before
the Writ was delivered to the Attorney who had him in Custody summoned Burnett
and Richard Scriven two of the Officers of the Phillippa went before Sir John
Field ? and charged the said Platt with the Several? Articles of High Treason
before Stated and Sir John having granted his warrant through and Attorney???
Was sent to Portsmouth who having got the warrant backed by the Mayor of that
place took Platt into his Custody and brought him before Mr Justice Addington
who on the 7th of Jan 1777 Examined Platt committed him to Newgate
for High Treason at Savannah in Georgia.
At the Justices? At the Old Baily after Hil? Term 1777 Platt Petitioned the
Court to be tried but upon this matter being solemnly argued the Court were of
Opinion they had no Power either to Try Bail or Detain him.
On the 1st day of Easter Term 1777 Platt petitioned this Court of
King’s Bench paryd to be either Bailed or Discharged but this Act of Parliament
having just passed the Court were of Opinion that they had no discretion in
this matter.
983
10th April 1776
Attorney General of Jamaica to Sir basil Keith
In Vice Admiral Gayton’s letter to Mr Stephens of the 13th June 1776
(no 4.)
In the Lords of the Admiralty December 9 1776.
984/5
Sir
In obedience to your Excellency’s command signified to me by your letter of
yesterday I have perused the Admiral’s Letter and the Affidavit therein
inclosed. The Affidavits I have submitted to the consideration of the Judge of
the Admiralty, and we are both of opinion, that the Offence therein charged
being committed by a person coming from shore while the Ship lay off Savannah,
which is within the body of the Province of Georgia arises out of the Admiralt
jurisdiction and is not cognizable thereby, or by any other criminal
jurisdiction of this Island. The forcibly taking away Stores, belonging to, or
intended for the use of the King’s Forts, with intent to afrest?, carrying on
hostile measures then on foot against His Majesty, raises the Offence from
Robbery to High Treason, which being committed in Georgia, is cognizable there
on the 25th Edward the 3rd or in England by that Statute
and the Jurisdiction given by the 33rd and 35th of Henry
8th. But the State of Georgia, wherein the Administration of civil
and criminal Justice, is silenced by Arms, makes in Effect this Offence
triable, for the present in England only. Under those circumstances I am of
Opinion, that William Platt cannot be in such proper and safe custody, as that
of the Admiral, who, if he shall judge proper may send him to England, there to
be dealt with according to Law. Had William Platt been apprehended by any civil
Magistrate, I do suppose the Admiral would have been applied to, through your
Excellency to take him under his charge, and send him to England for the
purpose aforesaid. I am with the greatest respect,
Sir etc
Tho Harrison
April 10th 1776.
His Excellency the Governor.
986
To the right Honourable the Earl of Suffolk one of His Majesty’s Principal
Secretaries of State
My Lord,
Your Lordship having by His Majesty’s commands transmitted to us for our most
immediate consideration, a Letter from the Lords of the Admiralty to Your
Lordship, together with ten more enclosures, and informed us, that one Ebenezer
Platt, late a Committee Man of the Province of Georgia, has been sent to
England, as a rebel Prisoner, together with three Witnesses to support against
hum the charge of his having forcibly taken some Gunpowder belonging to His
Majesty, in order to carry it to a part of His Majesty’s subjects in actual
Rebellion, and that he now desires to be allowed an Attorney, in order to claim
the benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act; And your Lordship having been pleased to
desire out opinion under the whole circumstances of the Case in what manner it
may be advisable to proceed. We have taken the same into Our consideration
accordingly.
it does not appear from the inclosures at what time Mr Gayton’s Letters were
received respectively, but, as the notice of sending Platt over to England to
be tried was dated so early as the thirteenth of June, We presume, It was His
Majesty’s Pleasure, that He should be so sent to be tried, and not be detained
in America, as other Rebel Prisoners have been, some of whom were even remanded
for that purpose. Supposing this to be decided, nothing remains to be
considered but the quality of their offence, and the method of proceeding upon
it.
It does not appear to us, upon what ground Platt is charged, in your Lordships
Letter, and also in that form (frfom?) the Lords of the Admiralty to your
Lordship, and also in Mr Gayton’s Letter of the thirtieth of March 1776 to the
Lords of the admiralty, with having seized His Majesty’s Gunpowder, and carried
it to the Rebels; or as your
988
Lordship supposes, in order to carry it to the rebels. The Depositions don’t
charge Him with being one of the number of these, who seized the Gunpowder, or
even with being upon Cockspur Island, the place where that crime was committed.
The charge upon him by the Deposition of Maitland (the Master of the Phillippa)
is, that, returning to his Vessel, He found Platt, among other Inhabitants of
Savannah (where the Vessel then lay) on board, and that Platt told him, He came
there to secure and carry away the shot and small Arms, which they could find,
as the same came to hand. The other Depostions, speaking of Platt, Levi and
Shafto, add, They declared, that this was done by order of the
Committee.
The violence imputed to Platt and the rest at the Town of Savannah will amount
to High Treason, if the Committee, under whose orders they professed to Act,
can be proved to conduct the rebellion in Georgia, is it is understood,
by report, that in fact they do; or, if his violence can be referred in
any other way, to a connection with the treasonable
989
force, which is in Arms within that province.
Supposing that to be the case, It will be proper to commit him for trial in the
ordinary course; namely, by taking the Information of the witnesses, issuing a
Warran thereupon to bring him to be examined, and, if the charge appears well
founded commitment.
The temper of our Laws certainly required, that every Prisoner should be
allowed the means of suing out a habeas Corpus. But it seems fitter to proceed
to His examination, and to discharge Him, if nothing appears in proof against
Him, or to commit Him regularly if a sufficient foundation be laid for that,
We are etc,
E Thurlow,
Al. Wedderburn,
10th Dec 1776.
Dec 10th 1776
Mr Attorney & Mr Solicitor General.
990 & 2 (2 copies)
Copy of a Letter from Clark Gayton Esq Vice Admiral of the White &
Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s Ships and Vessels at Jamaica dated Antelope, Port Royal, March the 30th 1776.
Sir,
I am to acquaint their Lordships that I have seized one Mr Platt he was a
Committee Man at Georgia and is the man that Boarded the Philippa, one
Maitland, Master, of Georgia last year and seized all the Government Gun Powder
and carried it to the Rebels
I have had him some days in Irons, but could not get the Identity if this
Person sworn to until this afternoon, which was from the Above Maitland and his
people that was with him when the Powder was seized and is now here loading
with sugar and as I have seized the Above Platt at Port Royall, I presume he
must be tried on this Island for the Robery and Executed on this Island, I
shall let his Excellency Sir Basil Keith now about him tomorrow morning, and
shall inform their Lordships by the next Packet what is done by the said Platt.
991
Copy of a Letter from Vice Admiral Gayton Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s
Ships and Vessels at Jamaica to Mr Stephens, dated 30th March 1776.
(no 1)
In the Lords of the Admiralty December 9th 1776.
993
10th April 1776
Sir Basil Keith
To
Clark Gayton, Esq.
In Vice Admiral Gayton Letter for Mr Stephens of the 3 June 1776
(no 3)
994
Spanish Town, 10th April 1776
Sir,
As your Letter of yesterday’s date comprehends Questions of Law wherein it is
my duty to be advised by His Majesty’s Attorney General, I directly sent it
with the Dispatches accompanying it to W. Harrison for his Guidance and at the
same time desired him to lose no time in furnishing me with his written Opinion
on the Matter and Advise what part I ought to take in its as Governor of this
Island. Inclosed I send you his Answer by which I conceive myself precluded
from any interference in this affair. This being the case I return to you the
Depositions of the Evidence against Platt,
I am etc
Basil Keith
Copy Clark Gayton.
995
Mr Stephens Letter with Protection
996
D Sir,
I sending on herewith the Protection you desired and am very sorry it has ??
been in any person to forward it to you sooner, I am with the etc
W Stephen,
Admiralty
5th January 1777
997
Wm Chamberlayne Esq,
Gough Sq,
Fleet Street
30th January 77
Captain Maitland.
998 30/01/77
Sir
I now Inform you that I Now am, thank god, able to go out about Business, and
if I am to appear Against that wretch Platt, please to signify to me the Time.
But would wish for reasons you may guess that I Could be served with an other
Summons, if it can be done with Propriety; Scriven is not yet Come out of the
County, Burnett is out on an other Ship to which I Can Direct your So that
you’l please to give me a days notice that I may not be other wise Engaged-
I am Sir your most obdt humble Servant
Richd Maitland,
Broad Street St Georges in the East
30 Jany 1777
To Wm Chamberlain Esq.
999
Severn days and collected and sent away all the Musket Balls and Small Arms as
they came to hand in the Course of the Unloading of the said Ship and every
other Article which they conceived to be for his Majesty. These ?? that Richard
Maitland, the Master of the Vessel and her Officers or Mariners could not make
any Resistance against these Boardings of the said William Platt and his
Companions Bording??
Page 9
1000 - Notes?
Matyes Government House,
Was Totally Supported Public Justice Obstructed X
X and his Majesty’s Governor in the said Town of Savannah had no power to
Inforce the Evacuation of the Law or to protect such Persons as were Obnoxious
to the ? Armed People which Maitland and his men certainly would have been if
they had made any Opposition to Plats Demands
Under whose Order the said William Plat and his Companions Acted and justified
their actions in what they did and who in Case of any
Page 10
1001
resistance could and would have called forth a part of the Military force
carried? By the said Assembly to their support which would have been to the
Manifest Danger of the lives of the afd Mr Maitland his Officers and Mariners
Plat was afterwards apprehended and has been sent home by Admirl Gayton and is
now a Prisoner aboard Captain Stephens Ship in Your Harbour, and there are I
understand aboard the said Ship three Persons who have
P 11
1002
been likewise sent home to give Evidence against him. I would know of the
Evidence now on board the Ship now Capable of Securing to the to the several
facts before stated particularly that there was a Rebellion, that the King’s
Governor had Enforce the Execution Of the Law that his Authority was ??? by an
Assembly of Men Stiling themselves a Committee or Congress, that an Armed force
was ?? and ??? under their Authority that the Ship was plundered in the manner
before stated that Plat assisted that which the said men under the Authority of
the ?? with this full and intense approbation thereof or if he in any support
whatsoever I h?? his approbation of the three aforemnd? Authority by
1003
approbation thereof or if he in any ??part whatsoever I ?? his approbation of
the three aforenamed
by Masing? Or associating himself with the armed force of the Committee or the
Officers thereof it no doubt makes him a Principal in the rebellion and Guilty
of High Treason. I beg the favour of you Sir therefore to send for the three
witnesses and take their Examinations in writing separately as to all the
several facts before stated or any other what ever to the Rebellious
Proceedings at Savannah and particularly to Attend if the facts will warrant
that the Examination
P13
Warrant? To se securing ???? and part?? Subation? To Plat ? is possible that
should his Conversation within or with the Rebellious Assembly or with the
Armed force acting under the Assembly’s Authority or his approbation thereof or
his being an instrument in those hands with his own knowledge and approbation and
of any Declarations he made relative therefore for from thence to Collected his
guilt of High Treason You will please then to get the Examination or
Informations Sworn by the men before the Mayor or Portsmouth or some other ??
P14
1005
Magistrate that you may approve of and if after they are sworn the Magistrate
and you shall be of the Opinion that there is sufficient Evidence of Rebellion
and that Plat was privy thereto and approved thereof and in any Shape Ordered
and Assisted therein You will get the Mayor;s Warrant for Plat and send for him
from on board the Shi and take his Examination in Writing and Pray his
Commitment to the County Goal for High Treason (the Form of the Warrant I send
you herewith) but if after you have taken the Information of the Witnesses any
doubt should remain with the Magistrate whether he can
P15
1006
Commit Plat for High Treason, I must then beg of you not to send for Plat but
to forward the Information to me by Express and you shall then hear further
from me.
The Witnesses are on board the Pallas the Captain wereof has earned directions
from the Admiralty to bring them in shore and Carry them back as you shall
direct. I give you their Trouble on the Recommendation of Mr Wallace the King’s
Counsel, I doubt not therefore of your case and your charges in the business
shall be thankfully paid to your credit ,
I am etc Wm Chamberlayne
Gough Square,
London 18th December 1776
Note at bottom of page:
A pacquet addressed to Mr Elliot Containing Mr R Maitland’s Charges to the
Grand Jury delivered 15th December 1775 with his Letter dated 20th
January 1776 and a Porsin? Affd.
P16.
1008
I A.B. in the written Writ named do humbly certify and return to our Sovn Ld
the King that the within named C.d. is not nor at the time of the coming of the
sd Writ to me was nor at any time since hath been in my custody or Power
wherefore I cannot have the body of the sd C.d. before our Sd Ld the King at
the time and place written ??? as by the said within commanded.
The answer of A.B. within named.
1009
In the King’s Bench
The King agst Ebenezer Smith Platt
Sir,
Take Notice that this honourable Court will on Monday next be moved that the
said Ebenezer Smith Platt may be discharged out of the Goal of Newgate upon
special Bail and that John Hurford of Thames Street in the City of London Coal
Merchant Guy Bryant of Vine Court Spitalfields in the County of Middlesex Silk
Dyer William Rogers of No 16 White Chappel in the County of Middlesex Builder
James Hill of Tower Hill in the City of London Undertaker and Patience Wright
of Cundall Court Pall Mall in the County of Middlesex Widow and Wax Modalor
will at the same time attend the said Court and become Bail for the said
Ebenzer Smith Platt
Yrs Whittaker and Colton,
Symonds Inn,
9th May 1777
To Mr Chamberlaine.
1010
Saturday next after fifteen days from the feast Day of Easter in the
seventeenth year of King George the third
England
It is ordered by the Court that the Petition of Ebenezer Smith Platt now a
Prisoner in his Majesty’s Goal of Newgate committed on a charge of High Treason
alleged to be Committed at Savannah in the Colony of Georgia in North America
now presented to this Court be received and filed.
On the motion of Mr Alleyne
By the Court
1011
Monday next after the Morrow of the Ascension of our Lord in the Seventeen Year
of King George the Third
England
The King
Ag.
Ebenezer Smith Plat
The Defendant Ebenezer Smith Plat brought here into Court in Custody of the
Keeper of his Majesty’s Goal of Newgate by virtue of his said Majesty’s Writ of
Habeas Corpus And it appearing by the Return to the said Writ that the said
Defendant stood charged with high Treason at Savannah in the Colony of Georgia
in North America and upon hearing of Council on both sides It is Ordered that
he the said Defendant be now remanded to the Custody of the Keeper of the said
Goal of Newgate to be by him kept in safe Custody until he shall be from thence
discharged by due course of Law
On the Motion of Mr Attorney General
By the Court
1012
And these Deponents further Saith that from the time the said Vessel was so ??
as aforesaid until the time these Deponent left the said Colony the People
there were in ?? to Oppose his Majesty’s Government and Carried Standards with
the Words American Liberty Written thereon and were every day ?? ?? for ?? and
the Course of Justice was totally Obstructed and the Rebellion got to ?? ??
that his Majesty’s Government had no power to inforce the Execution of the Law
and that the afd E.S. Plat was Ordering and assisting in the said Rebellion and
very active therein in Inforcing the Orders of the afd Committee ?? ?? the
unloading that Ship and Carefully Serving all the Ammunition ? on board for the
?? to be at the Disposal of the afd Committee
1013
And this Dpt further saith that and believed the said E.S. Plat was one of the
said Provincial Committee and He this Deponent the rather believes the same
because the sd E.S. Plat justified his being on Board this Deponent’s Ship
under the Orders of the said Congress and was frequently in Company with several
of the persons in the said Town o Savannah who had assumed the Government
thereof and was several times very active in carrying many Orders of the said
Congress into Execution tending to the oppression of some of the Inhabitants of
the said Town who were suspected of being friendly to his Majesty’s Government
1014
Cover:
For the Crown
Qu whether he may not be remanded on the late ? to the New Goal?
The King
Agst BRIEF
Platt
To oppose the Prisoner being bailed
Mr Atty Gen’l
A Consultation is desired with
Mr Solic’t Gen
Mr Wallace
Mr Mansfield
Mr Boarcroft
&
Mr Buller
??
1015
The King High Treason at Savannah
agst in Georgia
Ebenezer Smith Plat
The Prisoner was apprehended at Kingston in Jamaica and sent home in one of his
Majesty’s Ships at Portsmouth from whence he was brought up to London and
examined before William Addington Esqr one of his Majesty’s Justices of the
Peace on the 23rd January last and by him committed to Newgate upon the
following warrant of Committment
Middlesex to wit
To the Keeper of his Majesty’s Goal of Newgate or his Deputy
These are in his Majesty’s Name to authorise and Require you to receive into
your Custody the Body of Ebenezer Smith Plat herewith sent you Charged before
me upon the Oaths of Richard Scriven and Samuel Burnett with High Treason at
Savannah in the Colony of Georgia in North America And you are to keep him safe
until her shall be delivered by due course of Law And for so doing this shall
be you Warrant. Given under my hand and seal this 23rd day of
January 1777
W Addington
All Hilary Term passed without the Prisoner making any application to the Court
of King’s Bench under the Habeas Corpus Act to be Bailed Tried or Discharged
(which he might have done) but at the subsequent sessions at the Old Bailey the
prisoner having sent a sort of petition to the Lord Mayor which the Court was
pleased to entertain as a petition under the Habeas Corpus Act, the matter was
solemnly argued when the Court being of Opinion that it had no jurisdiction
either to Try, Bail, or Discharge him, he remained in Custody.
Soon after an Act passed Intitled “An act to empower his Majesty to secure and
detain persons charged with or suspected of the Crime of High Treason committed
in any of his Majesty’s Colonies in America or on the high seas or the Crime of
Piracy” Whereby after reciting that a Rebellion had been carried on in certain
of His Majesty’s Colonies and Plantations in America and that many persons had
been seized and taken who were expressly charged or strongly suspected of such
Treason and that many more such persons might be
P 1
1016
then after so seized and taken and Reciting that such persons had been or might
be brought into this Kingdom and that it might be inconvenient in many such
cases to proceed forthwith to the Tryal of such Criminals and at the same time
of evil examples to suffer them to go at large
It was therefore Enacted that all and every person or persons who had been or
should be then after seized or taken in the act of High Treason committed in
any of His Majesty’s Colonies or Plantations in America or who were or should
be charged with or suspected of the Crime of High Treason committed in any of
the said Colonies or on the high seas or who had been or should be Committed in
any part of His Majesty’s Dominions for such Crime by any Magistrate having
competent authority in that behalf to the Common Good should and might be
thereupon detained in safe Custody, without Bail of Mainprize(?) intil the
first day of January 1778 and that no Judge or Justice of Peace shall Bail or
Try any such Person or persons without Order from his Majesty’s most honourable
Privy Council Signed by six of the said privy Council until the said first day
of January 1778 any Law Statute or Usage to the contrary un any wise notwithstanding
the above Statute the Prisoner on the first day of this Term presented a
petition to the Court of the King’s Bench praying that he might be either Tried
Bailed or discharged, and the Court, on the motion of Mr Alleyne made a Rule
for receiving and filing the same, but reserved for a future Day the taking the
Prayer into consideration.
It would have been difficult to have found out upon what ground the Prisoner’s
Council made the forgoing application considering the above Statute had he not
informed the Court that he was aware thereof and meant to argue that the Words
“No judge or Justice of Peace shall Bail or Try” could not control the Court of
King’s Bench with which Court a discretionary power to Bail was still left and
meant to be left, notwithstanding that statute.
In answer thereto We have procured the several Statutes passed in 1715 an 1745
for suspending the Habeas Corpus Act and find Words in the Enacting part of
those Statutes exactly corresponded with the Words in the present Act and
although the Court of the King’s Bench in nay one instance presumed to Bail a
prisoner comprehended within the perview of those Statutes
P2
1017
In Sir William Wyndham’s Case it was objected against his being Bailed that he
had lain still so long without making any application – as a Reason for that
omission he say’d the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended, and though the
suspension did not extend to his particular Case yet the Chief Justice in
giving his Opinion on that Case say’s the Reason given was of some weight in
determining the discretion of the Court for the Gentleman might think himself
included and be mistaken, which speaks very clearly the Sentiments of the Chief
Justice that is Sir William had not been mistaken there would have been no
pretence for an application as his omission would have been justified.
But in Michaelmas Term 9th Geo:1st The very objection now
taken was insisted on, and it was overruled and an Habeas Corpus denied in the
Case of the King and the prisoners in the Tower and the rather because the
Habeas Corpus was denyed in Layer’s Case for the Court would not try hum till
they had an Order from the King oas the Act directs v.s Moder 98 Michas 9 Geo.
Be pleased therefore to oppose the prisoner being bailed.
1018
To the Right Honourable Henry, Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, One of his
Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State, and one of the Lords of his Majesty’s
most Honourable Privy Council
The humble Petition of Ebenezer Smith Platt, a Prisoner in Newgate
Most Respectfully sheweth
That your Lordships Petitioner was in the Month of March, 1776, made a Prisoner
at Kingston in Jamaica on a charge of High Treason against the King and
Government of Great Britain
That your Lordships Petitioner was from that period closely confined on board
Several Ships of War until the Month of January 1777, at which time he was by
virtue of an order, brought from Portsmouth to London
1019
and Committed to the Goal of Newgate where he noe remaine a Prisoner
That you Lordships Petitioner is totally void of every Family, Friend or
Connection in this Kingdom, that he is Laden with iron and that he finds his
health materially affected, by his long confinement.
Your Lordships Petitioner therefore most humbly solicits your Lordship, as in
your Lordship’s judgement may seem proper that you will be pleased to direct
that he may be either brought to his Trial to answer such charges as may be
adducted against him, or that he may be Admitted on Bail, to make his Appearance
on such charges at any future Period.
http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/print.jsp?div=o17770219-1
Old Bailey Proceedings supplementary material, Ebenezer Smith Platt, 19th February
1777.
On the First or Second Day of the Sessions, a Petition was presented to the
Court from Ebenezer Smith Platt, a Prisoner in Newgate, under the following
Warrant, praying the Benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act.
Long text doc of arguments.
Ebenezer Smith Platt to the Commissioners
Docno: PJA06d038[131]
Author: Platt, Ebenezer Smith
Recipient: First Joint Commission at Paris
Recipient: JA
Date: 1778-04-21
Paris 21st. April 1778
To the Honourable Commissioners of the United States of America.
The humble Petition of Ebenezer S. Platt Most Respectfully Sheweth,
That your Petitioner is a Native of America, and was a resident in the Province
of Georgia, in the year 1775, And was Chosen a Member of the Parochial
Committee of Savannah,(1) in said Province.
That in the month of July 1775, A Certain Ship Called the Philippa, whereof one
Richard Maitland, was Master, Arrived off Savannah Harbour (Laden with Dry
Goods, together with Nine Tons of Gunpowder, Four Hundred Stand of Arms, and
some Lead, and Musket Balls) Where she was met by an Armed schooner, fitted out
by Congress for that Purpose, who Boarded said ship at Sea, and took out all
the Gunpowder, and Deposited it safe in the Magazine at Savannah. The Arms, and
Musket Balls still remaining onboard, and for fear they should fall into the
hands of People who were Inimicable to the Liberty of America The Provintial
Congress of said Place, (then sitting) thought Proper to send Persons Onboard
to Protect the same, And accordingly your Petitioner, with two others of said
Committee, {p. 45} were by them appointed and received a Written Order
therefore Signed by the President.
That in the month of Jany. 1776 Your Petitioner Freighted two Vessels for Cape
Nicholas Mole,(2) With Intent to Purchase War-like Stores, and by Permission of
Congress, Embarked onboard one of them himself, which unfortunately was taken
within a few Leagues of her Destined Port, by his Majesty’s Ship Maid-stone
Capn. Gardner, and Carried into Kingston in Jamaica. Where she was restored to
your Petitioner again on Account of her being English Property; tho' they
obliged him to sell his Cargo.
That your Petitioner in Consequence thereof sold his Cargo, and Purchased a
Vessel with Intent, to Proceed back to America, When on the 28 day of March as
your Petitioner was Proceeding to Sea, his Vessel was Boarded, and Taken, by a
Boat from Onboard the Antelope, Ship of War,—Your Petitioner Carried onboard
said Ship, and Confined in Irons, upon an Information laid by Capn. Maitland,
of his having been onboard his Ship at Savannah in Georgia by Order of
Congress.
That your Petitioners Ship in Consequence thereof was Sold Without any Account
being given thereof to your Petitioner. After which your Petitioner was removed
by Habeas Corpus, before the Court at Kingston, Tryed, and Acquited, but for
fear of his recovering Damages of the Admiral, was again remanded by the Cheif
Justice onboard the Antelope as an Able Bodied Seaman.
That your Petitioner remained three months longer onboard the Antelope, in
Irons, and then was Removed onboard the Boreas, Frigate, And from thence
onboard the Palas, Frigate, in which he was Caried to England,(3) and sent
onboard the Centaur, and from thence to the Barfleur, and from the Barfleur
back again to the Centaur, And from onboard the Centaur sent onshore, and up to
London, and Committed to Clerkenwell Bridewell, for two Days, When he was
Caried before Sr. John Fielding, and One Justice Addington, and by them
Committed on the 23 of Jany. 1777 to Newgate, where he remained fourteen Months
in Irons—Destitute of every Family Friend or Connection, and Depending for his
Daily support, upon the Charity of a few Humane People.
That at length through the Interposition of the Committee for the Support of
American Prisoners(4) Your Petitioner was set at {p. 46} Liberty, in a Strange
Country, Destitute of Money, and every Means of returning to his Native
Country. And was by said Committee sent to Paris, Relying upon the
Commissioners of America, for Assistance to Enable him to Return Home.
Your Petitioner therefore hopes you will be Pleased to take his hard Case into
Consideration And allow him such Assistance as you in Your Wisdom shall think
Fit.(5)
Ebenezer Smith Plat
RC Adams Papers ; docketed: “Mr Platt”; in another hand: “Ebenr platts petition
Paris 21 Apl. 78.”
1. In 1775, with the breakdown of the royal government, the Parochial Committee
of Savannah had assumed the powers and functions of local government for the
town and surrounding parish. Among other things, it enforced the Association,
embargoed locally needed merchandise, and appointed a lay preacher when the
local Church of England minister was banned by the Provincial Congress (Kenneth
Coleman, American Revolution in Georgia, 1763–1789, Athens, Ga., 1958, p. 63).
Although Platt, as a shopkeeper and supporter of the Revolution, would have
been a logical choice for membership on the Parochial Committee, no mention of
him in that capacity has been found (Ronald G. Killion and Charles T. Waller,
Georgia and the Revolution, Atlanta, 1975, p. 219).
2. Cape St. Nicholas Môle is at the northwest corner of St. Domingue (now
Haiti).
3. For additional information about Platt's detention at Jamaica and subsequent
transportation to England, see Naval Docs. Amer. Rev. , 4:588–589, 761, 794;
5:517–520; 7:807–808. The index of vol. 5 gives Platt's forename erroneously as
William.
4. No specific reference to a committee of this name has been found. Functions
like that described by Platt were, however, performed by such bodies as the
relief committee headed by Rev. Thomas Wren and a London committee which, in
December 1777 and January 1778, raised £3,700 for the support of American
prisoners (Catherine M. Prelinger, “Benjamin Franklin and the American
Prisoners of War in England during the American Revolution,” WMQ , 3d ser.,
32:264, 268 [April 1975]; NEHGR , 30 [1876]:348, note 1).
5. On 26 Aug. 1777 the congress had, in response to a letter from Platt from
Newgate Prison, voted to supply him with £100 and seek his exchange, and in Dec.
1777 Platt had apparently received money from Benjamin Franklin ( JCC , 8:676;
Cal. Franklin Papers, A.P.S. , 1:326; Prelinger, “Franklin and the American
Prisoners of War,” p. 265–266). Platt probably never received the former sum,
but, as a result of this petition, the Commissioners gave him 30 guineas for
his return to America. Platt's passage was not uneventful, for the New Friends
of Charleston, on which he and his wife sailed from France, was captured by the
British privateer Leveller. On 6 March 1780, after finally reaching his
destination, Platt petitioned congress for the £100 voted him in 1777 as
compensation for his “exertions and sufferings” (K. G. Davies, ed., Documents
of the American Revolution, 1770–1783, Shannon and Dublin, 1972– , 13:321;
London Chronicle, 30 July–1 Aug. 1778; JCC , 16:230; PCC, No. 41, VIII, f.
100).
Cite web page as: Founding Families: Digital Editions of the Papers of the
Winthrops and the Adamses, ed.C. James Taylor. Boston: Massachusetts Historical
Society, 2007.
http://www.masshist.org/ff/
http://www.masshist.org/publications/apde/portia.php?id=PJA06d038#PJA06d038n2
Matthew Ridley to the American Commissioners
http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=26&page=227a
ALS: American Philosophical Society
April the 3d: 1778
Honorable Sirs
The Bearer of this is Mr. Ebenezer Platt; with whose sufferings in the cause of
America you are not unacquainted. He has lately got released from his
confinement in consequence of a Petition from the Committee for American
Prisoners. Mr. Platt is desirous of returning to his Country; and every mode
but the one through France being stop’d I have taken the liberty of giving him
a Letter to you; not doubting you will find him an Object of consideration and
that you will do all in your Power, to further his design.
Mr. Platt since his release is married to a Daughter of Mrs. Wrights, who goes
with him And who I believe is not unknown to Dr. Franklin.
I hope you will excuse the Freedom I have taken and believe me Honorable Sirs
Your most Obedient and most humble Servant
Mattw: Ridley
Addressed: To / The Honorable Commissioners / of the United States of America /
Paris
extract: (in the SC Room, Charleston Library, supports the newspaper description).
In the Southeast the self-made planters and merchants chaffed under stringent enforcement of customs laws and the Stamp Acts. Tax collection was enforced by a growing presence of Royal Navy vessels and British troops and resulted in some unpleasant incidents. In May 1767, the 15-ton Carolina schooner Active was seized by the new collector of customs at Charlestown when a mob threatened marines inspecting her cargo. Daniel Moore, the Charlestown collector, next seized two sloops belonging to Henry Laurens (Laurens later won a court case regarding this). Various mob actions, ship burnings, and mistreatment of tax collectors occurred throughout the colonies, culminating in the widely publicized 1773 dumping of East India Company tea in Boston Harbour. In retaliation the port of Boston was closed until restitution was made. Other colonies supported the Bostonians; South Carolina sent rice for the relief of the city. Finally, open combat erupted at Lexington in 1775, and eight years of war faced the Southeast and its emergent shipbuilding industry.
Upon the outbreak of war, South Carolina had no armed vessels, and Georgia had only the provincial 10-oared scout boat Savannah, now nearly 30 years old. Since the last war had ended 11 years earlier and the colonies had been under the protection of the Royal Navy, there had been no need for armed craft. Now there was, and control of the intricate waterways of the region, so important in past conflicts, quickly became imperative for both sides.
Carolina and Georgia once again had a hostile territory to the south, as Florida remained loyal to Britain. Both states wasted little time in commissioning armed small craft to oppose the expected British privateers operating out of St. Augustine and Havana. In Georgia the schooner Elizabeth was commissioned as Liberty, under Oliver Bowen and Joseph Habersham, to intercept an expected cargo of gunpowder and arms destined for East Florida. In July 1775, Liberty, with 10 carriage guns and 10 swivel guns, rendezvoused with Captains John Barnwell and John Joyner of Beaufort, commanding 40 men, and together they captured the British ship Philippa near the mouth of the Savannah River.
The Philippa was none other than the former Magna Charta, built at Hobcaw by Manson and Begbie in 1770. She had been sold, re-named, and was now carrying a cargo of gunpowder consigned to private colonial interests. This was promptly distributed between Georgia and South Carolina by the captors. About six and a half tons of powder were confiscated, and two and a half tons of this was later shipped north to Washington's army, where it allowed Washington, who had been short of powder, to force the British to evacuate Boston. One wonders whether the Philippa retained the ornate figurehead that adorned her as the Magna Charta, "a bust of Britannia upheld by two Americans, one on the right, armed for her defence; the one on the left offering her the horn of plenty." The Royal Governor of Georgia, James Wright, in informing Lord Dartmouth of this action, observed, "I begin to think a King's Governor has little or no business here."
At Charlestown, the Council of Safety commissioned the sloop Commerce in July 1775, sending her south under Clement Lempriere to seize a cargo of powder expected off St. Augustine. Lempriere, a Charlestown shipwright and former Royal Navy officer, luckily found the brigantine Betsy at anchor off St. Augustine bar waiting to unload. He took 111 barrels, one half barrel, and 37 small kegs of powder from her hold. The war was still in its more chivalrous stage, for Lempriere gave Betsy's seamen each £100 currency and gave the captain a draft for £1,000 currency drawn on John Edwards of Charlestown. This seizure galvanized the East Florida loyalists. Governor Tonyn (who had replaced Grant in 1774) immediately sent the provincial sloop Florida, with eight guns and 30 infantrymen aboard, in pursuit, but in the race north Lempriere squeaked into....
Agreed $1000 in settlement for Florida |
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400 |
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William Pountny of Kingston |
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10 |
10 |
0 |
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Samuel Chollet of Bourdieu & Chollet, to sell in C. 30/12/73 Sterling |
342 |
9 |
1 |
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Hawkins Petrie Net account |
269 |
1 |
0 |
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Samuel Chollet July 1774 |
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334 |
18 |
6 |
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Allen Horne Goods July 1774 |
72 |
8 |
0 |
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Geo house to Georgia July 74? |
428 |
18 |
5 |
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1105 |
5 |
11 |
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Geo Houston 14/11/1775 |
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333 |
0 |
1.5 |
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428 |
14 |
5.5 |
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761 |
14 |
7 |
Geo Houston 25/8/1775 |
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808 |
0 |
5.75 |
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Items sold at vendue |
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239 |
8 |
2 |
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3267 |
8 |
2.75 |
This amount equates to between £490,000 (price inflation) and £1.8M in wage
inflation in 2020 sterling.
1. ...deceased formerly Master of the Ship Magna Charta and late of the
Philippa in the Carolina Trade
2. .....had an Adventure of his own which he generally sold in the Country part
for ready Money, but by far the largest part upon Credit until he should return
thither again by which means there were very considerable Sums of Money due to
Your Memorialist’s said late Husband at the time of his decease from diverse
persons in the said respective Provinces.
3. (1774)....was obliged to leave the said Province without collecting any part
of the Debts due to him in the said Province or settling with his Attornies
there for what they might have received on his Account before during his
Absence – nor was he ever permitted by himself or any other person to collect
the same nor has any part hereof ever been recovered.
4. 1775...That owing to the violent Treatment the said Richard Maitland met
with from the Rebells in Georgia he was likewise obliged to leave that province
without obtaining and Settlement of his Affairs there to the very great detriment
of his property as well as his Health which after that period declined daily so
that he died of a broken heart.
5. That the whole of his Property to a mere trifle being in America at the
time of his death and irrecoverable as before stated the Creditors at home have
laid hold of what effects he had in England so that your Memorialist (who is
now upwards of sixty Years of Age and very infirm) is reduced from a decent
State of Affluence to mere want and is only Supported by the donations of some
of her late Husbands Friends and Acquaintance.
That for want of her Husband’s papers and owing to her Son who is in the
Island of Jamaica or on his way hither Your Memorialist is unable to present to
subjoin an Estimate of her late Husband’s Losses, but verily believes his Loss
of Property in America by the Illegal and cruel Treatment he met with far
exceeds One Thousand (Sheet 3) Pounds Sterling to ascertain which she hopes to
be able to produce Satisfactory Vouchers upon her Son’s arrival from Jamaica which
she shortly expects. And in the mean time she begs leave to inform Your Honours
that Samuel Chollet Esquire of Lime Street and Mr Robert Steell of Tokenhouse
yard Merchant (as well as several other respectable Merchants in London) can
prove her late Husband’s Trading and Circumstances in Life and in a great
Measure corroborate the account of the Losses Your Memorialist has ventured to
lay before Your Honour
6. Tea shipped by Messrs Neufville & Rolleston & Robert Steele,
consigned to James Wakefield & William Donaldson in Charleston, who refused
it, saying it was an old order. RM sent in Notary to make a claim. James
Wakefield a partner of WD. ....he did not really know they had entered into any
general resolutions for the non Importation of Teas, that he imagined they
extended no further than the East India Company’s Teas because all the spring
Ships which had Sail’d before him had carried some. He carried none of his own
though he used to.
7. Oliver Bowen of Savannah commanded Schooner in Savannah, also John Joiner of
Parris Island & Seth John Cuthbert of Savannah. Joseph Habersham of
Savannah, merchant, with order from the Provincial Congress to seize the Powder
etc. Powder consigned to James Perrman in Saint Augustine. Schooner belonged to
Samuel Price of Savannah (& Richard Weight, not on board), called the
“Elizabeth”.
8. RM bought in 1764, from Thomas Horsfall, James Noble & Joseph Page a
parcel of land in Pensacola, West Florida (passed back to Spain in 1763 Treaty
of Paris) for $770.
9. Letter in New York, April 1778: Philippa in Government Service, perhaps
going to Philadelphia. Referred to as an Armed Ship.
10. JM in London addressed in letter dated Jan 1781, at Jamaica Coffee House.
11. JM in Jamaica or in transit to England March 1784.
National Archives, AO 13/133.
The Memorial of Sarah Maitland of Mile End Old Town in the County of Middlesex Widow of Richard Maitland late of London Mariner deceased formerly Master of the Ship Magna Charta and late of the Philippa in the Carolina Trade
Humbly Herewith
That your Memorialist’s said late husband Traded for many Years as Master Mariner from the Port of London to Charlestown and Savannah in Georgia.
That in every voyage the said Richard Maitland had an Adventure of his own which he generally sold in the Country part for ready Money, but by far the largest part upon Credit until he should return thither again by which means there were very considerable Sums of Money due to Your Memorialist’s said late Husband at the time of his decease from diverse persons in the said respective Provinces.
That in the Year 1774 the said Richard Maitland being then Master of the Ship Magna Charta he sailed from London with a Cargo of divers Goods Wares and Merchandise for Charlestown and having unfortunately a Chest and two half Chests of Tea on board Shipped here with Licence, the Committee of the Usurped Power at Charlestown to his Landing the said Tea and insisted that he should destroy the same in their presence which he promised to do; but could not accomplish because the Officers of His Majesty’s Customs at Charlestown seized the same as stated in he sworn narrative hereunder annexed.
That the same Committee finding the said Richard Maitland had not fulfilled his promise in regard of his destroying the said Tea as had been commanded they caused the Bells of the Great Church to be muffled and rung in that State by which means a Mob assembled who were proceeding to destroy the said Richard Maitland’s Ship and take his Life had he not made his escape on board his Majesty’s ship Glasgow as likewise mentioned in the said annexed narrative.
That owing those violent proceedings, the said Richard Maitland was obliged to leave the said Province without collecting any part of the Debts due to him in the said Province or settling with his Attornies there for what they might have received on his Account before during his Absence – nor was he ever permitted by himself or any other person to collect the same nor has any part hereof ever been recovered.
That in the Year 1775 the said Richard Maitland sailed as Master of a certain Ship or Vessel called the Philippa from the Port of London bound to Savannah in Georgia loaded with sundry Goods consigned to divers persons in that province amongst which Goods were Gunpowder, Arms and Lead Shipped by Licence at London. And information having been given to the Rebells of the destination of the said Ship Philippa and the Cargo she had on board an Armed Schooner lay in wait for her off Tybee point and carried her to Cockspur Island where they forcibly took out all the Gunpowder and Ammunition and absolutely refused to make any Compensation for the same – And used violent Threats to the said Richard Maitland for offering to set forth their unjustifiable proceedings in his protest as appears by the annexes document under the seal of the said province of Georgia.
That owing to the violent Treatment the said Richard Maitland met with from the Rebells in Georgia he was likewise obliged to leave that province without obtaining and Settlement of his Affairs there to the very great detriment of his property as well as his Health which after that period declined daily so that he died of a broken heart.
That the whole of his Property to a mere trifle being in America at the time of his death and irrecoverable as before stated the Creditors at home have laid hold of what effects he had in England so that your Memorialist (who is now upwards of sixty Years of Age and very infirm) is reduced from a decent State of Affluence to mere want and is only Supported by the donations of some of her late Husbands Friends and Acquaintance.
That for want of her Husband’s papers and owing to her Son who is in the Island of Jamaica or on his way hither Your Memorialist is unable to present to subjoin an Estimate of her late Husband’s Losses, but verily believes his Loss of Property in America by the Illegal and cruel Treatment he met with far exceeds One Thousand (Sheet 3) Pounds Sterling to ascertain which she hopes to be able to produce Satisfactory Vouchers upon her Son’s arrival from Jamaica which she shortly expects. And in the mean time she begs leave to inform Your Honours that Samuel Chollet Esquire of Lime Street and Mr Robert Steell of Tokenhouse yard Merchant (as well as several other respectable Merchants in London) can prove her late Husband’s Trading and Circumstances in Life and in a great Measure corroborate the account of the Losses Your Memorialist has ventured to lay before Your Honour
Your Memorialist therefore humbly prays Your Honours will be pleased to take her case and Distresses into Your Serious Consideration in order that Your Memorialist may be enabled under Your Report to receive such Aid or Relief as her Losses and her Situation may be found to deserve
And Your Memorialst as in duly bound will ever pray etc
Sarah Maitland
London the 25th March 1784.
The foregoing memorial was repeated in a later document, with an extra
commentary[132]
4 June 1787
Evidence on the foregoing Memorial of
Sarah Maitland
The Claimant sworn
Memorial read and confirmed
Says she is the widow of Capt Maitland he was a native of Ireland he died at
New York in the year 1779
He had traded from London to South Carolina some years before the Rebellion in
a vessel which partly belonged to himself.
He had ret’d from Georgia in the year 1775 after experienced much ill treatment
from the Americans on acct of his having gunpowder on board his ship which was
taken from him
afterwards in 1777 he went to Jamaica on a trading voyage and ret’d again to
England
then went to New York in the vessel he commanded was employed in the Transport
Service – has no Allowance from Govt.
Says her husband took out various goods and merchandise to America and left
them in the hands of different people at Charles Town and Savannah to be sold
for his account -
The goods were left in the year 1774 or 1775
Mrs Maitland says she don’t believe he ever received any money for the goods
before his death.
Says the goods were worth upwards of £1000 sterling
She don’t know what part of the goods belonged to her husband there were
several merchants in London .. concerned, who gave him goods to sell for their
account.
She had been supported by her son who was a master of a vessel in the Jamaica
Trade but he is since dead
She is 66 years of age and is a native of England. Mrs
Maitland presents claim as for the goods before stated to have been sold by her
late husband amounting to £1105/5/11 sterling.
I do hereby certify that Captain Richard Maitland named in the foregoing memorial in consequence of his Losses Disappointments and Ill Treatment in America was at the time of his decease indebted to me in the sum of £1200 and upwards from Goods sold and delivered by me to him, and which he carried with him to America and for which I verily believe he had no returns owing to the unhappy disturbances in that Country. Witness my hand this 25th day of March 1784.
£1200 John Hawkins, Friday ...
(Philip Hawkins, merchant in Charleston had sold goods imported by Richard Maitland, Mr Hawkins often referred to by Henry Laurens)
I do hereby certify that the late Captain Maitland named in the above Memorial was at the time of his decease and is still indebted to me in the sum of Three hundred Ninety Six Pounds Seventeen Shillings and two pence, Witness my hand this 25th day of March 1784
Samuel Chollet.
(also appears in Henry Laurens papers).
I do hereby certify that the late Captain Maitland named in the within Memorial was at the time of his decease and is still indebted to me in the sum of Seventy four pounds Ten shill and ten pence on our Bond
London March 25 1784
Jim Curtis
I do hereby certify that the late Captain Maitland named in the above Memorial was at the time of his decease and is still indebted to the Estate of William Wilton in the sum of Two hundred Pounds on a Bond from 5 May 1777 with all the Interest from that Time
London March 25 1784
John Spear,
?? to the Executors of the said Mr William Wilton, deceased.
I do hereby certify that the late Captain Maitland named in the above Memorial was at the time of his decease and is still indebted to me in the sum of forty two pounds one shilling on Note of hand for goods sold & delivered.
London, 25 March 1784
David Richard jun, No 72, Wapping, London.
By these Publick Instruments of Probate hereby known and manifest to all
Persons when it doth shall or may concern; on this date being the fifth day of
July 1774 and in the fourteen year of his Majesty’s Reign – at the request of
Richard Maitland, master of the Ship Magna Charta from London, now riding at
anchor within the Bar and Harbour of Charles Town, I Fenwick Bull one of his
Majesty’s Justices assigned to keep the Peace, and a Notary Publick by lawful
authority appointed, duly admitted and sworn, dwelling and ?? in Charles Town
and Province aforesaid merchant, and for and in the name of the said Richard
Maitland did inform the said William Donaldson, that there was some Tea brought
in the said Ship Magna Charta for him the said Richard Maitland was ready to
deliver it, the said Tea to him the said William Donaldson, or his order.
To which the said William Donaldson gave for an answer, that “he could not receive it, it was disagreeable to the sense of the People, and that he would have nothing to do with it”. Therefore I the said Notary at the special Instance and request of the said Richard Maitland do hereby and by these Presents make and enter his Probate against the said William Donaldson by whom the order the said Tea was shipped – and also the Shipper of the said Tea, and all other concerned, be whom they may, for all losses cash, charges donations, figures, and so forth, hitherto suffered and sustained or that may hereafter be sufferd and sustained, by reason or the premius – The same not happening through the said Richard Maitland or any of his People, but by the said William Donaldson refusing to take the said Tea – to be an allowed and received in time and plea convinced, and then presents to serve and ?? for the purpose as occasion may be or acquired. Thus was this .... Town aforesaid. In Testimony of the truth whereof said Richard Maitland hath hereunto set his hand and I the said Notary, have also set my Hand and affixed my seal of Office the Said Month and Year first and before written.
Richard Maitland
Fenwick Bull,
Notary Publick
Charles Town 1774.
Fenwick Bull of Charles Town, Notary Publick, doth hereby Certify, that at the request of Captain Richard Maitland, he did this day go to the Store of William Donaldson to acquaint him, that if he would give an order to the Collector for the Port of Charles Town, to deliver the (his) Tea (which was then seized and on the King’s Stores) to him Captain Maitland that he would then re deliver it to him the said Captain – and then and there meeting with him the said William Donaldson, the requisition was made, as above written – and to which he James Wakefield answered, He would make mo other reply than which he had before made on the 5th Instant.
Given under my hand this 19th Day of July 1774 and in the 14th Year of his Majesty’s Reign.
Fenwick Bull, JP.
Notary Publick
Charles Town 1774.
.... for taking one whole and two half chests of Tea at London of the value of about £70 that were shipped by Messrs Neufville and Rolleston & Messrs Robert Steele & Co to the address of Mt James Wakefield and Mr William Donaldson.
The day after Captain Maitland had reported his Ship at the Customs house the Committee of Resolutions sent for him and after a short prefatory address, they reprimanded him severely for carrying over Teas. The Captain excused himself by observing that he did not really know they had entered into any general resolutions for the non Importation of Teas, that he imagined they extended no further than the East India Company’s Teas because all the spring Ships which had Sail’d before him had carried some. He expressed his concern for having innocently given any offence to the province, and as a proof of his sincerity in that respect he observed that he had not ship’d any on his own account, tho’ he formerly used to make it the principal article of his private Adventures. The Committee asked him what he intended to do with the Teas. he referred them to the Proprietors of them for an answer to that question, as being more directly concerned than himself, who was only the Carrier, and of course not responsible for the Consignees. He was then told that they denied having any concern in the affair, because the Shippers had executed an old Order of 18 months standing, which they the Consignees had not expected and therefore would have nothing to do with the Teas nor did they care what became of them. for theses reasons the Committee look’d upon him as the principal owner, for the future disposal of the Teas, which they said should not be landed. Thus was Captain Maitland by an Act of powers made responsible for what he had no concern in directly or indirectly, to exculpate the Consignees who alone had been the cause of the Teas being Ship’d. He observed to the Committee if they would point out any means for his disposing of the Tea without incurring any penalty by a branch of the Revenue Act, he would comply with it. Captain Maitland will not mention the answer that made to him upon the occasion out of respect to the Province, and not to inflame matters between the Mother Country and America. He will only advert that one of the proprietors of the Teas was very nearly allied to a very sanguine member of the Committee, who at all events was determined to extricate his relation by sacrificing the Captain. The Committee pres’d for a promise, as he regarded the good will of the Province, not to land the Teas. He told them he was bound to New York, and should sail in a few days, that he could not fix upon any plans for the disposal of the Teas without exposing himself and his ship to future danger. They continued to insist he should not suffer the Teas to be landed, which left Captain Maitland no alternative and involved him in great difficulty’s, first to get rid of the Teas legally, in order that the ship might not by stopped from proceeding on her voyage to New York, 2ndly if the Inhabitants should destroy the Teas he would have been under the necessity of entering a formal Protest against the Province and mentioning names. It occurred to him that the Teas were of no great value and the duty small, for which reason he resolved to pay the duty privately to the Collector, and either destroy the Teas or on his departure for New York to have them deposited privately on board his Majesty’s ship Glasgow for the benefit of the Proprietors, or whomsoever they might concern. This was Maitland’s determination in order to keep peace with the Colony, who in consequence told the Committee he would not land the Teas; he added further that sooner than incur their displeasure, he would destroy the Teas, altho’ he should have to pay for them himself. Here it must be remarked that Timothy the Printer of the Carolina Gazette has published that Maitland had promised upon his honour he would (destroy) the Teas and pay no duty which is an absolute falsity, for the Committee never question’d? the circumstance of Duty in any shape nor could there be any occasion for it as they has tied him down not to land the Teas, there could be no duty demanded. Maitland confesses his pledging his honour they should never hear any more of the Tea from him, He begs leave to remark that he was left to himself singly, against the Committee without any advisor of assistance and although one of his Owners was upon the spot and a member of that Committee he was silent upon this occasion. This is the real matter of fact of what passed at the first conference when every thing seemed to be settled to the satisfaction of the Committee. Maitland went immediately and gave security to the Collector for the Duty as the sim did not exceed seventy Guineas, whatever might have been the fates of the Teas he thought t was not an object to involve his ship and himself into difficulties, he sent a Notary Publick to the Proprietors of the Teas to acquaint them whatever happened to the Teas he should proceed legally against them. some time afterwards Captain Maitland had an advantageous offer made to him to load his ship for London which he accepted and by that means the destination of the Ship was altered altho’ the destination of the Teas continued the same with respect to Maitland that is to say Captain Maitland meant to destroy the Tea after paying the Collector the Duty, or on his departure to deposit it on board the King’s Ships for the benefit of the Owner or whomsoever it might concern. One of the Owners (a member of the Committee) told him in a conversation upon the subject, that he had had occasion to converse with several of the Members about the Teas and named some of the provincials among them, who were of opinion that they ought to be ceuzed for the Duty and deposited with the East India Company Teas. This was repeated to him by the same Gentleman in several conversations; upon hearing this from one of his Owners a Member of the Committee, he thought it absolved him from any former engagements which he had entered into about the Teas. When the time came round for their being seized for the Duty, the Committee met and whilst they were debating about it, the King’s Officers went on board and seized the Teas, Maitland was immediately sent for by the Committee and escorted by six of their own members he met with a very severe reception from the whole body. He pleaded what his Owners at Carolina had often told him and called upon some other members with whom he had also conversed and who had been of the same opinion, but he could not be heard nor make any impression. They humanely observed to him that he ought to be hanged and ordered him to withdraw; he was soon called in and told by the Chairman, that the Committee had resolved that he should repossess himself of the Tea by the best means he could and destroy it publickly in the morning of the next day in the presence of the Committee which Maitland agreed to, but observed that it was but reasonable he should have his Bills of Loading delivered up if he destroyed the Tea, which occasioned an uproar in the House, and it passed nem. Con. that he should not have them. A motion was then made by a relation of the proprietor of the Tea that Maitland should pay him for it after it was destroyed, the motion was seconded by one or two but dropped and the business ended by appointing the Committee to meet to see the Tea destroyed the next morning. Captain Maitland begged leave to observe that there were but two ways to repossess himself of the Teas, the one was by paying
09 continues
The King’s duty, the other by breaking his lock and stealing it. The next morning, he tendered the duty to the Collector begging to be put in possession of them who told him he would very readily acquiesce, but as he knew the Tea was not Maitland’s property he must have an order for so doing from the proprietors. Maitland sent a Notary Publick to them to demand the order which they refused to give, he hen applied to the heads of the Committee who were then assembling and told them he was ready to destroy the Tea, provided he had an order from the Owners to the Collector to deliver up the Teas to him, he begs the assistance of the Chairman who presided the day before in getting that order, the Committee asked him by what means the Collector intended to put him in possession of the Teas, he answered by paying the Duty, they objected to that modes, insisted that no duty should be paid three and retired up stairs where Maitland expected to be sent for and waited many hours for that purpose without success. He endeavoured to persuade them before they withdrew that his paying the King’s Duty could be no reflection upon the Americans because he was considered as a European, a transient person, who did it to relieve himself and Ship from the penalties of the Law, plain and obvious as this reasoning was the Committee would not hearken to it, they at length came to a determination to prohibit all communication with Maitland and deputed a number of the Committee to go round the downs the next day to proscribe him, which they charitably undertook and succeeded in; he was afterwards warned by some of his Friends to withdraw from the Town for that something was mediated against him which was very soon confirmed by the bells of the Great Church being muffled and the Dead peal being rung to assemble the Mob, (it) ran from all quarters of the Town to the Exchange the place of rendezvous. Maitland was persuaded by many of his Friends to leave the Ship which might be the means of saving his life and his property. By that time their march to the attack, which out of delicacy to the province Captain Maitland will not publish, he had his Boat ready along side and as they advanced towards the Stage that led from the Warf to the Ship, he by persuasion of many of his Friends went into the Boat and rowed on board the ship Britons who had arrived that day from London where in about an hour afterwards he received the following Letter from his Mate.
Sir your life and mine are intended to be made a sacrifice and they are now consulting in what manner they shall destroy the Sip. I think it would be the best way to get the Ship down to the Road. There is no time to loose. I inte4nd to hawl her from the Warf, every body that wishes us well wishes we could get the Ship away down into the Road, pray send me some assistance. I dare not go on Shore myself.
Captain Maitland went immediately on board his Majesty’s Ship Glasgow and applied to Captain Maltby for assistance, who sent an officer and a men up just in time to cut the Ship from the Warf and save her from the destruction intended. For want of a Pilot she would be got but a short half Mile from the Town and obliged to remain there all that day and the next Night. During that time Captain Maitland had certain and repeated intelligence sent from many Friends that a Schooner was prepared with Men and Arms to attack him that night and that nothing would appease them but the destruction of the Mate and him .. injunction to remain on board the ....for their own lives. The Ship at that time not being got under the protection of the Man of War’s Guns by a Mile and a half, providence prevented the intended attack by the Schooner getting aground. The next day Captain Maitland procured a Pilot with difficulty and got the Ship under the protection of the man of War and fort.
John Fullerton, chief Mate, and Wm Agar, second Mate on board the Ship Magna Charta, Richard Maitland, master, in his late voyage from London to Charlestown South Carolina and back to London severally make Oath and say that in respect of the Teas carried in the same ship in her said voyage from London to Charlestown which consisted of one whole chests of Boher and two half chests of Hyson consigned to Wm Donaldson and Francis Wakefield, the said Richard Maitland never did either directly or indirectly give or cause to be given any order direction or hint or intimation to these Deponents or either of them to Land or of his Intention to Land the said Teas at Charlestown clandestinely to deceive the inhabitants of that place or by any means smuggle such Tea on Shoar on account of the Owners thereof of on any other account whatsoever, neither had these Deponents or either of them any order from the said Richard Maitland or others to be aiding or assisting to the Officers at Carolina in the seizure of the said Tea or in conveying the same on Shoar but on the contrary that the said Richard Maitland gave positive orders to both of these Deponents neither to aid such Officers relative to the said Tea or to permit or suffer any of the said Ship’s Company to give the said Officers any assistance whatever on respect thereof and that such the Orders of the said RM were ?? obeyed as not one person belonging to the said Ship so much as put a hand to the said Tea on the seizure thereof by the said Officers. And this Deponent John Fullerton for himself saith that he requested and endeavoured to persuade the said Officers to stop their removal of the said Tea for a few Minutes until this Deponent had sent a message on Shore to the said RM to acquaint him of their situation but that they the said Officers without paying any attention to such this Deponents request immediately untied the said Ships Hatches, went down below, seized said Tea and landed at Charlestown.
Sworn the 12th Day of October 1774 before me at Guildhall, London Chas Asgill
John Fullerstone & Wm Agars.
Georgia
By His Excellency Sir James Wright Baronet Captain General Governor and Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s said Province of Georgia Chancellor and Vice Admiral of the same
To all whom these presents shall come Greeting
Know ye that the Honorable Anthony Stokes esquire who hath Certified the Copy of the Record hereunder annexed is Chief Justice of this his Majesty’s said Province of Georgia
And Therefore all due faith and Credit is and Ought to be had an Given to such his Certificate
In Testimony Whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Caused the Great Seal of this his Majesty’s said Province to be put and affixed
Dated at Savannah the Thirteenth day of November in the year of Our Lord One thousand seven hundred and seventy five and in the sixteenth year of his Majesty King George the Third.
By His Excellency’s Command
Tho Moodie?
Georgia
By the Honourable Anthony Stokes Barrister at Law Chief Justice of His Majesty’s Province of Georgia
To all to whom these Presents shall come be seen made known Greeting
A Stokes (sig)
Know ye that Henry Preston and Charles Bryce the Younger who have Certified the annexed Shock of paper to contain a true Copy of the Deposition of RM John Fullerton and Samuel Burnett are Joint Clerks of the Crown and Peace in and for the Province aforesaid
Therefore all due faith and credit is and ought to be had and given to such their Certificate as well in Court as out of Court.
In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and caused the Seal of the Superior Court of the said Province to be affixed at Susannah this Thirteenth day of November in the year of our Lord One thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy five, and in the Sixteenth Year of his Majesty’s Reign.
The Information of Richard Maitland, master of the Ship Philippa, belonging to the Port of London, but now lying in the River Savannah, Of John Fullerton first mate of the Ship Philippa, and of Samuel Burnett, second mate, of the said Ship, taken on the twenty first day of September, One thousand seven hundred and seventy five, before Anthony Stokes, Barrister at Law, Chief Justice of the said Province of Georgia.
The said Deponents being duly sworn, on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God make Oath and say that in the month of March or April last the said Ship Philippa Sailed with Sundry other Goods in the River Thames for different persons in the provinces of Georgia and East Florida, amongst which Goods were Gun Powder Arms and Lead Shipped by Licence from His Majesty or the Officer acting under his authority.
that the said Ship sailed from the Downs on the Second day of May last and Came to an Anchor off Tybee Bar about nine miles without Tybee point, on the Coast of Georgia on the Seventh day of July last past and there waited for a pilot to carry the said ship into Savannah River.
And these Deponents further say, that as the said Ship was lying at anchor off Tybee Bar as aforesaid, they these Deponents saw a Schooner coming out of the Savannah River, on the eighth day of July, with an Ensign and Pendant hoisted, which Schooner went out to Sea as far as or further, than where the said Ship lay, which Schooner kept hovering round the said Ship but did not come nearer to the said Ship, on the said eighth day of July, than three or four Miles.
And these Deponents further say, that at ten of the Clock of the forenoon of the said eighth day of July a Pilot came on board the said ship, but the said Ship did not get under way, until between One and Two of the Clock in the afternoon of the said eighth of July for want of wind.
And these Deponents further say, that when the said Ship got under way, they stood out to the Eastwards in Order to open the Channel of Tybee Bar, and when the said Ship was about Four leagues distant from the Bar, the said Schooner stood right athwart the said Ship, and then the said Deponent was full of armed Men, and had ten carriage Guns mounted which these Deponents too to be six pounders, and the said schooner, had also several pieces cut out of her second Streak under the quarter deck, which were for small Arms in clos quarters,
And these Deponents further say, that about half and hour after four of the Clock, in the afternoon of the said eighth day of July, when the said Ship and schooner were at sea about Four Leagues without Tybee Point, the said Schooner fired two muskets at the said Ship with an intention as these Deponents believe, to bring the said Ship too, and the said People, on board the said Schooner, seemed as if they intended to board the said Ship, but the said Ship veering up large prevented the said Schooner from boarding her as they believe, that the said Schooner then bore up after the said Ship, and hailed her, and being satisfied what ship it was and where she was bound to, the Deponent Richard Maitland, asked the people on board the said Schooner, where she belonged to, and who Commanded her, to which one Oliver Bowen a person board the said Schooner, answered that he commanded her.
And these Deponents further say, that before the said Deponent Richard Maitland, hailed the said Schooner the said Oliver Bowen, said, they would pilot the said Ship into Savannah River and would answer the Consequences, but the said Deponent RM told the said Oliver Bowen, that he had a pilot on board. Notwithstanding which the said Oliver Bowen, and others on board the said Schooner, continued to give the Pilot, on the said Ship, what course to Steer.
And these Deponents further say, that after the people on board the said Schooner had spoke to the people on board the said Ship, they the people on board the said Schooner hauled down their pendant, and hoisted at the mast head, a white flag with a red border on the field of which flag was stamped or imprinted in large red letters, the words, “American Liberty” and the people on board the said Schooner said the Schooner’s name was the “Liberty” and that Oliver Bowen Commanded her as before mentioned.
And these Deponents further say, that seven of the clock in the evening of the said eighth day of July, a Calm and an Ebb tide, obliged the said Ship to anchor about four or five miles without Tybee point, and that when the said Ship anchored the said Schooner anchored also, and lay close by the said Ship all night, and the people on board the said Schooner kept Centinels all night and frequently passed the words “Alls Well”.
And these Deponents further say, that about five of the Clock in the morning of the ninth day of July last, when the said Ship weighed anchor also, and the said Schooner kept close to the said Ship, until the said Ship ran in, within Tybee Point, and then the people on board the Schooner ordered the Pilot on board the said Ship to run the said Ship to Cockspur Island and anchor her there, altho’ the said ship was bound to Savannah and have proceeded immediately, had she not been stopped by the said Schooner, the wind being then at East and a fold tide coming on.
And these Deponents further say, saw an Incampment of Armed Men in Tybee Point and also on Cockspur Island the number of whom in the whole appeared to be about Three hundred, besides what were in the Schooner and that immediately, on the said Ship being Anchored, The Greatest part of the Armed Men that were on Shore came off in Boats and Surrounded the said Ship and then Oliver Bowen who appeared to be Captain of the said Schooner, and who is a resident in the Town of Savannah and a Lieutenant in the Militia as these Deponents have Heard and believe, together with John Joiner of Parris Island near Beaufort, in the Province of South Carolina and Seth John Cuthbert of Savannah, together with several other persons not known to the Deponents, came on board the said Ship.
And the said Richard Maitland for his part saith, that when the several persons last above mentioned, were in the Ship’s Cabin with this Deponent, they Demanded the Ship’s Papers, and the said Deponent, not being in a Condition to dispute matters with them, he produced the Cockets and Bills of Lading of the several Goods on board the said Ship, and when the said Bowne, Joiner and Cuthbert found there were Gunpowder and Shot on board the Ship, they told the Deponent Richard Maitland, that they would take all the Gunpowder, Shot, Lead and Indian trading Arms out of the said Ship.
The said Deponent Richard Maitland further saith that at that Juncture Joseph Habersham of Savannah Merchant came on board the said Ship and produced an Order from the Provincial Congress of the Province of Georgia Signed on the left hand side “George Walton Secretary” requiring them to take all the Arms and Ammunition out of the said Ship wherever they found her, or Words to that effect, that the said Bowen and other persons, told the said Deponent Richard Maitland, that they had been looking out for the said Ship, three weeks, that the Deponent Richard Maitland told them that the Order from the Congress was nothing to him, and he could not deliver Goods until he had seen the Proprietors, and had their Orders for so doing, that thereupon the said Bowen and the other persons said, he might see whom he pleased, And immediately a great number of the said Armed people out of the Schooner and from on Shore, went to work and against the will of the said Richard Maitland and his mariners, they, the said Armed Men, took out of the Hold of the said Ship about Six Ton and a half of Gun Powder as nearly as this Deponent can at present Conjecture, and about Seven hundred Weight of ...
Lines missing, from other copy:
Lead and Bullets and Declared they would have then Carryied away all the Musket Balls and Small Arms
...the said Ship was unloading her Cargo, several people by order of the Congress attended the unloading of the said Ship and took away all the Bar Lead, Sheet Lead and Indian Trading Arms, and Shot that were on board, but eh particular quantity this Deponent cannot ascertain not knowing the Weight of the Lead.
And the said Deponent Richard Maitland further saith that he earnestly begged the said Oliver Bowen, and the other persons who first came on board, and took the Gunpowder away by order of the Congress aforesaid, to leave the Gunpowder on board that was consigned to James Perrman, merchant, in Saint Augustine, but they answered “If it was the King’s, they would take it!.
And the said Richard Maitland further saith, that on their beginning to take the Gunpowder away, he immediately went to Savannah, and acquainted his Excellency Sir James Wright therewith, who this Deponent believes, had it not in his power to take any measure, or even enforce the Laws.
And that the said Deponent Richard Maitland further saith, that he did not make any application to the Chief Justice until the Evening of the eighth of September Instant from an apprehension, that some injury might have been offered to his person or property, And also thinking from the Circumstances of the times, ...
Page Torn.
...Saith that, in conversation had with the said Joseph Habersham, and others whom he knows not, on the Eleventh day of July last, the said persons who were in Company with the said Joseph Habersham, and this Deponent at that time, asked the said Joseph Habersham if he would suffer his name to be entered in a protest, on the above occasion, to which the said Joseph Habersham, replied “He asked he could see the man that dared do it”, or words to that effect, and from and several other hints given to this Deponent, the protests are drawn in general terms and individuals are not mentioned in them, and the Deponent Do pretty sure that had it not been with a view to get the Powder Bonds cancelled, it more than his life was worth to have entered a protest of for a Notary to have taken it from him, there being no Civil Military power sufficient to protect him.
And the said Deponent, Richard Maitland, for his part further saith, that the Schooner above mentioned belonged to Samuel Price of Savannah (and one Richard Weight who was averse to the service she was on) but that the said Samuel Price was actually on board the said Schooner, and acted as Pilot and master of her...on the above Device that the said ... called the “Elizabeth”, and there ... she was on the above...
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...the said Docherty at Cockspur Island, as this Deponent has been informed and believes.
And lastly, the said Richard Maitland for himself saith, that some of the People that were on the said Schooner, acknowledged to him, that there seventy men on board the said Schooner, besides the armed men on Tybee Point, and Cockspur Island, but this Deponent could not reckon more on board the said Schooner, than forty five.
(Signed)
Richard Maitland, (he signed, the others not)
Jno Fullerton
Asml Burnett,
before Anthony Stokes.
Bond payable 25th March 1765 Hard Dollars 770
Interest on that to this day 25th march 1778 13 years at 5% 495-½
Power of attorney with the City Seal, postage at 5 Gns 24-3/8
1293-7/8
(note by AM: this does not add up! The £/hard dollar rate comes to 4-7/8 – later version does!)
On demand I promise to pay to Captain Richard Maitland or Order ten pounds ten shillings British Sterling Value Rec’d of him Kingston Jamaica, 20th Dec 1775.
£10-10 William Pountny.
Received 30 Decr 1773 from Captain Richard Maitland 3 packages Containing Sundry Chintz Pattern and Handkerchiefs Amounting to Invoice £342-9-1 Sterling which I promise to Sell to the best advantage and account with him on Messrs Bourdieu & Chollet of London for the Proceeds.
Samuel Chollet,
Charlestown, South Carolina.
Havanna Isl.
Know all men by these presents, that we Thomas Horsfall James Noble and Joseph Page, have received from Richard Maitland the sum of seven hundred and seventy Spanish Dollars in full for a parcel of land bought for him by his Order at Pensacola in West Florida and oblige ourselves by these presents, that on or before the twenty fifth day of March next ensuing to make him a just and lawful title to the said land, in failure of such just and lawful Title being made, and within the time limited aforesaid, we oblige ourselves or either of us, our Heirs or Assigns, to repay and return to the said Richard Maitland his Heirs or Assigns the above mentioned sum of seven hundred and seventy Spanish Dollars, or the full Value thereof in Sterling Money
Given under our Hands and Seals in the Havanna, this tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord, One thousand, seven hundred and sixty four.
(see above for Florida history – explains the dates etc of this)
New York 10th April 1778
Captain Richard Maitland
of the Ship Phillippa.
The Ship Phillippa, being in Government Service, you will follow such Orders as you may receive from the pro per Agents. Inclosed is a Letter to my Friend at Philadelphia which deliver as soon as you can, make my respects to Mr Gallway, His Majesty’s Superintendant at the Custom House, let him know that the little Salt you have in, was allowed by the Commissary, who took you into the Service to remain on board as Ballast, as you had a Licence for it. He will tell you if you can land it, if you find it can be sold, if it cannot be landed or sold, get leave still to keep it as Ballast. Shew your Licence and let Mr Galloway know you are an Armed Ship. I hope you’l get leave to land it and sell it. You know it will not sell here. And no getting stores to put it in.
We expect you’l be continued in the Service of the Ordinance, or taken into the Transport Service, for which we have wrote to several Friends We wish you safe here.
Your most humble servants
Hugh & Alen Wallace.
New York 23 Janry 1781
Mr John Maitland
We received your favr 6th of Septr and are sorry your Father has left his widow Distressed on his death. We got his affair and accompts all settled, and what effects he had here sold and remitted to Balance of his Accots to Messrs Bourdieu and Chollett as he desired. A copy of which Accomt you have inclosed. Capt Wallace who took the Command of the Phillippa, paid for the sundry articles he had and they were included in the Acct of Effects sold at Vandue. Captain Wallace had the misfortune to be taken in the Phillippa, on his voyage from Oporto to New York last Fall and carried into Boston.
As to the Demand on Mr Page, there was an Agreement made between Captain Maitland and him that Mr Page would pay 1000 Dollars, he was to have a free discharge of the Debt & Interest but we were never secured for the payment, we only had Captain Maitland’s Power of Attorney to receive it agreeable to an Accot. Copy of which is at Foot. Mr Page never received any Part of the money from Captain Maitland, it was his Partner’s Horsfall & Page who reminded him when Captain Maitland was here. Mr Page had employment in the Barracks Office and in a way of being able to pay the money, but he has since lost his Emplyment and disable at present, Perhaps he may again be employed and enabled to pay it.
After Captain Maitland’s Accnt were sent to Messrs Bourdieu & Chollett had received 20/- for a jar of Olives, he had sold Captain Road of the Navy which we credited Messrs B&C for in Accont
Yrs
Your most Hble Sevt
Hugh and Alen Wallace
Mr John Maitland,
Jamaica Coffee House, London.
------
Hard Dollars
Horsefall, Noble & Page Bond pay 25th March 1765 770
Interest to 25th march 1778 13 years at 5% 499-½
Power of attorney with the City Seal, postage at 5 Gns 24-3/8
1293-7/8
Captain Maitland agreed to take 1000 Dollars for the Full of the within Accot provided it is paid in 12 months from this 10 day of April 1778.
A True copy Present Hugh Wallace.
South Carolina 5th of July 1774
£ s d
A balance of my acct with Hawkins, Pettre & Co was 2731 6 1
Different Accompts Pd Mr Pettres which
they were to Receive
for me vizt:
John Lewis Geroay 98 4 0
Darby Prendergrass 431 1 9
John Gyles 600 6 0
William Glenn 514 10 6
Mansell & Corbett 87 13 6
Doctor Hayley 48 0 0
Rowland Rugely 139 16 9
Mrs Ramage 20 0 0
Jas Bolton 147 0 0
Edward oats & Co 168 6 7
Major Butler 50 0 0
2304 17 1
Carolina Currency 5036 3 2
Est at 7 for one Sterling 719 1 0
By Bills Recd 450 0 0
Ball due R M 269 1 0
London 4th May 1777 Richard Maitland.
South Carolina in July 1774:
Sundry Goods left in the Hands of Sam’s Chollett to sell for my Accompt:
One Case first cost Pauillion sauses? 60 9 2
One Trunk Pedurnpusses & two pr Ind Taffety 57 8 6
To my Bill remitted him from Georgia in his favr upon
Mess Oats & Russell for £1525 Carolina Currcy at 7 for one 217 0 10
£334 18 6
London 24 May 1777, Richard Maitland
Goods in the Hands of Allen Horn to Sell for my Account in July 1774 in South Carolina:
21 Hampers best old port wine 4 dozen in each at 14 64 8 0
2 Crates of Queens Ware at 80 each 8 0 0
Sterling 72 8 0
London 24 May 1777, Richard Maitland
Accompt due to Richard Maitland in South Carolina & Georgia
Saml Chollet 334 18 6
Hawkins Petrie & Co 269 1 0
Msrs Horn 72 8 0
Geo House to Georgia 428 18 5
1105 5 11
Captain Richard Maitland of the Ship Phillippa to George Houston Dr
1775
July 14
To ½ Quire of letter paper 0/0/7
To 4 pr of Men’s thread Hoes 6 1/4/0
To 4 lb of Sail Twine 2/3 0/9/0
To 2 lb Seine Twine 2/6 0/5/0
½ Bushel Salt 2/6 0/1/3
1/19/10
½ Bushel Salt 2/6 0/1/3
1 pair Gloves 0/2/0
2 Trips of Schooner Sapito Pkt from the Ship 9/0/0
2 pr Oznabrigs Trousers 4/- 0/8/0
1 Oznabrig Frock 0/4/0
1 Pair Gloves 0/6/0
18th
Cash pd fre’t of Schooner Rakes Delight 5/5/0
from 4 Mile Point
1 Curry Comb & Brush 3/6 19 & 1Pt Mug 2/6 0/6/0
2 pt tumblers 3/- 2 ½pt tumbers 2/- 0/5/0
1 Pr of Glasses salts 3/0 6 stone plates 3/3 0/6/9
1 doz wine glasses 4/- ½ Bush; salt 1/3 0/5/3
22nd
1 Penkniffe 0/1/0
2/5/3
23rd
Cash paid for 100 lb corn blades 0/14/9
Sep 1st
1 Check Shirt 6/6 1 pair Trousers 4/- 0/10/6
4 25 ln of Brimstone at 5. 5th 25 lb f Brimstone 5/- 1/0/10
7 ½ bushels salt 2/6 0/1/3
8 Cash paid yourself 25/0/0
14 1 Bushel salt 0/2/6
Jas Penman draft on you £14-1-3
Exchange on do 8 per Cent £1-2-6 15/3/9
30th 1 pair Men’s shoes 8/6 1 frock 4/6 0/13/0
½ Gross Corks 3/6 0/5/3
2/13/4
Oct 11th
Cash paid yourself 50/0/0
13 1 Bushel Salt 0/2/6
2 pr Trousers 8/1 Frocks 4/6 0/12/6
1 Pair Mens shoes (Jas Orchard) 0/8/6
1/3/6
Car’d Over 112/1/2
1785?? Amount Brought Over 1/3/6 112/1/2
Oct 13th
13 One Blanket 1/-, 1 Frock, } Saml Watts 0/14/6
4 ¾ lb of Leaf Tobacco } 6 0/2/4½
1 Blanket 10/- p pr Shoes 8/6 Geo Downtown 0/18/6
1 Pr Shoes Paul 0/7/6
1 Grid Iron 4 1 Funnel 2/6 0/6/6
3/12/10½
20 Cash pd Yourself 30/0/0
31 Cash Pd your order to Jas Mathews 5/5/0
Nov
2 1 Blanket 10/ 2 pr Trousers Wm Morgan 0/18/0
4 Cash Pd yourself 30/0/0
181/17/0½
8 Your order in favour of me Chas Hamilton 8/3/4
6Lb Brown Sugar } 0/3/0
1 Cutteau Knife } for Thos Davies 0/0/6
1 lb Tobacco } 0/0/6
0/4/0
6 ditto 0/3/0
1 Handkerchief } Geo Downtown 0/2/0
6 lb sugar } 6/ 0/3/0
0/8/0
6lb Sugar 6 0/3/0
1 Hat 2/9, ½ Twine /2 Jas Orchard 0/3/11
4 lb Tobacco 6 0/2/0
0/8/11
1 Pair Shoes for ye Carpenter 0/7/0
1 pr Shoes 0/7/0
1 pr Buckels 0/1/0
6 lb sugar 3 6lb tobacco 3/ Sam Watts 0/6/0
½ Lb Twine 0/1/2
0/15/2
6lb sugar } 6 0/3/0
1 Chest Lock } Paul Normanton 0/1/6
4/6/0
12 lb sugar for Allanda 6 0/6/0
2 Log Lines 4/ 1 deep sea line 10/ 0/14/0
1/0/0 11/10/11
Your order on me in favour of Jno Bowls 8/1/0
Your order on me in Dr Yonges favr 22/13/6
“ in Mr Tondees “ 3/6/0
“ in Jas Vanaes “ 5/0/0
30/19/6
carried over 232/8/5½
Brought Up 232/8/5½
1775 Nov
13 Your order in favour PJ Coker 7/13/4
Your Order in favour of Mrs Wylly 3/6/0
Your Assumption on Acct of the estate of Hes Sinclair 50/6/10
Your order in favour Jas Lusera 9/3/0
Your order in favour of Houston & ??
50 Ocam 0/15/0
2 Bush’l Salt 2/6 0/5/0
A bag for “ 0/2/0
1 Side Sole Leather 0/8/0
1/10/0
16¼ days Hire of Jemmy 2/ 1/12/6
10 days Hire of Frank 2/6 1/5/0
9 days Hire of “ 2/ 0/18/0
3/15/6
333/0/1½
Balance due by me to Richd Maitland 428/14/5½
761/14/7
By amount of Sundry Goods bo’t of you pr Bill 761/14/7
Errors Excepted
Savannah 14 Nov 1775
Geo Houston
Mr George Houston Savannah 20th Aug 1775
Bo’t from Richard Maitland
Sundry Articles on y’r Invoices to pay on or before 1st of January 1776
M.h.
no 1 d £/s/d £/s/d
1 pr ¾ Ticking 67Yd at 11½ 3/4/2
2 “ 7/8 “ 1 132 13 7/3/0
1 “ “ “ 2 66 14 3/17/0
1 “ “ “ 3 52 19 4/2/4
2 “ 4/4 Cotton Check 70 ½ ells 15/2 4/11/1
2 “ Brown Holland 80 ¼ Yd 9¾ 3/5/2
4 “ 5/4 Irish Sheeting 151 yds 12 7/11/0
2 “ ¾ Huccaback 16 36 3/12/0
1 “ “ 24 44 2/4/0
1 “ ¾ Diaper 41 35 15½. 2/5/3
2 “ 10/4 “ 42 12 5/3 3/3/0
2 “ 43 12 6/ 3/12/0
1 5/4 Irish Sheeting 1 49 16½ 3/7/4
1 “ 2 46 19 3/12/10
1 “ 6 41 2/6 5/2/6
10 7/8 Irish Cloth 110 245 13½ 13/15/7
3 “ 28 62 15 3/17/6
2 “ 23 45 2/- 4/10/0
2 “ 24 46 2/1 4/15/10
1 “ 25 24 2/2 2/12/0
1 “ 26 22 2/3 2/9/6
6 “ 5 171 15 10/13/9
1 doz 6/4 Cloths 28 1/8/0
1 11/4 “ 30 2/17/6
1 pr white Selicia 361 14½ 2/4/1
1 best linen wrapper 12 7 0/7/0
110/9/5
2nd
1 Case containing
4 pr 7/8 Irish Cloth 14 99 14½ 5/19/7
4 “ “ 15 95 15½ 6/2/7
4 “ “ 16 96 16½ 6/12/0
4 “ 17 90 18 6/15/0
4 “ “ 18 88 20½ 7/10/4
11 “ 4/4 “ 275 14½ 16/12/3
49/11/9
Car’d up £160/1/2
Bro’t Up 160/1/2
d £/s/d £/s/d
3 pr 4/4 Brown Linen 68 yds at 8 2/5/4
3 fine “ 72½ 10 3/0/5
5 Best Quadruples 30 7/10/0
4 5/4 Irish Sheeting 154 12 7/14/0
2 4/4 White Scotch 29 8½ 1/0/6
1 4/4 best linen Wrappers 12 7 0/7/0
case 0/4/0
22/1/3
No 3 1 case Containing
2 pr 4/4 Irish Cloth 295 50 19 3/19/2
2 pr “ 296 49 20 4/1/8
2 “ 297 50 21 4/7/6
2 “ 298 47 22 4/6/2
2 “ 67 49 2/7 6/6/7
2 “ 68 50 2/9 6/17/6
2 “ 69 50 3/- 7/10/0
2 “ 70 49 3/3 7/19/3
2 “ 71 46 3/6 8/1/0
3 Long Lawn 3 45/- 6/15/0
3 “ 4 50/- 7/10/0
4 Burdetts 83½ 3/3 13/11/4
2 ¾ Irish Cloth 47 9½ 1/17/2
6 7/8 “ 147 10½ 6/8/7
2 5/4 Irish Sheeting 75 12 3/15/0
1 7/8 Bro’d Holland 77 9 2/17/9
2 White Buckrams 30 9½ 1/3/9
5 Clear Lawns 1 50 10½ 2/3/9
5 “ 2 50 11½ 2/7/11
4 “ figur’d 3 51¼ 14 2/19/9
4 “ 4 40 14 2/6/8
4 Plain Gause 5 40 11½ 1/18/4
3 Ps Launette “ 27 20 2/5/0
1 Strip d’Laure 10 15½ 0/12/11
3 doz white border’d handfs 10/9 1/12/3
4 pr 4/4 white Scotch 71½ 14½ 4/6/4
1 4/4 white scotch wrsp 15 8½ 0/10/7
Case 0/4/0
123/3/9
Car Up 305/6/2
Bro’t Up 305/6/2
d £/s/d £/s/d
No4:
1 Bale containing
8 pr 7/8 best Linen 690 yds at 7 20/2/6
4 “ sheeting 385 8¾ 14/0/6
4 9/8 “ 270½ 11¼ 12/16/4
Wrapper 0/5/8
47/5/0
No5: 1 Bale containing
15 pr Brown Oznabrughs 1904 4½} 36/3/9
1 Wrapper inside 26}
Wrapper 0/1/8
36/5/5
No 6: A Bale Containing
12 pr Brown Oznabrughs 1584 4¾ 31/7/0
Wrapper 0/1/8
31/8/8
Charges
Entry & Shipping 1/16/0
Insur of £430 & policy 8/17/6
10/13/6
430/18/9
G.S.
No 1 I Cask containing
10 doz Mens fine Shoes at 50(/-) 25/0/0
8½ Mens Coarier 36 15/6/0
cash 0/3/0
40/0/0
Cart. Warf & Clearing 0/2/6
Ins of $40 at 2½ per Cent 0/16/0
0/18/6
No 2 A box containing
14½ doz shoes at 50 36/5/0
Box 0/5/0
36/10/0
Shipping Charges 0/3/0
Freight Primage etc 0/9/6
Premiums £40 an 2 per Cent 0/16/0
1/8/6
PP
No1 2 Hogh’d Sugar Containing
176 Single lovet’d 2230 lb at 56 62/8/9½
3 Hds 0/12/0
cartage 0/4/6
63/5/3½
car’d Over 573/10/0½
Bro’t Up 573/10/0½
d £/s/d £/s/d
No1 1 Bale Containing
12 pr Flaxen Oznabrugh 1534 yds at 5¾ 36/15/0
1 pr Wrapper 23 4½ 0/8/7
Packing 0/7/0
37/10/7
In a Deal Box & Cord 0/1/3
6 mens brown Beaver Hats,
laced gold buttons & loops at 19/- 5/14/0
6 mens riding hats laced with Gold 17/- 5/2/0
10/17/3
621/17/10½
Advance at 30 per Cent 186/7/1½
809/5/0
Deducted for what 19 the Advance 5/8¼ 1/4/8¼
808/0/3¾
EE Susannah 25th Aug 1775.
Richard Maitland
Sundry Packages deliver’d Oats & Russel to be sold at Vandue
Richard Maitland
1 case of Girls and Boys dress’d Toys etc 5/9/3
No4 Mh
2 ditto of Irish Linen Sheeting etc 169/12/5
3 Bales of Brown & Pomerania Linnen 32/9/3
Richard Maitland
28 Bottles Linceed Oyl Barketts etc 16/2/0
3 Crates Queens Ware 15/15/3
Sterling 239/8/2
Notes:
1. ...deceased formerly Master of the Ship Magna Charta and late of the Philippa in the Carolina Trade
2. .....had an Adventure of his own which he generally sold in the Country part for ready Money, but by far the largest part upon Credit until he should return thither again by which means there were very considerable Sums of Money due to Your Memorialist’s said late Husband at the time of his decease from diverse persons in the said respective Provinces.
3. (1774)....was obliged to leave the said Province without collecting any part of the Debts due to him in the said Province or settling with his Attornies there for what they might have received on his Account before during his Absence – nor was he ever permitted by himself or any other person to collect the same nor has any part hereof ever been recovered.
4. 1775...That owing to the violent Treatment the said Richard Maitland met with from the Rebells in Georgia he was likewise obliged to leave that province without obtaining and Settlement of his Affairs there to the very great detriment of his property as well as his Health which after that period declined daily so that he died of a broken heart.
5. That the whole of his Property to a mere trifle being in America at the time of his death and irrecoverable as before stated the Creditors at home have laid hold of what effects he had in England so that your Memorialist (who is now upwards of sixty Years of Age and very infirm) is reduced from a decent State of Affluence to mere want and is only Supported by the donations of some of her late Husbands Friends and Acquaintance.
That for want of her Husband’s papers and owing to her Son who is in the Island of Jamaica or on his way hither Your Memorialist is unable to present to subjoin an Estimate of her late Husband’s Losses, but verily believes his Loss of Property in America by the Illegal and cruel Treatment he met with far exceeds One Thousand (Sheet 3) Pounds Sterling to ascertain which she hopes to be able to produce Satisfactory Vouchers upon her Son’s arrival from Jamaica which she shortly expects. And in the mean time she begs leave to inform Your Honours that Samuel Chollet Esquire of Lime Street and Mr Robert Steell of Tokenhouse yard Merchant (as well as several other respectable Merchants in London) can prove her late Husband’s Trading and Circumstances in Life and in a great Measure corroborate the account of the Losses Your Memorialist has ventured to lay before Your Honour
6. Tea shipped by Messrs Neufville & Rolleston & Robert Steele, consigned to James Wakefield & William Donaldson in Charleston, who refused it, saying it was an old order. RM sent in Notary ro make a claim. James Wakefield a partner of WD. ....he did not really know they had entered into any general resolutions for the non Importation of Teas, that he imagined they extended no further than the East India Company’s Teas because all the spring Ships which had Sail’d before him had carried some. He carried none of his own though he used to.
7. Oliver Bowen of Savannah commanded Schooner in Savannah, also John Joiner of Parris Island & Seth John Cuthbert of Savannah. Joseph Habersham of Savannah, merchant, with order from the Provincial Congress to seize the Powder etc. Powder consigned to James Perrman in Saint Augustine. Schooner belonged to Samuel Price of Savannah (& Richard Weight, not on board), called the “Elizabeth”.
8. RM bought in 1764, from Thomas Horsfall, James Noble & Joseph Page a parcel of land in Pensacola, West Florida (passed back to Spain in 1783 Treaty of Paris) for $770.
9. Letter in New York, April 1778: Philippa in Government Service, perhaps going to Philadelphia. Referred to as an Armed Ship.
10. JM in London addressed in letter dated Jan 1781, at Jamaica Coffee House.
11. JM in Jamaica or in transit to England March 1784.
Who was this: a note from the Mormon records has a date of 1738, but no more[133]; Marriage (LDS): Richard
Maitland, 20 Aug 1738, St James, Westminster to Mary Mitchel.
(Richard) Maitland & Boddington, Mark Lane, D 1775
Maitland & Boddington are of interest as, amongst many other interests,
they seem to have been the English Banker for Henry Laurens: this raises the
possibility that Captain Richard Maitland was related to Richard Maitland of
Maitland & Boddington, who had extensive interests in the West Indies, and
possibly in Florida.
Born about 1709 (from death notice in Pedigrees).
The fact that he was buried at Woodford in Essex, and that Woodford Hall was
later bought by John Maitland of the Barcaple family, makes it very likely that
this Richard was of the Barcaple family. He was probably a brother or cousin of
Robert & Alexander Maitland who were in members of the West India
Committee.
If he was indeed at Marishal College in Aberdeen as claimed by Boddington, he
was probably from one of the Maitland families of Aberdeenshire. Geographically,
this does not tie in with the Barcaple family.
London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations,
1597-1921, Ancestry.com: P669:
8 December 1735
Appeared personally Richard Maitland esq of the parish of All Hallows Lombard
Street, London, Bachelor aged twenty three years and upwards and alleged that
he intends to marry with Elizabeth Conche of the parish of St Martin in the
fields in the county of Middlesex spinster aged twenty one years and upwards.
And that he knows of no lawful let or imepdim by reason of any presents act
Consanguinity affinity or any other lawful means whatsoever or hinder the said
intended marriage of ?? he made and oathed pray’d Licence to solomnise the said
marriage in the parish church of St Ann and Agnes Aldergate, London,
(signed) Richard Maitland
This is probably his actual signature from the printed form of Marriage
Allegation, and is similar to that on a letter from Mark Lane in 1767.
Richard Maitland
Baptism Date: 27 Sep 1738, Saint Martin in The Fields, Westminster,
Father: Richard Maitland Mother: Elizabeth[134]
Richard Maitland, ch 27/9/1738, St Martin in the Fields.
Thomas Maitland, ch 10/10/1740, St Martin in the Fields.
Mary Maitland, ch 2/2/1746, died 6/2/1746, St Olave, Hart St.
Elizabeth Maitland, ch 1/7/1748, St Olave Hart St, London
Margaret Maitland, ch 9/11/1750, St Olave, Hart St.
HLV3P450 & HL V2P280:
In 1763 Maitland & Boddington were listed in the London Directory as West
Indian merchants of Mark Lane. Richard Maitland died in 1775 at Hungerford,
coming home from Bath. Benjamin Boddington (1730-1791) was his partner.
"Will of Richard Maitland," dated Nov. 20, 1774, codicil dated May 1,
1775, proved, Boddington Manuscripts, MS 10823, Guildhall
Library, London.
A pedigree of Richard Maitland, died 1775 in “The Pedigree Register vol 1”,
George Sherwood, 1908-10 (Society of Genealogists). This is one from Reginald
Boddington. See his will in Maitwils.
Jamaica Deed:
Richard Maitland To Robert Gordon 1779
237/159-177 Feb-17 Dated 21/8/1770 ent 26/1/1771
Re 300 acres in St Ann mortgaged by Robert Gordon to Maitland & (Benjamin)
Boddington
Newspaper Extracts:
Edinburgh Advertiser November 21, 1775: The council and assembly of the Island
of Tobago have appointed John Spottiswood, esq; of Northumberland St, their
agent, in place of Richard Maitland esq, deceased. (Newspaper Archive).
Gazetteer And New Daily Advertiser September 22, 1766:
September 11 1765...Aid for distressed inhabitants of Bridge-Town,
Barbadoes...Maitland & Boddington £20..
London Evening Post November 10, 1774:
Sale of West Indian estates, Maitland & Boddington, merchants of Mark Lane,
joint agent..
Public Advertiser 10/6/1767:
Directors of the Royal Exchange Assurance, elected this Day...Mr Richard
Maitland... Not in last Direction.
London Evening Post July 7, 1774
Yesterday the following Gentlemen were chosen Directors of the Royal Exchange
Assurance... Mr Richard Maitland
Public Advertiser March 15, 1777:
Mr Richard Maitland, lately a very considerable Merchant in London, gave his
Opinion to a Noble Lord....re Plan in Parliament...
London Evening Post 19/9/1772:
Died: Friday... Mrs Maitland, wife of Richard Maitland, esq; of Mark lane....
(Friday 18th)
References Henry Laurens:
Letter May 1763 to M&B
HL V7 P 417, 28 December 1770.
Reference: Alexander, James & Evan Baillie’s Bill 20th
November 1770 on Maitland & Boddington London at 60 days sight endorsed to
you for £302.17.8¼ Sterling, my account.
A Richard Maitland wrote to Thomas Bradshaw in 1767, but this may one of the
King’s Arms Yard:
This not our Richard as his wife died 1772 & we know Sarah Maitland was
alive when John Died.
T 1/461/257-258
Dr Sir,
by the best Information I can get from Grenada, I am pretty certain that
neither the Generall, Chief Judge or any other officers, have lately received
any of their Salaries, on Account of the Capitation tax not being paid. And
what confirms me in this opinion is my having received Letters, with Directions
to apply to the Treasury on this Subject.
A have the Honor to be,
Sir,
Your most obd Servt
Richd Maitland
Mark lane,
11 Nov 1767.
to Thos Bradshaw, Esq. (257 in pencil)
Obituary of Richard Maitland of Mark Lane, 12/5/1775, GM 255.
Jackson’s Oxford Journal, Saturday September 26 1772.
The same day (Friday 18t) at Woodford, Mrs Maitland, wife of Richard
Maitland, of Mark Lane.
16 Jan 1776 reference to £400 stock in the 3½% 1758 annuities in joint names of
Richard Maitland of London, merchant and Samuel Dixon of Lincoln’s Inn – stock
reverts of Samuel Dixon, the survivor.
From The Pedigree Register, Vol 1 by George Sherwood 1907:
Richard MAITLAND of Marischal College, Aberdeen, = Elizabeth, Died 18 Sept
M.A., 1729, afterwards of the city of London, West 1772 aged 62, Bur
India merchant. Died at 'The Bear' Inn, Hungerford, Woodford 26th.
Berks., on his way back to London from Bath, 12 May
1775, aged 66. Buried at Woodford, Essex, 19 May.
Will and codicil proved 24 May 1775. (P.C.C.)
I shall be grateful for any information as to this particular family of MAITLAND.
I seek specially for the parentage of Richard MAITLAND, and of his wife
Elizabeth. Richard MAITLAND took the degree of M.A., at Marischal College,
Aberdeen, in 1729, but I learn that there is not anything entered as to his
parentage. The suggestion is made that he may have been of the family of
MAITLAND of Pittrichie.
Can any one say whether such is the case ? May I also hope to obtain the dates
of birth and death of Thomas, who is shewn as the only child of Richard MAITLAND?
REGINALD STEWART BODDINGTON.
WORTHING. September 1908.
The listing from the College records shows nothing more than the name &
date, and what is probably the tutor[135].
Samuel Boddington as a trustee of Greenwich Estate, Vere in 1835
compensation records.
London Land Tax Records, 1692-1932
1748, Aldersgate
Richard Maitland, personal £1/10s Tax £8/8s
1748, Aldersgate
Richard Maitland, personal £2 Tax £8/8s
1754, Aldersgate Without (6th Precinct):
Richard Maitland & Co: personal 5/- Tax £1-1s
1763: Kents Directory, Merchant, Mark Lane.
Also Richard Maitland, Royal Exchange Assurance Director, Mark Lane.
British History on Line extract:
Although Sir Richard Child retained the manor of Woodford, he sold the hall and
most of the remaining demesne lands to Christopher Crow, so that by 1838 only
about 80 a. in Woodford remained as part of the Wanstead estate. (fn. 41) Crow
sold the hall to William Hunt in 1727, after obtaining a private Act of
Parliament. (fn. 42) The hall remained in that family until about 1801 when it
was bought by John Maitland. (fn. 43) In 1777 the hall, with 56 a. lying behind
and a further 92 a., was leased to John Goddard, a Rotterdam merchant, (fn. 44)
whose widow died there in 1814. (fn. 45) By 1820 Maitland himself had taken up
residence. (fn. 46) He inherited the manor of Loughton in 1825 (fn. 47) and
died at Woodford Hall in 1831. (fn. 48) His son William Whitaker Maitland
succeeded him and leased the hall first to William Cox, (fn. 49) then, in 1840,
to William Morris, father of William Morris the poet and craftsman. The Morris
family remained there until 1848. (fn. 50) In 1869 the Woodford Hall estate was
sold to the British Land Co. for building development. The house was used until
1900 as Mrs. Gladstone's convalescent home. (fn. 51) It was then demolished and
the parish church memorial hall was built in front of the site in 1902. (fn.
52) The chapel of the convalescent home survives as part of a house in
Buckingham Road. (fn. 53)[136]
This John Maitland was the 4th son of Robert Maitland of Tongland
& Coleman St, London.
Loughton Hall[137]:
....Under the limitations created by her husband's will the manor and advowson
passed to Mrs. Wroth's great-nephew, William Henry, fourth and last Earl of
Rochford. In 1745 both were purchased from him by Alderman William Whitaker, in
great part with the fortune of his second wife, Anne, whom he had married in
1739, and on whom the estate was settled for life, with remainder over to her issue.
Alderman Whitaker died in or about August, 1752, and his widow, Anne, on Sep.
24th, 1770, To her succeeded her daughter, also named Anne, who lived to be
eighty-four years old and died unmarried on Nov. 24th, 1825. By her the manor
and advowson were devised to a stranger in birth, John Maitland, of Woodford
Hall.* He was succeeded by his son William Whitaker Maitland, who, after
expending a large sum on the renovation of Loughton Hall, an illustration of
which accompanied a preceding part of this paper, had the misfortune to see it
perish in the flames on Sunday, December 11th, 1836. A new house was
erected on the ancient site in 1879, by his third son and successor, the Rev.
John Whitaker Maitland.
Note. — The wills cited in the foregoing paper, with further
details germane to its subject, will be found in a privately- printed book
entitled Loughton in Essex, a copy of which (one of twelve) has been deposited
at the British Museum. Another copy may be consulted at the Guildhall Library
of the Corporation of London. ...
Also mentioned as a reference is Maitland Family: G. R. Harrison (1869).
No references found on Google.
“To the memorie of Sir Charles Maitland of Pittrichie. Who departed this life
March 20th 1704”.
Verse by Alexander Hill, Nat Lib of Scotland. Who was this??
See notes on Pittrichie in Clan Maitland volume.
Jamaica 201/167
Ent 17/3/1764, (a long and complicated document!)
James Gordon, planter of St Ann, to Richard Maitland and Benjamin & Thomas Boddington, merchants of the City of London,
Land in St Ann patented to James Gordon 1756 over 300 acres binding North on John Wilson East on Alexander Grant and South and West on unpossessed land
indenture 1/3/1758 about land bordering on Thomas Blagrove.
Letters of Marque: HCA 26/9/33
Commander: William Cromertie.
Ship: King of Prussia.
Burden: 330 tons, Crew: 30.
Owners: Messrs. Maitland and Boddington, Messrs. James and John Tobin of
London, merchants.
Lieutenant: John Pinkham. , Gunner: Cornelius Barg, Boatswain: John Millington.
Carpenter: George Carruthers, Surgeon: John Jackson, Cook: Timothy Daub.
Armament: 14 carriage guns.
Folio: 33
Covering dates 1758 February 21
HCA 26/10/166:
Commander: George Lindsey.
Ship: Ajax.
Burden: 499 tons.
Crew: 99.
Owners: Charles Raymond, Sherman Godfrey, William Briant, Robert Scott, Charles Boehm, John ?Pexsax, Earl of Lauderdale, Lawrence Dundass, Andrew Moffett, George Freeman, William Belchier and John Croucher of London, merchants.
Lieutenant: Patrick Maitland.
Gunner: David Kinnier.
Boatswain: John Denison.
Carpenter: Thomas Cole.
Surgeon: Charles Greenhill.
Cook: John Carpenter.
Armament: 26 carriage guns.
Folio: 166
Covering dates 1759 February 10
T 1/500/95-98 Treasury: papers
Record Summary
Scope and content WEST INDIES: Islands: Antigua: Abstract of the deed of trust from Governor William Young and Messrs Maitland and Boddington to the Crown, regarding estates in Antigua
Covering dates 1774 June
Antigua, re Richard Maitland, merchant
THE HISTORY ISLAND OF ANTIGUA, ONE OF THE LEEWARD CARIBBEES IN THE WEST INDIES,
FHOM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT IN 1635 TO THE PRESENT TIME.
VERE LANGFORD OLIVER,
M.k.C.S. ENG. L.R.C.P. LOND.
Volume III, 1899, LONDON
MITCHELL AND HUGHES, 140 WARDOUR STREET, W.
P92:
Close Roll, 31 Geo. II., Part 12, Nos. 7 and 8.
Indenture made the 13th Dec. 1757 between William Smith of
Nevis, Esq., now residing in London, of the one part, and Martin Kynck van
Microp, Richard Maitland, and Thomas Lucas, all of London, merchants, of
the other part, witnesseth that in consideration of 10s. William Smith sells to
them all that plantation in the Windward Parish in Nevis called Roundhill,
containing 500 acres, bounded towards the S. by the lands of John Canty, W. and
N. by the sea, and E. by the lands of David Gardiner, and all that other
plantation in the Lowland Parish in Nevis called the Fountain, containing 117
acres, bounded towards the S. by the lands of Charles Payne, W. by the lands of
Dr. William Jones, N. by the lands of the said William Jones and of William
Burt Weeks, and E. by the lands of . . . . Madding (?), widow, and all that
mansion house standing on the last mentioned plantation, and all that other
plantation in the Lowland Parish called the Lower Grounds, containing 37 acres,
bounded S. and E. by the lands of Matthew Mills, W. by the sea, and N. by the
lands of Dr. William Jones, and also all those 150 slaves, to have and to hold
for one whole year. Thomas Bennett, Jonathan Price, witnesses.
No. 7.
Indenture made the 14th Dec. 1757 between the above. Whereas William Smith is
justly indebted to Martin Kynck van Microp in the principal sum of £1230 15s.
sterling besides interest, by virtue of a bond dated the 1st Dec. instant in
the penal sum of £2461 10s. to be void on payment of the principal and interest
on the 10th Dec. instant, and also to Richard Maitland and Benjamin Boddington,
merchant of London, in partnership, in the principal sum of £607 15s. lld.
besides interest, by virtue of another bond dated the 2nd Dec. instant in the
penal sum of £1215 11s. l0d. to be void on payment of the principal and
interest on the 10th Dec. instant, and also to Thomas Lucas and William
Coleman, sen. and jun., of London, merchants, in partnership, in the principal
sum of £913 6s. 8d. besides interest, by virtue of a bond dated the 1st Dec.
instant, in the penal sum of £1826 13s. 4d. to be void on payment of the
principal and interest on the 10th Dec. instant, and also stands justly
indebted by simple contract to several persons whose names are set down in a
schedule annexed. Now this Indenture witnesseth that for making a provision for
the payment of the said debts herein and in the schedule mentioned, and in
consideration of 10s., William Smith grants and sells to Martin Kynck van
Microp, Richard Maitland, and Thomas Lucas, in their actual possession being by
a lease for a year, all those plantations, etc. (as in No. 8) in trust to sell
either entire or in parcels, and after the deductions of their costs, etc., and
of such sums not exceeding £300 sterling as they may advance to answer the
present occasions of William Smith, and of all incidental expenses relating to
the management of the plantations, etc., till sold, and to the execution of the
trusts, to pay to William Smith £200 a year for life, and to distribute all
residue among themselves and all other creditors, and after all are paid to
convey the residue to the use of William Smith. The trustees are to work the
plantations and to lay out the money necessary and from time to time to sell
the sugars, molasses, rum, and other produce, and they may employ such
Attorneys and managers, etc., and allow them out of the trust money such sums
for their trouble as they the said trustees shall think fit, and the said
plantations are hereafter to be held in trust as aforesaid without any lett,
suit, or hindrance from William Smith or any persons lawfully claiming under
him or under Michael Smith his late brother, deceased, or under Michael Smith
his late father, deceased, or under any of the ancestors of William Smith, and
free from all incumbrances except one annuity of £225 sterling, payable from
the said plantations, etc., to Jane Calvert (formerly wife and widow of Michael
Smith the brother, deceased), for life and in lieu of dower, etc., and except
the right and title of dower of Mary Smith, wife of William Smith, if she
should survive him, and except the portions and maintenance which Thomas Smith
and John Smith, brothers of William, are entitled to receive from the said
plantations, etc., not exceeding £1000 currency and the interest thereon, and
lastly for rendering these presents more valid William Smith impowers James
Tobin, Esq., and the Rev. Edwin Thomas, Clerk, both of Nevis, to act in all
things as his true and lawful Attorneys.
Schedule.—William Smith. Debtor to sundrys.
£ s. d.
To Van Microp, Esq. . . 1230 15
To Coleman and Lucas . . 913 6 8
To Maitland and Boddington . 607 15 11
£2751 15 7di;
Bills Protested.
Family of Young.
Sir William Young of Delaford, co. Bucks, Bart. Will dated 21 March 1784.
To be buried at Chartham, co. Kent, near Canterbury. By the articles on my marriage with my now wife £14,200 was agreed to be laid out by trustees for our use for our lives, & then to our 1" & other sons successively, & was invested in an estate at Standlinch in Wilts, but by an Act of Parliament 4 present reign this estate was vested in Geo. Montgomery, since decd, & Richd' Maitland of London, Mercht, in trust to sell, & with £1000 I agreed to add in the purchase of other lands, & whereas I have purchased of Geo. Tash, Esq., the manor of Delaford in the parish of Iver, co. Bucks, the conveyance dated 30 July 1768, for £18,300 & part thereof £15,200 is settled to the use of my marriage articles, & I have added £400, making a total of £15,600, & while in the office of Receiver of monies for the sale of lands in the Ceded & Neutral Islands I purchased several estates on those islands, & a large debt became due from me to the Crown to satisfy which I have delivered up all my West Indian estate in trust, & I was to be paid thereout £1600 a year. All debts are to be charged on my Tobago estate, £400 to be raised to make my marriage settlement up to £16,000..........continues
Ships Built and Registered in Shoreham
http://www.shorehambysea.com/ships-built-and-registered-in-shoreham.html
Lloyd’s Lists for 1770–90 include a ship called ‘William and Elizabeth’ built
by Maitland & Co. on the Thames.
Matthew
1763
'Ship of War' (sic), two decks, 300 tons, 20 ft mean draft, 18 guns (but 1764 Registers record 6 three pounder guns?). Captain:- Charles Payne, owner Maitland & Co (1764 & 1780) or Mr Maitland (1768). Voyages between 1764 and 1780 were usually between London and St. Kitts in the Caribbean.
Shoreham built -possibly Stone & Barlett,, Carver &
Co, Hamilton & Co, or John Edwardes
Sussex
1788
226 tons, captain Madgwick, owner R. Maitland. London – Jamaica route 1789.
See Shoreham Shipbuilders at beginning of the index
Lloyds Register
Richard Maitland, Jamaica & London, will 1763
London Chronicle August 1763[138].
Thursday died at his lodgings in the Strand, Mr Richard Maitland, who had resided
above 20 years in Jamaica, where he acquired a competent fortune, and returned
to England some years ago. He has left the bulk of his fortune to his lady, and
£1800 to some intimate friends in legacies, not exceeding £100 nor under £50.
IGI: Marriage of Richard Maitland & Elizabeth Cunningham, St Martin in the
Fields, London, 13 May 1759[139].
Probably a subscriber to Patrick Browne’s “The Civil & Natural History of
Jamaica”. Mr Maitland is also mentioned as a source by Patrick Browne on page
15 of trade statistics.
Inventory Richard Maitland, Sept 1765. PROB 31/504/703
A will of Richard Maitland of Brompton, Kensington, described as a planter of Jamaica, no firm evidence, but looks possible to be the father of Sarah. His will makes no
mention of Sarah, but was proved London, 23 August, 1763.
The executors being Robert & Alexander Maitland indicate that he was
probably related to them: they were the sons of Robert & Ursula Maitland of
Tongland & Bunhill Fields in Essex.
The supposition from his will is that he came back to England later in life and
married Widow Cunningham then and had no children by her.
He leaves a legacy to his wife, the widow of Dr Cunningham, but no mention of
children. The remainder of his estate is left to his cousins, the Whyte family,
mostly local London tradesmen, but also to "...my cousin Mrs Joan Whyte
late wife of Mr Archibald Napier Minister of the Gospel at Manchester (?)
deceased now residing in Aberdeen.." and "...my cousin Alexr Whyte
late of Ard_hill now of the city of London Teacher of Belles Lettres and
mathematics..."
"...to her daughters Mary and Joan Napier..."
Ardhill a village on Loch Duich, West Highlands Scotland.
Was this Richard Maitland the father of Mary Maitland, bapt 28/6/1740, a
quadroon child of Richard Maitland born of the mulatto slave of Mrs Laws of St
Andrew Parish.
Also Sarah Maitland. He was probably the one who owned sugar land in St
Elizabeth.
AF:
Mary Napier (AFN: 1DM1-C28), ch abt 1732 of Archibald Napier & Jean White
at Maryculter, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Married James Smith 6/7/1732 at
Maryculter.
James Smith Birth: Est 1702 Maryculter, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Death: 6 Nov 1780 Garvnock, Kincardineshire, Scotland
Some transactions recorded as Deeds indicate that A Richard Maitland was trading,
maybe financing, in Jamaica in the 1740’s. He bought 700 acres of land, 100 in
St Elizabeth & 2 parcels of 300 in Westmoreland in 1746 from James &
Daniel Grant, to whom it had just been granted, for £J700. He then sold the
combined 600 acres in Westmoreland for £150 to Isaac Gale 26/11/1748. He sold
the 100 acres in St Elizabeth for £J1108, including some slaves and stock. A
further transaction was recorded of Richard Maitland taking a mortgage on 10
slaves from Alexander Dallas for £J700 in 1755. This Richard Maitland is
referred to as a planter in one deed, and so was probably resident there at the
time.
A Richard Maitland owned property in, amongst others, St Elizabeth to the North
East of Lacovia (Biscany) in the 1740’s. His will was proved in 1763[140], and makes no mention of
offspring and only a wife Elizabeth. Some of these properties have been traced
by Jamaican Plats.
He was also granted 300 acres in Westmoreland in 1756[141].
He may well have been the father of Mary Maitland:
Mary Maitland, bapt St Andrew, 28/6/1740, a quadroon child of Richard Maitland
born of the mulatto slave of Mrs Laws[142].
Other sites suggest the following sibling of John Maitland:
Sarah Maitland, born abt 10/1746, bapt 23/1/1748 – see below under Parchments.
The original LDS index and text films shows her father as Richard Melland. If
she were a Maitland, then the father might also have been the above Richard
Maitland.
A Sarah Maitland is recorded as owning a negro Creole slave, Fibba aged 65 in
1817 in St Elizabeth. Sarah signed with her mark.
59 & Lloyds Register 1764, & 1768 to 1780
John Bradstreet: http://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44806545.pdf
- references to Richard Maitland D.A.G. New York, son of the Earl of Lauerdale.
Some notes are included here on this branch of the Clan Maitland, mostly made
in the process of researching our ancestor.
There is no obvious connection between our Irish Richard Maitland and the
Maitlands of King's Arms Yard and Coleman Street, but it is possible that they
were connected: both lines were connected with the West Indies. One possibility
is that Richard was a close relative of Robert Maitland of King’s Arms Yard in
London, who was born in Dumfries in about 1709. It is probable that Richard
Maitland’s antecedents came from south west Scotland to Ireland and then on to
the US as Lauderdales: this branch would have been of the same general family
as the Dundrennan branch of the Clan.
John Hyde, George Healey to Ebenezer Maitland – 1783
Deed 336F19 ff Dated 6/3/1783 ent 11/2/1785
Btw John Hyde of St George, Hannover Sq, London esq, son
& heir & residuary legatee of John Hyde, late of Cornhill in London
merchant dcd and George Healey of St James Westminster the one part
And Ebenezer Maitland merchant of London other part
Witness that John Hyde & GH for 5/- from Ebenezer Maitland
Sell to said George (sic, should be Ebenezer) Maitland .. plantation in St
Andrew called Constant Spring etc containing 1400 acres .. with mills mill
houses, boiling houses, curing houses, still houses, trash houses, etc
and also .. land or mountain in St Andrew contiguous to Constant Spring
containing 400 acres
And also pen land in St Catherine called Archbolds Penn containing 211 acres
and all slaves etc named and set down in a schedule annexed to a mortgage dated
24 July 1765 between Daniel Moore, merchant and Henry Archbold esq
To have and to hold the said plantation or sugar works mountain pen lands
tenements slaves etc to Ebenezer Maitland from (this) day for 1 year at
peppercorn rent
AS in an indenture of release made btw John Hyde of the 1st part,
Benjamin Gee Henry Jones and John Shines gentlemen and George Healey of the 2nd
part and Henry Archbold esq of the 3rd part, and Ebenezer Maitland
of the 4th part.
This Indenture of 4 parts 27 March 1783 btw John Hyde of the 1st
part, Benjamin Gee of Kingsland in Middx gent & Henry Jones of St Ann Soho,
gent and John Shines of the Old Change, London, gent, gentlemen and George
Healey of the 2nd part and Henry Archbold esq of Kingston of the 3rd
part, and Ebenezer Maitland of the 4th part.
Whereas by mortgage 24/7/1765 Daniel Moore, merchant and Henry Archbold Daniel
Moore granted to Henry Archbold Constant Spring 1400 acres for £13340 and also
the 400 acres and also the 211 acres of Archbold’s pen
Subject to Daniel Moore paying to Henry Archbold £1400 part of the principal of
13340 and interest on 1/8/1766 and from then £1783 every year until 1/8/1783
and interest at 6% pa or until the remaining some of £11940 is paid.
And whereas by indenture 5/9/1770 btw Henry Archbold and John Hyde dcd that
John Hyde agrees with Henry Archbold for the purchase of an annuity of £200 for
the life of Henry Archbold at the price of £1200 and for securing the payment
of the annuity, and that for the securing the payment thereof Henry Archbold
had executed to John Hyde a bond same date in the penalty of £2400 conditioned
for the payment of the annuity of £200 to John Hyde during the life of Henry
Archbold by quarterly payments
And also reciting the hereinbefore recited indenture of mortgage from Daniel
Moore to Henry Archbold and that the principal sum of £1400 part of the
principal sum of £13340 and all interest due for the same had been paid and
that there then remained due from Daniel Moore to Henry Archbold upon the indenture
of mortgage the principal sum of £11940 all interest for the same having been
paid up to the 1/8 last.
And further reciting that for better securing the payment of the annuity of
£200 to John Hyde dcd during the life of Henry Archbold he, Henry Archbold had
agreed to grant an assign the mortgage and premises and all monies due thereon
and secured thereby to John Hyde for the intents and purposes therein after
mentioned.
It is witnessed that for £1200 to Henry Archbold paid by John Hyde Henry
Archbold did grant assign etc to John Hyde as well the recited indenture of
mort as also all that and executed and proved and on record in the Secretary’s
office etc.
And Whereas John Hyde father of John Hyde died abt 30/7/1776 with will
26/7/1776 leaving R&R to John Hyde jnr, exec Catherine Hyde & John
Baker
An whereas by indenture dated 4/7/1777 CH&JB for 5/- assigned the residue to
John Hyde inc the annuity.
And whereas by indenture 12/10/1770 btw Henry Archbold & Benjamin Gee where
BG agreed with Henry Archbold to purchase an annuity of £70 pa for Henry
Archbold’s life and for securing the payment thereof Henry Archbold executed to
BG a bond for the penal sum of £840 conditioned for the payment of the annuity
of £70 for Henry Archbold’s life in 1/4ly payments. And reciting the in of mort
and the ind 5/9/1770 and reciting the better to secure the payment of the
annuity to BG Henry Archbold proposed to assign .. £70 as part of the residue
of the principal £11900
And whereas by indenture bearing date 20/7/1771 btw Henry Archbold and Henry
Jones where Henry Jones agrees with Henry Archbold for the purchase of an
annuity of £100 for Henry Archbold’s life. Henry Archbold gives Henry Jones a
bond in the penal sum of £1200 conditional on payment of the annuity (refer
other deeds & bonds) the annuity to be part of the residue of £11940.
Henry Jones pays £600 for the annuity
Whereas Henry Archbold having occasion for the further sum of £600 applied to
the John Shines and an annuity of £100 payable to Henry Archbold during his
life George Healey to become surety 16/9/1775
Sheet I
And whereas by indenture 18/9/1775 to better secure Henry Archbold conveyed to
George Healey his title etc to the mortgage plantations and the mortgage money
due from Daniel Moore
John Hyde, father & son, on account of interest on the mortgage from Daniel
Moore received £4339/2/8 for the several annuities.
John Hyde agrees to sell the annuities to Ebenezer Maitland which were in
arrears
All agree to sell the plantation & mortgages thereon to Ebenezer Maitland
Robert & Ebenezer Maitland From Eliphelet Fitch 1785
335 12 Feb-17 Dated 18/5/1785 ent 24/5/1785.
Eliphet Fitch of Kingston bound to Richard Maitland snr, jnr & Ebeneezer
Maitland, the penal £4000, conditioned to £2000 stlg payment July 86 - complex
doc re debts Re Constant Spring Plantation.
Robert et al Ptners Maitland To Eliphald Fitch 1785
335/182 Feb-17 More about constant Spring - re 335/12
Ebeneezer Maitland From John Hyde et al 1785
336 19 Feb-17 Date 26/3/1783 ent 11/2/1785.
John Hyde of St George Hannover sq heir of John Hyde of London, Ebeneezer
Maitland merchant of London. John Hyde & George Healey sell for 5/- from
Ebeneezer Maitland Constant Spring in St A 1400 A also Archbold's pen 211 A, re
mortgage 24/5/85. Next doc more on mortgages
Ebeneezer et al Maitland To George Kinghorn – 1814
630/55 Feb-18 Con Land - Date 1/3/1813 Ent 27/10/1813.
Alex Kidson of St Ann Jam esq 1st pt, EM William Bell of London merchants survivors
of .. Frazer of London dcd, long deed and 150 slaves
Ebeneezer et al Maitland To William Crostrie – 1814
630/59 Feb-18 Con Land as P55.
Ebeneezer Maitland From John Poole Baker – 1814
635/92 Feb-18 Date 25/11/1802 Ent 4/2/1814.
John Poole Baker of Surry ST, Middx esq only son of John Pisculus Baker of
Grove Place, Jam 1st pt William Manning, John Proctor Anderson and Charles
Bosanquet merchants & co partners 2nd pt & Ebeneezer & Alex
Maitland conveyance - long deed.
Jamaica Gazette, 1826:
JAMAICA, ss. - IN CHANCERY
Maitland et al. vs. Fowles et al.
IN Pursuance of the Final Decree, pronounced in the above Cause, bearing date the sixth day of February Inst, I do hereby give notice, that in default of payment on or before the sixth day of August next, of any or either of the several Sums of Money, or any part or proportion thereof, in and by the said Decree directed to be paid, I will, immediately after such default shall be so made, that is to say, on Tuesday the eighth day of the said month of August, between the hours of eleven and twelve in the forenoon, at Harty’s Tavern, in the City of Kingston, set up to sale, and actually sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder or bidders, and for the most money that can be had or gotten for the same, all that Plantation or Sugar-Work called WINDSOR FOREST, and also that Plantation or Settlement called LUCKY-HILL, and all and singular the Slaves named in the Schedule to the Indenture of Mortgage in the Pleadings mentioned annexed, or such of them as shall be then living, and the issue, offspring, and increase, of the Females of the said Slaves, born since the date and execution of the said Indenture of Mortgage, and the Cattle, Stock, and Implements of Planting upon and belonging to the said Estate, and all and singular other the Premises mentioned or comprised in or subject to the Indenture of Mortgage of the tenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and three and the monies to arise from such sale I shall pay and appropriate as directed in and by the said Decree.
Given under my hand, this thirteenth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.
19 HERBERT J. JAMES, M.C.C.
CO142/** Return of Shipping, Jamaica - lists ships masters and owners &
cargo etc, to Jamaica. /22 1784.
1783, March 26. Indenture between John Hyde of St. Geo., Han. Sq., Esq., only
son and heir and residuary legatee of John Hyde, late of Cornhill, Merchant,
and George Healy of the one part, and Ebeneezer Maitland of London, Merchant,
of the other, Lease for a year of the Constant Spring plantation by Hyde to
Maitland. (Coleman’s Deeds.)
(2 found in 1811: St Andrew's and St George's. Constant Spring in St Andrew
owned by Hon Geo Cuthbert, 417 slaves and 206 stock)
Constant Spring is now in St Andrew, in hills north of Kingston.
Edmund Hyde Privy Councillor Jamaica 1751 (Jam Gaz).
Minutes looked at on microfilm (MIC915, 16 reels) at the Institute of
Commonwealth Studies, Russell Square. There were many appearances of Maitlands
in the early years. Many entries simply refer to "Mr Maitland".
Forenames entered were Richard, Robert & Alexander. It appears that Richard
was probably the senior, and was chairman occasionally when the regular
incumbent, Beeston Long, was absent. Also appearing was Stephen Fuller (the
London merchants became Fuller-Maitlands), who was later described as
"agent for Jamaica".
The minutes start an April 1769. They were read, but not exhaustively after
about 1780. There is little mention of individuals, except as members of the
standing committees, and occasionally as members of sub-committees.
1769 members Richard, Robert & Alexander Maitland, not all together. Richard
was probably the one who died in 1775, although there is no mention in the
minutes of this event. Mr Maitland jnr appears in April 1776, and again June
1779. A cursory inspection gives the impression that the Maitlands disappeared
from the committee from 1781 to 1797, when there was an entry.
The minutes of the West India Planters was also briefly examined. There was an
E Maitland and Mr Maitland recorded at a general meeting of 9 Feb 1787. Mr
Maitland appeared several times in 1805.
In the 1769 list, Robert & Alexander were probably brothers (Robert could
possibly be Robert’s son b 1744) and sons of John Maitland of Tongland. E
Maitland in 1787 would have been Ebeneezer Maitland, who became Fuller
Maitland.
As time went on, the Committee became more involved in the mainstream
activities, and seemed to take on the task of organising the convoys introduced
during the French wars of the latter part of the 18th Century. A
note in the minutes refers to negotiations with the Admiralty over speeds of
departure when the wind changed: ships still stuck round the coast would be
left behind in the haste to take advantage of a favourable wind change. There
are also some interesting facts and figures of sugar and estate costs in the
period. Tables of sugar production show how Jamaica became the dominant force
in West Indian production.
Jamaica Deed:
Robert Maitland, 1782[143]:
Stephen Fuller, merchant of London, sold to Robert, Robert jnr & Ebeneezer Maitland,
also of London, merchants, ½ of sugar plantation Amity Hall in St Thomas in the
East, 607 acres & 2 other contiguous parcels containing 340 & 300 acres
& about 100 slaves.
Also Indenture :
between Stephen & Rose Fuller & Robert, Robert jnr & Ebeneezer
Maitland
Thomas Cussins of London & John Cussins of same place since decd for
£18800 Mortgage. Long deeds re mortgages etc.
Royal Gazette, 13 May 1826
This must have been one of the Ebenezer Maitland family:
JAMAICA, ss—IN CHANCERY.
MAITLAND Et al. vs. FOWLES et al.
IN Pursuance of the Final Decree, pronounced in the above Cause, bearing date the sixth day of February last, I do hereby give notice, that in default of payment on or before the sixth day of August next, of any or either of the several Sums of Money, or any part or proportion thereof, in and by the said Decree directed to be paid, I will, immediately after such default shall be so made, that is to say, on Tuesday the eighth day of the said month of August, between the hours of eleven and twelve in the forenoon, at Harty's Tavern, in the City of Kingston, set up to sale, and actually sell at public outcry to the highest and beat bidder or bidders, and for the most money that can he had or gotten for the same, ell that plantation or Sugar-Work called WINDSOR-FORREST, and also that Plantation or Settlement called LUCKY- HILL, and all and singular the Slaves named in the Schedule to the Indenture of Mortgage in the Pleadings mentioned annexed, or such of them as shell be then living, end the Issue, offspring, and increase of the Females of the said Slaves, born since the day and execution of the said Indenture, of Mortgage, and the Cattle, Stock, and Implements of Planting upon and belonging to the said Estate, and all and singular other the Premises mentioned or comprised in or subject to the Indenture of Mortgage of the tenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and three, and the Monies to arise from such Sale I shell pay and appropriate as directed in and by the said Decree.
Given under my hand, this thirteenth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.
19 HERBERT J, JAMES, M.C.C.
1772 London Directory: Richard M (dated July 1771) Dir Royal Exchange Assurance
Maitland & Boddington 17, Mark Lane
1774-5: Mullard Pet. Sailmaker Union Stairs, Wapping
1775: Maitland & Boddington present, but not Richard M.
1776: M & B not there.
Kent's Directory of London, 1794.
Maitland Robert, Ebeneezer & John, Merchts., 13, King's-arms-yard, Colemans St.
These are probably the children of Robert Maitland and Ursula, Ebeneezer became
Fuller-Maitland and John Whitaker-Maitland. According to Michael Sandford, this
is the case: this Robert was 1744-1810.
CARIBBEANA, Volume II, DEEDS RELATING TO THE WEST INDIES JAMAICA
1783, March 26. Indenture between John Hyde of St. Geo., Han. Sq., Esq., only son and heir and residuary legatee of John H., late of Cornhill, Merchant, and George Healy of the one part, and Ebenezer Maitland of London, Merchant, of the other, Lease for a year of the Constant Spring plantation by Hyde to Maitland. (Coleman’s Deeds.)
Hyde Connection:
http://www.danbyrnes.com.au/merchants/merchants8.htm
1710+: James Russell 1710 or so, the greatest Maryland
merchants in London are Captain John Hyde, plus his sons, John and Herbert
Hyde. See Jacob M. Price, 'One Family's Empire: The Russell-Lee-Clerk
Connection in Maryland, Britain and India, 1707-1857'., Maryland Historical
Magazine, Vol. 72, 1977. See also: Jacob M. Price, 'The Last Phase of the
Virginia-London Consignment Trade: James Buchanan and Co, 1758-1768', William
and Mary Quarterly, Series 3, Vol. XLIII, No. 1, Jan. 1968., pp. 64ff.; Jacob
M. Price, 'Buchanan and Simson, 1759-1763: A Different Kind of Glasgow Firm
Trading to the Chesapeake', William and Mary Quarterly, Series 3, Vol. XL, No.
1. Jan. 1983., pp. 3ff.; Jacob M. Price, 'The Rise of Glasgow in the Chesapeake
Tobacco Trade, 1707-1775', William and Mary Quarterly, Series 3, Vol. XI, April
1954., pp. 179ff.; Jacob M. Price, (Ed.), 'Joshua Johnson's Letterbook,
1771-1774: Letters from a Merchant in London to His Partners in Maryland'. London, 1979. Jacob M. Price, 'Capital And Credit In The British-Chesapeake Trade,
1750-1775', in Virginia B. Platt and David Curtis Skaggs, (Eds.), Of Mother
Country And Plantations: Proceedings of the Twenty-Seventh Conference In Early
American History. Bowling Green, Ohio, 1971. Jacob M. Price, essay, 'Joshua
Johnson In London, 1771-1775', in Anne Whiteman et al, (Eds.), Statesmen,
Scholars and Merchants, Essays ... presented to Dame Lucy Sutherland. Oxford, 1973.
Later in this site were entries of Hydes going bankrupt in about 1745.
Other Maitlands:
Alexander Maitland, Mate, St Andrews Regt, Ensign, 1784.
Vere Oliver's Carribinaea, Richard Maitland figures with wife Elizabeth in St
Kitts, also up til 1780's.
Directories for Richard Maitland Probably the one whose will proved 24/5/1775:
1)
Dates: 1726-1750 Location: Crutched Fryars
Occupation: merchant commerce(s)
Source Date: 1750 Subscribed to The posthumous Works of Jeremiah Seed
(Vol. 1), 1750, HALL, Joseph. London, Subject: religion
2)
Dates: 1751-1775 Title: Esq.
Source Date: 1756: Subscribed to The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica,
1756, BROWNE, Patrick. London, Subject: history
3)
Dates: 1776-1800 Title: Esq.
Source Date: 1789 Source Info: Subscribed to The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica. Containing I. An accurate Description of that Island... II. An History of the
Natural Productions... illustrated with Forty-nine copper plates... By George
Dionysius Ehret. There are now added complete Linnean indexes and a large and
accurate map of the island, 1789, BROWNE, Patrick. London, Subject: history
4)
Dates: 1751-1775 Address: Address(es): 17 Mark-lane, London
company: Director(s): Royal Exchange Assurance Director
Source Date: 1763 Listed in Kent's Directory for the Year 1763. 30th edn.,
1763, KENT, Henry. London. Printed and sold by Henry Kent at the Printing
office in Finch Lane. Also 1765, 1767, 1768, 1772, 1774
5)
Dates: 1751-1775 Occupation: merchant commerce(s)
Address: Mark lane, London
Source Date: 1765 Listed in A Compleat Guide to All Persons Who Have Any
Trade or Concerns Within the City of London, and Parts Adjacent. 10th edn.,
1765, OSBORN, J.. London
Printed for J. Rivington, R. Baldwin, L. Hawes, W. Clarke, R. Collins, S.
Crowder, T. Longman, R. Horsfield, J. Walter
http://www.danbyrnes.com.au/blackheath/ships3.htm
Convict and other ships 1800-1810 to Australia
1804: John Prinsep in London by 1804 laid plans - interesting but premature -
to import wool from eastern Australia. The plans involved John Maitland, John
Macarthur, Mr. Coles, Mr. Wilson at Monument Yard, Capt. Waterhouse and Mr.
Stewart. John Maitland, of Basinghall Street, was an influential wool
merchant who had links with Sir Joseph Banks and Macarthur. (See Harold B.
Carter, His Majesty's Spanish Flock: Sir Joseph Banks and the Merinoes of
George III of England. Sydney, Angus And Robertson, 1964. Harold B. Carter, Sir
Joseph Banks, 1743-1820. London, British Museum (Natural History), 1988.) At an
1804 auction of the King's sheep, Maitland was interested in Macarthur's
proposal for a company to produce wool in New South Wales and supported it in
company with Hulletts, who'd dummy-bought two ewes for Macarthur, and owned the
Argo. At the sale, Banks warned Macarthur of the Obstructive Act of 1788
preventing export of sheep. Later, Macarthur suggested to Lord Camden a
Treasury warrant be drawn for the export. A company with a capital of £10,000
was proposed, but the plan went awry. By July 1804, John Prinsep was examined
in Council Chamber at Whitehall. (See Sibella Macarthur-Onslow, Some Early
Records of the Macarthurs of Camden, pp. 92-95.)
1804: 11 July 1804, wool gentlemen meet inc. Hunter and Waterhouse, both RN,
Capts Prentice and Townson of New South Wales Corps, William Wilson of Monument
Yard, agent for Rbt Campbell and Marsden, and William Stewart Master Mariner of
Lambert, Prinsep and Saunders, shipping and East India agents of 147 Leadenhall
St, owners of Anne to NSW in 1800. (See also, Sibella Macarthur-Onslow, Some
Early Records of the Macarthurs of Camden. [Orig. 1914] Sydney, Rigby, 1973.
Pemberton, London Connection, p. 121).
Maitlands (London based merchants trading with WI)
9 Dec 2005 From: Michael Sandford, Abingdon.
Dear Antony,
I came across your website in a search for information on the trading
activities of my great great great great grandfather Robert Maitland
(1744-1810) who was first located at the Kings Arms yard, Coleman Street, London and later at The Blue Style Greenwich.
I found reference on your site to the West India Committee records At Archives
of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. I was interested to note that the
names you mentioned here appear to be those of my ancestor and his relations. I
had better follow up your reference to see if I can find out something about
their trading interests!
My Robert Maitland (1744-1810) appears in the Maitland gedcom on your website,
so you will be able to see where our lines diverged: our common ancestors are
Sir Robert Maitland (d 1434) and Marion Aternethy.
You can see my descent from daughter Mary of my Robert Maitland
(1744-1810) at http://sandfordfamily.org.uk
I was also interested in your site for what it says about Jamaican history,
especially since I have just returned from a month's holiday spent mainly in
Mandeville. I have often wondered exactly what the trading was that my Robert
Maitland did with the WI. Have you ever come across any dealings between his firm
and your own Maitlands in Jamaica?
My Robert Maitland (1744-1810) married Elizabeth Ridge who was the daughter of John Ridge, another West Indies merchant in London. So that is another trading connection.
Michael Sandford
10 Dec 2005
Thank you for your reply. It gets yet more interesting as I delve a bit
further into your large website. What a lot of research you have done!
In comparison my Maitland research looks pretty thin. But I am now motivated to
some more.
Here are a two points answering your email:
1. I cannot at the moment see how your John Maitland ( - 1786), might fit into
the known families of the Kings Arms Yard merchants.
2. I see from your pages that a Pakenhams married a Sandford from Castlereagh.
Castlereagh is not far from Tuam and my grandfather and his cousin speculated
about the tradition that there was a connection but nothing definitive has been
discovered so far. Unfortunately all the early Church of Ireland records in
Tuam were destroyed around 1800.
Finally I note from your auto biographical notes that you are a Christ's
man. I matriculated at Christ's in 1960. I read maths then physics.
However I ended up running a division of engineers working on space research
instrumentation at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near here. I retired 2
years ago - and so now have time to research family history and to try and
write up interesting stories for the younger family members. I am planning to
send them a couple of essays at Christmas. The one I finished before my holiday
relates how 12 greats uncle was wrongly beheaded by Henry VIII when he was
getting rid of Anne Boleyn.
Did you go to the old member's dinner at Christ's in September? The 1960 and
1965 matriculation years were invited. I don't have the seating plan to hand to
check if you were there.
Best wishes, Michael
ADM 106/1150/184
Miscellaneous in-letters to the Navy Board from W correspondents, described at
item level
Record Summary
Scope and content Woolwich Officers. The Earl of Bute, Captain Maitland, from Bengal came alongside the Conquestadore here for want of a tide
Covering dates 3 Mar 1766
ADM 106/1192/205 R. S.
Record Summary
Scope and content Sheerness Officers. Account of the several
species of stores issued from HM Yard here, expended on the Bute East India
ship, Honble. Patrick Maitland, Commander
Covering dates 1770 Feb 24
Folio 204 similar
1021
HCA 26/12/87
17 April 1761 89
Appeared personally Captain Richard Maitland of the Parish of St Pauls Shadwell
in the County of Middlesex mariner
and produced a warrant from the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners
for Executing the Offices of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland
for the granting of a Commission or Letter of Marque to him the said Richard
Maitland
and in pursuance of his Majesty’s Instruction to Privateer made the following
Declaration to with that this the said Richard Maitland
his ship is Called the Phillippa
That she is a Square Sterned Ship Painted Black and Yellow, a Syon Head
Painted all Yellow
and is of the burthen of about Three Hundred tons
That the said Richard Maitland goeth Commander of her That she Carrys Sixteen
Carriage Guns
Each Carrying shot of Six and Four pounds weight and
Swivel Guns and belonging to the port of London
Forty Men Thirty Six small arms Twenty four Cutlasses Twelve
Barrels of Powder Twelve Rounds of great Shot and about Three hundred
weight of small shot
That the said Ship is victualled for Six months
hath two suits of sails Five Anchors Five Cables and about
Thirty hundred weight of spare cordage
That John Dudley goes Lieutenant John Thomas Gunner William
Jones Boatswain Thomas Lee Carpenter Henry Atkins Cook James
Long Surgeon of the said Ship and that
Mr Henry Loubert and his Partners Mesrs Leavie and Schweighauzen together
with Mr James Bouverieu of London Merchants
are the Principal Owners and Setters out of the said Ship
Richd Maitland
(His signature)
This declaration was made before me
And: Colbeee Ducarel
Surrogate Farrant?
1022
Phillippa
The like Commission is entered on Irof:2 was granted to Richard Maitland to set
forth the Phillippa of the Burthen of about three hundred tons and belonging to
the Port of London whereof he the said Richard Maitland goeth Commander Dated
the Seventeenth Day of April 1761 and in the first year of his Majesty’s Reign.
1023
HCA 26/12/101
Indexed at /99
26 Mary 1761 101
Appeared personally Captain John Barford of Cheapside, London mariner
and produced a warrant from the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners
for Executing the Offices of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland
for the granting of a Commission or Letter of Marque to him the said John
Barford
and in pursuance of his Majesty’s Instruction to Privateer made the following
Declaration to with that this the said Richard Maitland
his ship is Called the Hungerford
That she is a Square Sterned with three masts
and is of the burthen of about Two Hundred and Seventy Six tons
That the said John Barford goeth Commander of her That she Carrys Sixteen
Carriage Guns
Each Carrying shot of Six and Four & three pounds weight and
Swivel Guns and belonging to the port of London
Thirty Men Thirty small arms Thirty Cutlasses Twenty
Barrels of Powder Fifty Rounds of great Shot and about Six hundred
weight of small shot
That the said Ship is victualled for Ten months
hath two suits of sails Five Anchors Four Cables and about
Ten hundred weight of spare cordage
That John Castello goes Lieutenant John James Gunner William Green
Boatswain Joseph Hickman Carpenter Arthur Morris Cook John
Maitland Surgeon of the said Ship and that
Mr Joseph Robertson & Lawrence Boyd of London Merchants
are the Principal Owners and Setters out of the said Ship
Jno Barford
(His signature)
This declaration was made before me
And: Arth. Collier
Surrogate
1024
Hungerford
The like Commission is entered on Irof:2 was granted to John Barford to set
forth the Hungerford of the Burthen of about Two hundred & Seventy Six Tons
and belonging to the Port of London whereof he the said John Barford goeth
Commander Dated the Twenty Sixth Day of May 1761 and in the first year of his
Majesty’s Reign.
HCA/26/11/89:
Commander: John Barford.
Ship: Julines and Elizabeth. .
Burden: 600 tons.
Crew: 111.
Owners: William Green, Julines Beckford, Solomon Ashley and David Trinder of London, merchants.
Home port: London.
Lieutenant: Arthur Campbell.
Gunner: Andrew Slocombe.
Boatswain: John Knowles.
Carpenter: Solomon Wade.
Cook: James Dunn.
Surgeon: William Cranford.
Armament: 6 carriage guns.
Folio: 89
Covering dates 1759 August 10
1025:
Front Cover of the Book:
Letter of Marque or Reprisals against France from 20th day of June
1760.
In Richard Maitland’s accounts in Sarah Maitland’s memorial, a rate of 7 Carolina pounds to £1 sterling was used.
http://pirates.hegewisch.net/money.html
7/2016
During the Golden Age of Piracy, Spain minted coins in silver and gold. The
silver coins were known as Reales (Reals) and the gold coins, Escudos (Escudo)
The chart below shows the denomination of each coins minted. The famous
"Piece of Eight" was an 8 reale silver coin that had a distinctive
"8" stamped into it. It was the largest of the silver coins weighing
approximately one ounce.
The gold coins were known as escudos and also came in a several denominations with the largest of these coins, the 8 escudo, weighing approximately one ounce.
The chart below gives the common Spanish Coins used in the American Colonies, including the English Colonies in North America. Contrary to the movies and books, the 8 reale coin was not normally called a Piece of Eight; it was more often referred to as a Peso, Spanish or Miller Dollar or simply Dollar**. This was especially the case in the English Speaking American colonies.
There is often confusion about what constitutes a doubloon. Doubloon comes from the Spanish Doblón which means to double; thus a doubloon is a coin of double value. As you can see on the chart below all Spanish coins double in value as you go from the smallest to largest denomination.
Some online sources claim that the 2 escudo coin is a doubloon while others claim it to be the 4 escudo. According to the 2002 edition of Encyclopedia Americana the doubloon was the 8 escudo coin*. Because gold coins were not commonly used among most of society it is possible that any Spanish gold coin could have been called doubloons by the common sailor or shop keeper. Doubloon was slang and was not used to officially denote any of the Spanish gold coins.
Each reale was minted to contained an approximate weight of 0.1209 to 0.125 ounces of silver. Each escudo was minted from 0.1209 to 0.125 ounces of gold. Thus 8 reales equaled one ounce of silver and 8 escudos equaled approximately one ounce of gold. The 8 escudo piece was also known as the Onza.
Ingots (bars)of gold starting at one ounce and increasing in size were also cast and stamped with a royal seal..
By comparison the British Shilling was 1/20 ounce of silver. Thus 20 shillings made up the British Pound ( £ ). The British pound was the equivalent worth of the Colonial dollar ($) or piece of eight. (at least in weight) However, the British Crown frowned up foreign currency being used in its colonies and would often give a much lower rate of exchange on official transactions. By the time of the American revolution, Spanish or "Miller Dollars" as they became known were being exchanged at the rate of 4-8 shillings to the dollar. This is between 1/4 to 1/2 their actual value in silver!
Also by comparison there were 240 British pennies (240 pence) to £1.00 Stirling. Because of this the smaller British coins were often used interchangeably with the Spanish coins, 6 pence being worth slightly less than a 1/4 reale. The English 1/2 penny (pronounced hay-penny) was one of the smaller coins in common usage.
A Chart of Monetary Worth |
||||
Spanish |
Commonly |
Equivalent in |
Equivalent in |
Equivalent in |
1/4 Reale |
cautorillo |
1/4 Reale |
1/32 P/E |
1/512 Doubloon |
1/2 Reale |
1/2 reale |
1/2 reale |
1/16 P/E |
1/256 Doubloon |
1 Reale |
"Bit" |
1 Reale |
1/8 P/E |
1/128 Doubloon |
2 Reale |
2 Bits, |
2 reale |
1/4 P/E |
1/64 Doubloon |
4 Reale |
1/2 dollar |
4 Reale |
1/2 P/E |
1/32 doubloon |
8 Reale |
Duro |
8 Reale |
1 P/E |
1/16 Doubloon |
1/2 Escudo |
Escudito |
8 Reale |
1 P/E |
1/16 Doubloon |
1 Escudo |
Escudo |
16 Reale |
2 P/E |
1/8 Doubloon |
2 Escudos |
Pistole |
32 Reale |
4 P/E |
1/4 Doubloon |
4 Escudos |
(doubloon*) |
64 Reale |
8 P/E |
1/2 Doubloon |
8 Escudos |
Onza |
128 Reale |
16 P/E |
1 Doubloon |
A DNA analysis in 2017 showed up a relatively close connection to Lethington
Maitland:
Adam Maitland, married 3 July 1769 in Parish of Insch Aberdeenshire
Scotland,
Janet Mearns, dau of Alexander, born 13th Jan. 1734, Adam referred to as a
manufacturer.
Gravestone at Insch: Adam Maitland, late manufacturer, died 1781 aged 57.
MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, FATHER OF ADAM MAITLAND BORN IN 1775
(WITH THE SAME NAME):
born 1701; educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, 1713-18; became
schoolmaster of Rothiemay in 1718; ord., 19th Nov. 1729; died Father op the
Church 24th Oct. 1789. He marr. 2nd June 1731, Janet (died 18th June 1779),
daugh. of John Shanks, Kennethmont, and had issue —
Adam Maitland, ch 20 March
1775 in the Parish of Insch County of Aberdeenshire Scotland, son of Adam in
PR.
MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, FATHER OF DUNCAN MAITLAND BORN IN 1806:
Duncan Mearns Maitland,
born 10 March 1806 in Balquham Parish of Chapel of Garioch County of
Aberdeenshire Scotland, married 11 April 1857 in East Maitland NSW Australia,
died 3 October 1880 in West Maitland NSW Australia.
MY GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, DUNCAN MAITLAND’S FATHER (WITH THE SAME NAME)
Duncan Mearns Maitland,
born 1844 in London England, married 6 November 1867 in Paddington NSW
Australia, died 24 December 1899 in Woolloomooloo NSW Australia.
MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER, ARCHIBALD MAITLAND’S FATHER.
Archibald Eastmure Maitland,
born 29 June 1869 in Maitland NSW Australia, married 13 January 1906 in Glebe
NSW Australia, died 3 March 1935 in Camperdown NSW Australia. Note: “Eastmure”
is the correct spelling. Someone got it wrong on my birth certificate.
MY GRANDFATHER, MY FATHER’S FATHER.
Lethington Norman Maitland, born 20 December 1909 in Glebe NSW Australia, married 7 April 1949 in Sydney NSW Australia, died 2 August 2002 in Mona Vale NSW Australia.
LETHINGTON EASTMUIR MAITLAND[xliv] - sent this tree 8/2017
Born 1950 in Sydney NSW Australia
Tea at Charleston – the “London”
T 1/509/174-177
1026
Sir,
I am ordered by the Court of Directors if the East India Company, to transmit
to you the accompanying memorial, and to entreat you would be pleased to lay
the same before the Right Honrble. The Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s
Treasury,
I am, Sir,
Your most Obedient Servant, Michell
East India House, the 16th February 1774.
1027
176
To the Right Honourable The Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury
The Humble Memorial of the Court of Directors for the Affairs of the United
Company of Merchants of England, trading to the East Indies.
Sheweth,
That you Petitioners on the month of September last shipped on board the Ship
London, Captain Alexander Curling, Two hundred and fifty seven Chests of Tea,
and consigned the same to Mr Roger Smith and Messrs Leger and Greenwood of
Charles Town, South Carolina, Merchants, to be there legally imported, subject
to the American duty, and to be sold on the Account of the East India Company.
That on the Arrival of the said Ship at Charles town on the 2nd of
December last, several meetings were held by the Inhabitants to consider of
means to prevent the Landing of the said Teas, and the Agents appointed by your
Memorialists were so intimidated by the said Resolutions made, and menaces
thrown out, that they dared not attempt to Land the Teas and execute their
Commission.
That the Ship London having laid Twenty days in the said Port, after
which Period the Collector of His Majesty’s Customs there is obliged by Law,
and by his Instructions, to seize Goods liable to pay Duty, the said Collector
seized, landed, and stored the said Teas as being confiscated for want of Entry
and payment of the Duties due thereon. Under these Circumstances your Memorialists
humbly pray that your Lordships will be pleased to issue orders to His
Majesty’s Governor of South Carolina, or his Officers of the Customs there, for
Sale of the said Teas by public Auction, or in such manner as shall be thought
most expedient, and that the produce thereof, after deduction of the duty of
Customs, and incident Charges, may be paid to your Memorialists, or their
order, for the use of their Constituents the East India Company, or that your
Memorialists may have such other relief in the premises as to your Lordships in
your great wisdom shall seem meet.
And your Memorialists shall ever
India House, London
10th February 1774.
Background to the above:
The Royal Colony of South Carolina
The Tea Act and its Consquences in the Carolinas
http://www.carolana.com/SC/Royal_Colony/tea_act.html
In 1773, citizens of Charles Town met in the Great Hall to protest the Tea Act.
Rather than watching the tea get dumped in the harbor as had happened in Boston, British authorities seized the tea and locked it up in the cellars of the Exchange Building. Later, American patriots took possession of the tea and sold it to
benefit the cause of liberty.
A meeting at the Exchange Building was called on December 3 because 257 chests
of East India Company tea had arrived in Charles Town two days before in
Captain Alexander Curling’s ship, the London. George Gabriel Powell was elected
chairman of the meeting, and it became apparent in the ensuing debate that most
of the citizens present favoured absolute non-importation of teas subject to
tax. The East India Company consignees, who were present at the meeting,
received the thanks and applause of the assembly when they promised not to
accept the tea.
If this had been the full extent of the meeting’s historical importance, it would be an interesting, but hardly remarkable event. Strangely enough, however, the present government of the state of South Carolina traces its lineage to this anti-tea rally. As historian David Duncan Wallace points out, the colonial Assembly was the predecessor, but not the parent of the modern legislature. The meeting of December 3 led without a break to subsequent meetings and then to the General Committee, the Provincial Congresses, and finally the state General Assembly.
http://www.oldexchange.com/html/history.html
On December 22, 1773, Robert Dalway Haliday, the collector of customs for
Charles Town, had the tea shipment seized, unloaded, and stored in the warehouse
under the Exchange Building for non-payment of duties. Since the consignees
refused to receive the tea, it became liable to seizure by the Crown after
twenty days in port. A second meeting of the citizens on December 17 had
resolved that the tea should not be landed, and Captain Curling received
several anonymous letters threatening damage to his ship unless it was moved
away from the wharf.
When Lieutenant Governor William Bull was informed of the threats, he called an emergency meeting of the Council at his home. The sheriff was instructed by the lieutenant governor to assist the collector of customs if necessary, and to arrest anyone who attempted to obstruct the landing of the tea. Accordingly, the customs officers began moving the chests into the Exchange Building warehouse at sunrise on December 22, and at noon their task was almost finished. The patriots were taken completely by surprise, but they declared themselves satisfied as long as the unpopular merchandise remained under lock and key.
The tea remained in the Exchange Building until the
government of the province fell into the hands of the patriots, and it was sold
in 1776 to provide funds for defence against the British.
http://www.oldexchange.com/html/history.html
The tea remained in the Exchange until the government of the province fell into the hands of the patriots, and it was sold in 1776 to provide funds for defense against the British.
Unlike the Boston Tea Party protest in which tea was thrown overboard, a large shipment of tea was seized in 1773 and held in the cellar of the Old Exchange until 1776 when it was sold for funds to defend against the British.
Wikipedia:
Etymology
In the 13th century, the area was known as Scadflet and Shatfliet[1] –
derived from the Anglo-Saxon fleot, meaning a shallow creek or bay – the land
was a low lying marsh, until drained (by order of Act of Parliament, after
1587) by Cornelius Vanderdelf.[2] A spring, issuing from near the south wall of
the churchyard was dedicated to St Chad, and filled a nearby well.[3] The
origin of the name is therefore confused, being associated with both the
earlier use and the later well.
Origins
In the 17th century, Thomas Neale became a local landowner, and built a
mill and established a waterworks on large ponds, left by the draining of the
marsh. The area had been virtually uninhabited and he developed the waterfront,
with houses behind as a speculation. Shadwell became a maritime hamlet with
roperies, tan yards, breweries, wharves, smiths and numerous taverns, which
built up around the chapel of St Paul's. Seventy-five sea captains are buried
in its churchyard, while Captain James Cook had his son baptised there.
By the mid-18th century Shadwell Spa was established, producing sulphurous
waters, in Sun Tavern fields. As well as medicinal purposes, salts were
extracted from the waters; and used by local calicoprinters to fix their dyes.
The modern area is dominated by the enclosed former dock, Shadwell Basin, whose
construction destroyed much of the earlier settlement – by this time
degenerated into slums.[2] The basin once formed the eastern entrance to the
then London Docks, with a channel leading west to St Katharine Docks. It is
actually two dock basins - the south basin was constructed in 1828-32 and the
north basin in 1854-8.
Unlike nearby Limehouse Basin, few craft larger than canoes can be seen on
Shadwell Basin, which is largely used for fishing and watersports - and as a
scenic backdrop to the modern residential developments that line it. The basin,
however, is still connected to the Thames and the channel is spanned by a
bascule bridge.
Parish church
St. Paul's Shadwell with St. James Ratcliffe, is traditionally known as the
Church of Sea Captains. In 1656 the church was established as a Chapel of Ease,
from St Dunstan's, at Stepney. In 1669, it was rebuilt as the Parish Church of
Shadwell, and it was the last of five parish churches rebuilt after the
Restoration. In 1820, it was again rebuilt as a 'Waterloo church'.
Captain James Cook was an active parishioner and John Wesley preached in the
church from time to time. Isham Randolph, one of Thomas Jefferson's
grandfathers and son of William Randolph, was married in St. Paul's church.
Jefferson's boyhood home was named Shadwell after the parish.
Wikipedia:
Watermen's Stairs were semi permanent structures that formed part of a complex
transport network of public stairs, causeways and alleys in use from the 1300s
onwards to access the waters of the tidal River Thames in Great Britain. They were used by Watermen, who taxied passengers across and along the river in
London.
Stairs were used at high tide and causeways were used at low tide, built down
to the littoral water level from street level, their location was memorized
during a Watermen's apprenticeship. Stairs were recognized by custom and
practice, as safe plying places to pick up and put down passengers and were a
valuable aid to rescue should anyone be unfortunate enough to fall in to the
river as they were often built adjacent to a public house
King James Stairs & Sugar:
There is evidence of a sugar baker’s in King James Stairs between 1749 &
1762 (Sun Insurance records via Mawer).
Shadwell - St. Paul's Church - board records baptism of Cook's son, James,
there.
Shadwell - 340 The Highway - plaques marks site of Cook's house at 126 Upper
Shadwell from 1762 to 1763.
A detailed history of St Paul's Shadwell
Internet: http://www.stpaulsshadwell.org/Group/Group.aspx?id=47149
10/2009.
A fuller copy of this paper is on the Maitland Extracts volume (1/2020).
By Alan Baxter and Associates
1 The beginnings
The remains of a guard tower suggest that The Highway, on the higher ground
above the flood-prone area to the south, formed a main approach to Roman London
from the east, but it seems unlikely that there was any significant settlement
in the area up until the 16th century. The name ‘Shadewell’ was recorded as
early as 1223, and could have derived from Shady (or Poisoned) Well, Shallow
Well, or perhaps a corruption of St Chad’s Well. Despite such early records,
the area was sparsely inhabited, and in Tudor times it was covered with ditches
feeding a tidal mill.
Shadwell developed as a notable settlement from around 1600. It was in this
year that it was first mentioned in the baptism registers of St Dunstan’s,
Stepney, and its rapid growth is shown by its frequent recurrence in the
registers thereafter. Its position was ideal for further growth, as Ratcliff
immediately to the east was the nearest landfall downriver of London with a
good road to the capital, and was a place of embarkation and disembarkation for
travellers and sailors alike.
The majority of the land in Shadwell, from the site of the present Church in
the west to the borders of Ratcliff in the east, and from the line later marked
by Cable Street to the river, was owned by the Deans of St Paul’s, who were
inactive landlords. Nevertheless, in the early 17th century there was a
considerable growth in marine industries and trades in the area, which caused a
great increase in population and led to a house building boom. Over 60 fines
were levied on Shadwell houses built illegally in the 1620s and 1630s along The
Highway and the riverfront, and beside Fox’s Lane which ran between them just
east of where the present Church now stands.
By the time the Commonwealth government surveyed the Dean’s lands in 1650 there
were 703 houses in Shadwell, excluding the area west of Fox’s Lane not owned by
the Dean. Around 60% of the householders made their living on the river, as
mariners or watermen etc, while another 20% were in trades reliant directly on
shipping, such as shipbuilding or supporting crafts. 32 wharves lined the 400
yards of riverfront, while roperies, timber yards and smithies filled much of
the land behind.
In a few decades Shadwell had developed piecemeal into a considerable
settlement through speculative building, which had created a sprawl of houses
and industries with no defined centre and little social organisation. At around
3% of the population, the ‘middle class’ in Shadwell was extremely small in
comparison to the other Stepney hamlets. As late as 1640, the parish of Stepney
had 41 officers, but there were none responsible for Shadwell. The area
desperately needed social leadership and physical improvement.
2 Thomas Neal and urban development
Thomas Neal (or Neale) was a speculative builder, responsible for Neal Street
and the Seven Dials area of the West End. In 1656 he built a chapel in Shadwell
(described in 3 below), fulfilling the wishes of many local residents who felt
that, with a population of around 6,000 people, the area needed a focal point
for the community. His activity in Shadwell brought him into close friendship
with William Sancroft, the Dean of St Paul’s who had recovered the land after
the Restoration, and who later became Archbishop of Canterbury. This close
relationship allowed Neal to obtain the lease of Shadwell on extremely
favourable terms in 1669, and he set about improving the area in the hope of
increasing its value.
One of Neal’s first successes was in 1670, when his influential friends allowed
him to overcome numerous objections to splitting up the huge parish of Stepney.
In spite of other previous and much more practical proposals for four equal
parishes to be created, he gained separate parish status for the Shadwell
Chapel. The new parish church, serving an area only 910 by 760 yards, was
rededicated to St Paul in honour of the Dean of St Paul’s who had been so
favourable toward him. This victory gave Shadwell its own social structure
centred around the parish church, with its own organisation of churchwardens to
look after the community, ensure law and order, and levy rates to fund local
improvements.
Neal’s commitment to the area continued until his death at the end of the
century. In 1673 he rebuilt over 100 homes after they were destroyed by fire,
replanning the area with wider streets and building a new quay along the river.
In 1682 he rehoused over 1500 families after a massive fire in Wapping and
Shadwell, laying out Dean Street as a new thoroughfare. Neal also obtained a
charter to hold a market, which he built in 1681-82, so that his tenants did
not have to travel to the City to buy and sell, the nearer Ratcliff market having
foundered. In 1684, he opened a water works that pumped water from the river to
houses from East Smithfield to Stepney, and lasted until it was bought up by
the London Dock Company in the early 19th century.
Thomas Neal’s achievement was to turn the ramshackle, amorphous grouping of
houses into a real community with a religious and social centre in its parish
church, and a commercial heart surrounding its market. He greatly improved the
attractiveness of the area, paving the way for it to become famous as a
residence of sea captains during the 18th century.
3 The first church
The Chapel was built between 1656 and 1658 on land just outside the Dean of St
Paul’s estate, along The Highway on the high ground that never flooded. It was
a relatively simple building, still owing much to the medieval past in its
triple-gabled nave and aisles layout, though the individual features such as
the round-headed windows were classical.
Some important elements of this original Church still survive in the present building,
most notably the font. The pulpit was thought to be original by some
historians, but a different type is shown on illustrations of the old interior.
There also remain considerable items of furniture and plate from the old
Church.
4 The eighteenth century
Shadwell continued to grow in the early part of the 18th century as most of the
spare land was developed. A survey in 1732 noted over 1800 houses in the
parish, many of which had degenerated into slums. Unskilled people flocked to
the parish from as far afield as north east England and Ireland, looking for
casual labour on the docks and wharves. The continuing increase in seaborne
trade and naval expansion contributed to a growth in marine industries,
including the roperies with their typical long, narrow sheds and walks, so
evident on early maps.
Shadwell was famous for its many master mariners; over 175 were registered as
living in the parish at one time or another. By the end of the century, St
Paul’s was known as ‘the Church of the Sea Captains’, and 75 were said to be
buried in its vaults. Captain Cook was perhaps the most famous parishioner,
though Thomas Jefferson’s mother was also a regular worshipper before
emigrating to America. The Church was the centre of community life in Shadwell,
and attracted considerable bequests for its charitable works. Although not one
of the more missionary churches in the area, it was nonetheless the scene for
five of John Wesley’s sermons between 1770 and 1790, including his very last.
Shadwell’s maritime connections opened it up to the successive waves of
immigrants that came to Britain from the later 17th century. Huguenots were
among the first to arrive, and planted the ancient mulberry tree which still
survives in the Rectory garden for their silkworms. Spanish and Portuguese Jews
arrived later, and were known for their skills in metal working and casting.
Germans and Scandinavians were also a strong presence in Shadwell, being mainly
concerned with the timber trade and related businesses. The area was also
notorious for its many taverns and brothels, which did extremely well out of
the sailors passing almost continuously through the area.
The industrialisation of the area slowly led to a decline in the social status
of the inhabitants, and in their living conditions. J P Malcolm described
Shadwell in the following terms in 1803:
Thousands of useful tradesmen, artisans and mechanics, and numerous watermen
inhabit Shadwell, but their homes and workshops will not bear description; nor
are the streets, courts, lanes and alleys by any means inviting. …[the Church]
is a most disgraceful building of brick totally unworthy of description.
The fabric of the Church suffered from the inability of the parishioners to pay
adequately for its upkeep. The unstable south wall was rebuilt in 1735, but by
the end of the century the local people could not raise enough money to perform
vital repairs. When part of the ceiling fell down in 1811, the Church was
declared unfit for use, and was closed for all services except christenings and
burials.
Reference article continues on the present day.
In the mid-eighteenth century, an interest in electrostatics was very
fashionable. The well-off would not only attend lectures but buy the books and
equipment to copy the demonstrations they had seen in the lectures.
Take a good look at this engraving, from a book by William Watson (1748). A
simple hand-driven machine provides the electrical charge.
A very popular demonstration was to hang small boys by silk ropes and charge
them electrically. Their hair would stand on end and sparks might fly to anyone
who stood near. In the background are two bells that would ring under the
influence of electricity. The young girl also receives electrical charge.
Another popular demonstration was to let charge build up in a young girl and
invite members of the audience to experience and 'electrical kiss'.
The whole thing became 'the latest trend', and good money could be gained by
electrifying people in fair grounds. People thought that being electrified was
good for their health.
In the picture above, a man turns the handle on the machine which turns a glass
globe. The woman assistant holds her hand against the spinning globe to
'produce' static by the action of friction. The boy's feel also appear to rub
against the globe.
What happens when the boy and girl touch hands? Why is the girl standing on a
barrel? What is the girl looking at?
Study the picture then try our matching exercise.
the machine shown below was designed and built a little later than the scene
above and for a much more serious study of electricity.
The need for an assistant has been dispensed with. Instead a pad is used to rub
against the glass. We now know that electrons would have been rubbed from the
glass onto the pad, making the glass positively charged and the pad negatively
charged. Of course this was a long time before electrons were known about, but
the words positive and negative were used.
However what makes the machine so very special is not so much its construction
but that it was almost certainly designed, commissioned and used by a most
remarkable scientist: Joseph Priestley. A man who made huge contributions to
science.
The machine would have been made at about the time that Priestley wrote
'History and Present State of Electricity'. In this book he describes a
timeline of discoveries in the area of electrostatics and suggests a few ideas
of his own. To find out more, read about Static history or Priestley's story.
http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/search?id=3131
September 10, 1775 Captain Oliver Bowen and Major Joseph Habersham are ordered
to Tybee Island to watch for a ship bringing powder for the Royalists
September 17, 1775 Capt. Bowen, Capt. Barnwell, (SC) Capt.
Joyner (SC) and Major Joseph Habersham seize an armed British schooner off
Tybee Island under the command of Captain Maitland.
http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/londons-coffee-houses
Cafe culture in London is nothing new. The last ten
years may have seen a proliferation of places to buy a latte and flick through
the daily papers, but the real coffee revolution was in the late 1600s and
early 1700s, when as many as 3,000 coffee houses played host to
caffeine-fuelled debate, wheeler-dealing and gossip-mongering on London’s
streets.
Britain’s first coffee shop opened in Oxford in 1650. Two years later, a
Greek servant named Pasqua Rosee brought the new drink to the capital, opening
a shop in St Michael’s Alley, Cornhill. It was an overnight success and others
were quick to copy. Previously, men had gathered in taverns to do business and
exchange ideas. But they were often unpleasant, rowdy and – thanks to the ale –
unproductive venues. Coffee, on the other hand, “will prevent drowsiness and
make one fit for business”.
Soon, intellectuals, professionals and merchants thronged to the coffee
houses to debate, distribute pamphlets, do deals, smoke clay pipes and, of
course, consume a drink said to resemble “syrup of soot and essence of old
shoes”. Newsletters and gazettes (the precursors of newspapers) were
distributed in coffee houses and most functioned as reading rooms and notice
boards announcing sales, sailings, and auctions to the businessmen who
frequented them.
The best-known began to attract a distinct clientele. In 1688, Edward
Lloyd’s coffee house on Tower St earned a reputation as the place to go for
marine insurance. It later evolved into world-famous insurance market, Lloyd’s
of London. In 1698, the owner of Jonathan’s coffee house in Exchange Alley
began to issue a list of stock and commodity prices called “The Course of the
Exchange and other things”: so starting of the London Stock Exchange. Auction
houses Sotherby’s and Christie’s have their origins in coffee houses.
Physicians used Batson’s coffee house in Cornhill as a consulting room.
Chapter in Paul’s Alley was the chosen rendezvous for publishers and
booksellers. Scientists like Sir Isaac Newton and Professor Halley preferred
the Grecian on the Strand. While the wits of the day, including the playwright
Dryden, gathered at Will's in Russell Street, Covent Garden. Not everyone was
in favour of the coffee houses – or ‘penny universities’, as they had become
known. Women, in particular, objected to the amount of time their husbands
spent in such establishments. In 1674, the Women’s Petition Against Coffee was
launched, stating in a pamphlet that coffee, “made men as unfruitful as the
deserts whence that unhappy berry is said to be brought”. Despite earning
substantial revenues from the sale of coffee, King Charles II tried to ban the
establishments, condemning them as, “places where the disaffected met, and
spread scandalous reports concerning the conduct of his Majesty and his
Ministers”. But the outcry was such that he was forced to withdraw his
proclamation almost before the ink was dry.
By the mid 18th century, coffee shops began to wane in popularity as the
nation’s tastes turned to tea drinking. Those that remained began to cream off
a more aristocratic clientele by charging membership fees. The Gentleman’s Club
had been born.
T 1/509/178?
1029
1033:
Cruising Vessels under the direction of the Board of Excise for Suppressing
Smuggling Etc
A Brigantine the Royal Charlotte
Duncan Aire Commander /annum 50
1st Mate 40
2nd Mate 25
A Commander of a detached boat 25
A Carpenter 22-16
A Boatswain 20
A Gunner 18
24 men at £15 pa each 360
32 men’s subsistence of 9.75d per day 474-10
1060-6
A sloop the Royal George
John Ogilvie Commander per annum 50
1st mate 40
2nd mate 25
A clerk 25
A Carpenter 22-16
A Boatswain 20
A Gunner 18
19 men at £15 pa 285
26 men’s subsistence and 9.75d/day 385-10-7.5
871-6-7.5
A Brigantine the Princess Royal
John Macpherson Commander /annum 50
1st Mate 40
2nd Mate 25
3rd Mate 25
A Clerk 25
A Carpenter 22-16
A Boatswain 20
A Gunner 18
42 men at £15 pa each 630
50 men’s subsistence of 9.75d per day 741-18-1.5
1599-4-1.5
James Ramsay Agent Correspondent to the Yachts 60
Adam Pearson his Clerk 40
John Hepburn Accomptant 25
125
This family is included because of the supposed connection with the Maitland family via a Sarah Maitland who had children by Richard Parchment (b 1747).
St Elizabeth parish, Jamaica, West Indies, and the American-born Loyalist ANDREW BROMFIELD....
The following is a composite of several sources:
Outline from Parchment family notice board
A tree from Louise Currie (LC)
Extra information from Denny Swaby (DS).
Land Grant indices.
the original immigrant, was granted land in Jamaica eleven years after the island was taken from the Spanish and made a British possession. Between January 1666 and July 1685, 1070 acres of land was deeded to him. (Plat Book 1B/11/2/15) There is also a Richard Parchment who owned land in York County, Virginia, and who had been a resident there from 1654. (N. Nugent, "Cavaliers and Pioneers, vol I, 497; also... Fleet, "Virginia Colonial Abstracts, vol 25, 323) It is not unreasonable to assume that both were the same man, since this particular section of the island was settled by "sundry mariners, vagabonds and settlers" (Calendar of Colonial Papers, 1670) according to one Governor of the island, who also described Virginia as "the bolthole of Jamaican debtors." In his will, dated "ye 27th day of December, in the Year of Our Lord 1686," Richard Parchment describes himself as being "in perfect sense and memory, but very weak and ill." (of St Elizabeth, 6/135) He named his beloved wife Jane as executrix of his entire estate, which he charged her to administer on behalf of his children. From the records, he appears to have had at least two children:
1/1. Richard, who by 1700 had inherited the land granted his father,
1/2. Rebecca, who married William Legister, 17 Mar 1708/9 (Register No 1B/11/8/6 vol:1)
in 1984 who sent me some pages about Parchments taken from typed work called “Whose Child Are You” by Carolee Elliott Mitchell, in which she discusses the Parchments from Jamaica. Here is a transcript of the pages:
Jamaica Plats for Richard Parchment, St Elizabeth:
3/1684-5 500A St E Vol10
5/4/1674 150A St E V5
1/8/1666 270A
RICHARD PARCHMENT
married MARY, and they were the parents of
1/1. John, bapt 28 Nov 1708/9
1/2. Jane, bapt 8 Feb 1705 (Register No. 1B/11/8/6 vol 1)
LC: Baptism: November 28, 1708, St. Elizabeth, by Josiah Tookerman, rector (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, I, p. 2.)
married RUTH,
The name Parchment appears in the St Elizabeth Indices several times. In 1802, this family owned land SE of Black River.
1/1. Richard, bapt 27 May 1749, at age 1 year and 6 months
LC: Baptism: May 27, 1749, St.
Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St.
Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, I, p. 7.)
Appears to have worked as overseer of his sea-captain father's estate of
Southfield Penn (penn = ranch). There is no record of his marriage, and his
children are listed in the section of the register headed "Baptisms of
Persons Not White." It has been suggested that the mother of his children,
SARAH MAITLAND, was of the family of John Maitland. With Richard Parchment as
the "reputed father", Sarah had a family listed as 'mulatto' and as
'quadroon'. Antony Maitland’s research makes this look very unlikely, even if
she really was named Maitland.
Ref DS:
was "set" to inherit his parents estate on the condition (stated in
his father's will) that he should marry only a "white" woman.
Richard Parchment had children with 'Sarah Maitland' who according to one
'researcher' was 'non-white'. Consequently the 'Parchment' estate passed to his
sister "Mary Parchment" who married my ancestor "Andrew
Bromfield - Lt. Colonel St. Elizabeth parish Militia, Jamaica".
Several sources quote a Sarah Maitland being baptised in St Elizabeth in 1748,
but the parish records as they now exist, show this Sarah as being Sarah MELLAND:
in the beginning pages of the St Elizabeth and other registers, the minister
was sometimes recording only the name of the fathers. At other times he listed
the wife's name. Occasionally he noted "and his wife".
Here there is no mention of the mother, or of the father's marital status.
Actual record in LDS Microfilm has Richard MELLAND as father. Index has Melland
(original in Jamaica). It is entirely possible that this is a transcription
error as the extant records look to be later (19thC?) copies of the originals.
Age: Bapt January 23, 1748, 15 months, thus born abt October 1746[144].
A Mary Maitland was baptised in St Andrew, 28/6/1740, dau of Richard Maitland
born of a mulatto slave of Mrs Laws. This was probably a (half) sister of
Sarah, if she was indeed Maitland, not Melland.
Later from Louise Currie (22/3/2003) Sarah Maitland’s father Richard could have
been the one who died of Kensington, planter of Jamaica. His will makes no
mention of Sarah of any children, but was proved London, 23 August, 1763,
mentioning a wife. This looks the most likely, as he did not marry until later
in England. This Richard Maitland is known to have been commercially active,
and probably resident, in Jamaica from about 1740; deeds and land grants show
this.
One source (Carolle Mitchell) says she was a Yamasee Indian. Yamasee were an
Indian tribe assimilated into the Seminole and Creek tribes in Florida in the
first half of the 18thC., but originally from near Charleston, SC.
The Yamasees were involved in selling land to a British consortium, including
Richard Maitland, merchant around Pensacola at the end of the seven years war.
As it happens, our Captain Richard also bought some land there from one of the
investors, but he could not have any issue there in 1746: he did not go to
North Americn until 10 years later.
A Sarah Maitland owned one elderly female slave, Fibba (65, Creole) in the
returns of 1817.
Issue of Richard & Sarah Parchment:
2/1. Elizabeth, born 19 Aug 1772, bapt 1 Aug 1773
LC for this line:
Baptism: August 01, 1773, St. Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish
Register I & II, 1707-1825, I, p. 35.)
1773 August 1, baptised, Elizabeth M., reputed daughter of Richard Parchment by
Sarah Maitland, born 19 August 1772, non white .
Burial: June 07, 1833, New Burial Ground, Spanish Town, St. Catherine aged 55
of Spanish Town, by the Revd. William Broadley (Source: B0024 Jamaica Parish
Register Burials I & II, 1826-1844, I, p. 125 #39.)
Race/nationality/color: Free quadroon.
Partner: Mr McKenzie: Race/nationality/color: White (by calc.)
3/1. Marianne5 McKenzie, born Bef. June 03, 1797.
Baptism: June 03, 1797, St.
Catherine (Source: B0080 St. Catherine Parish Register BMB I & II,
1669-1825, II, p. 107.). Race/nationality/color: Free mustee
She met Alexander Grant Bef. 1812, son of David Grant and Ann Hitchman. He was
born March 31, 1790. Addressed as: 1816, Esquire
Baptism: January 07, 1791, Kingston (Source: B0061 Kingston Parish Register
Baptisms I & II, Marriages I, 1721-1825, Bap. I, p. 424.)
Occupation: 1836, Gentleman. Residence: 1836, Kingston
Both Single: Bef. 1812
4/1. James Grant, born July 13, 1812.
Baptism: November 01, 1813, Kingston (Source: B0061 Kingston Parish Register Baptisms I & II, Marriages I, 1721-1825, II, p. 264.)
4/2. Alexander Green Grant, born October 18, 1815.
Baptism: July 06, 1816, Kingston
(Source: B0061 Kingston Parish Register Baptisms I & II, Marriages I,
1721-1825, II, p. 301.)
In Jamaica in the early 19th century the child of a white and a mustee would
have been deemed "white by law," with "the same rights and
privileges as British subjects, born of white parents, with certain
restrictions." (They did not have the right to vote).
3/2. Elizabeth Anna McKenzie, born September 14, 1798.
Baptism: December 21, 1799, St. Catherine (Source: B0080 St. Catherine Parish Register BMB I & II, 1669-1825, II, p. 119.)
2/2. William, born 28 Aug 1775,
LC: Baptism: 1785, St. Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, I, p. 51.)
2/3. Richard, born 14 Dec 1779, (mulatto/quadroon)
Baptism: 1785, St. Elizabeth
(Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, I, p. 51.)
Race/nationality/color: 1824, Free person of color Residence: 1824, St.
Elizabeth
Marriage Notes for Richard Parchment and Mary Bromfield: It is not certain the
Richard Parchment who married Mary Bromfield was the same Richard who had
several children by Camilla Parchment.
M. (1) Camilla Parchment.
Baptism: August 20, 1807, Mrs. Bromfield's, St. Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St.
Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, I, p. 130.). Race/nationality/color:
Black
Issue of Richard Parchment and Camilla Parchment:
3/1. Arabella Parchment, born Bef. August 20, 1807.
Baptism: August 20, 1807, Mrs. Bromfield's, St. Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, p. 130.)
3/2. Priscilla Parchment, born Bef. August 20, 1807.
Baptism: August 20, 1807, Mrs. Bromfield's, St. Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, I, p. 130.)
3/3. John Maitland Parchment, born Bef. August 20, 1807.
Baptism: August 20, 1807, Mrs. Bromfield's, St. Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, I, p. 130.)
3/4. Benjamin Brady? Parchment, born Bef. August 20, 1807.
Baptism: August 20, 1807, Mrs. Bromfield's, St. Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, I, p. 130.)
Married (2) daughter of Andrew
Bromfield and Rose Reynolds MARY BROMFIELD, by banns 29 Jan 1824. (Register No.
1B/11/8/6 vol 1)
Race/nationality/color: Free person of color
Residence: 1824, St. Elizabeth
Sterling Binns has these 2 and several others as children of Richard & Mary
Parchment, but not the children listed above, on his web site:
http://www.myheritage.com/site-53652081/binns-extended-family-website
3/2009.
3/1. Richard Elmers Parchment, bapt 31 Dec 1818 D 1893.
(Register No. 1B/11/8/6 vol 1)
M. Mary Ann Falconer.
4/1. Simeon Kieth Parchment, 1851-1953, M. Jane Elizabeth Nicholson
5/1. Adelaide Eugene Parchment, 1880-1947, M. Richard DeSouza Binns
3/2. Evalina Maitland Parchment, born 6 Jan 1825, bapt 2 Oct 1831
(Register No. 1B/11/8/6 vol 5)
2/4. John born 12 Feb 1782,
LC: Baptism: 1785, St. Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, p. 51.)
2/5. Nicholas, born 2 Sept 1785, all four bapt 19 Oct 1785
LC: Baptism: 1785, St. Elizabeth
(Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, I, p. 51.)
Ref DS:
3/1. Henry Gale Parchment,
The following from Mark Bishton
baptized 30 Dec 1818 in St. Elizabeth Parish married Sarah Amelia Gordon
(Baptized 5th Dec. 1830, Mustee, Sarah aged 3 1/2 years, parents Larchin and
Ann Frances Gordon, married, Abode: Happy Retreat, by Rev. J Waters.) 01 Nov
1844 at St. Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica:
From St Elizabeth Yahoo Group, Rhona Panton
moved to West Bay Grand Cayman along with 4 children including Cecelia
Clementine.
4/1. Mary Maitland Parchment, G grandmother of Denny Swaby.
ch 22/2/1846, b 7/12/1845 of Providence, Settler.
4/2. Joseph Alexander Parchment
born 30 Apr 1847,
4/3. Cecilia Clementina Parchment born 20 Apr 1849,
4/4. Henry Elmore Parchment born 20 Aug 1851.
Henry Gale died about 1859 & Sarah remarried to Joseph David Yates a
widower who already had 5 children. They had 4 children together including my
great grandmother:
4/1. Benjamina Yates, who married William Atkin Jackson
(Jacksonville, Isle of Pines, Cayman was named for Atkin).
2/6. Sarah, born 15 jan 1780, bapt 3 Mar 1780
(Register No. 1B/11/8/6 vol 1)
1/2. Elizabeth, bapt 12 Aug 1753
LC: Baptism: August 12, 1753, St. Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, p. 9.)
1/3. John, bapt 28 July 1759, at 14 months
LC: Baptism: July 28, 1759, St. Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825, I, p. 19.)
1/4. Jean, about 4 yrs old,
LC: Age: November 1765, About 4
years
Baptism: November 1765, St. Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish
Register I & II, 1707-1825, I, p. 27.)
1/5. Mary, about 1 yr old, both bapt in Nov 1765
LC: Baptism: November 1765, St.
Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish Register I & II, 1707-1825,
I, p. 27.)
Married Andrew Parchment, as 2nd wf after Rose Reynolds.
1/6. Nancy, born 28 Aug 1769, bapt in July 1770
(Register No. 1B/11/8/6 vol 1)
LC: Baptism: July 1770, St. Elizabeth (Source: B0037 St. Elizabeth Parish
Register I & II, 1707-1825, p. 31.)
Andrew Bromfield & Rose Reynolds Issue (from David Bromfield web site:
1/1. John Frederick Bromfield b 1777 M. Mary Mullings
2/2. William Mullings B m. Ellen Caroline Hutchinson
3/1. David Hutchinson Bromfield M. Margaret Elizabeth Clacken,
4/1. Vida Ella Orbel Bromfield
2/1. John Mullins Bromfield & Lucy Facey Seaton
3/1. Mary Ann Bromfield & Christopher Bromfield
4/1. David Christopher Bromfield & Vida Ella Orbel Bromfield,
5/1. Albert Winston Bromfield
& Sigrid Hazel Agatha Gray
6/1. David Michael Hurlstone Bromfield
Descendants of Nicholas Maitland Parchment
Generation No. 1
1. Nicholas Maitland Parchment was born Abt. 1811.
Married Sarah Yuil (Parchment).
She was born Abt. 1811.
Occupation: 1836, Planter of Comfort
Issue (many more listed on PR):
2/1. Margaret Parchment, born June 14, 1836.
Baptism: December 30, 1836, St.
Elizabeth.
Married Herbert Gordon May 19, 1858, St. E by banns
born April 08, 1838, Baptism: July 13, 1838, St. Elizabeth
2/2. Isabella Bonniella b. 15/11/1845, ch 2/1846
of Nicholas Maitland Parchment & Sarah Ewell his wife of Comfort, Settler.
2/3. Thomas Ewell - b 4/10/1847 ch 30/1/1848
of Nicholas Maitland Parchment & Sarah Ewell
2/4. Ezekiel b 28/4/1850 ch. 1/2/1850
of Nicholas Maitland Parchment & Sarah Ewell his wife/ Comfort/ Settler/ W. Forbes/
The name Parchment appears in the St Elizabeth Indices
several times. In 1802, this family owned land SE of Black River.
St Elizabeth PR from Jamaica Web site:
269 / 1846 February ?/ ? Isabella Bonniella - 15th November 1845/ Nicholas
Maitland Parchment & Sarah Ewell his wife/ Comfort/ Settler/ W. Forbes/
? / 1846 February 22nd/ Mary Maitland - 9th December 1845/ Henry Gale Parchment
& Sarah Amelia his wife/ Providence/ Settler. W. Forbes/
290 / 1846 April 24th/ Henry - 1st February 1846/ Henry Gale & Rebecca his
wife/ Greenvale/ Settler/ Thos. P. Williams/
155 / 1848 January 30th/ Thomas Ewell - 4th October 1847/ Nicholas Maitland
Parchment & Sarah Ewell his wife/ Comfort/ Settler/ Forbes/
468 / 1850 April 28th/ Ezekiel - 1st February 1850/ Nicholas Maitland Parchment
& Sarah Ewell his wife/ Comfort/ Settler/ W. Forbes/
MANY other Parchments listed.
See Maitland Private more on Sarah Maitland
Information from David Bromfield, (5/2001):
I am descended from 'Andrew Bromfield & Rose Reynolds'. Andrew Bromfield
had later married "Mary Parchment" daughter of John & Ruth
Parchment. John & Ruth had a son "Richard Parchment" who was
"set" to inherit his parents estate on the condition (stated in his
father's will) that he should marry only a "white" woman. Richard
Parchment had children with 'Sarah Maitland' who according to one 'researcher'
was 'non-white'. Consequently the 'Parchment' estate passed to his sister
"Mary Parchment" who married my ancestor "Andrew Bromfield - Lt.
Colonel St. Elizabeth parish Militia, Jamaica".
Mary Bromfield, born 1785, St E, dau of Andrew & Rose (Reynolds) Bromfield,
married 29/1/1824, Richard Parchment son of Sarah Parchment
(above).
DENNY SWABY Correspondence:
9/12/2003:
Denny Swaby[iv]
I know the names of my paternal grandfather as well as great grand father and
mother. I have passed this information to the Registrar General Department in
Jamaica to see what they can find. I remember hearing various family stories
when I was a child about the Swaby that started the lineage in Jamaica. One of
the things that I remember was this original Swaby was a military officer. He
was either German or English. The Jamaican records if they exist will verify
lineage. I’m not sure of the extent of your research on Joseph Swaby, but
thought it best to ask a few questions. Do you know if there were generations
of Swaby’s in Jamaica prior to Joseph James Swaby? If Joseph Swaby was the
first Swaby in Jamaica, are you also aware of his place of birth?
Sat, 21 Feb 2004 16:48:47 -0500
Thank you for responding to my e-mail. I have a good understanding of my Swaby
ancestry at this point. Since I live in the Cayman Islands I was able to visit
the Registrar Generals Department in Jamaica.
I wanted to let you know that I found a Maitland connection through my
paternal grandmother. My great grandmother was Mary Maitland Parchment.
Mary’s father was Henry Gale Parchment. Henry was baptized in 1819 in St.
Elizabeth Jamaica. His parents are not listed and he is baptized with numerous
other Parchment children. I did not have enough time to complete my research
on Henry, but he appears to be descended from Richard Parchment and Sarah
Maitland.
Denny
dcswaby wrote: 6/2005.
Hi Antony,
It’s been some time since we’ve communicated.... I was in Jamaica earlier
this week and came across a will for John Maitland....
The will I found for John Maitland stated that is mother was Sarah
Maitland. John left his estate to Rebecca Wright and two children Frances and
Richard. This appears to be part of the Maitland family identified in on your
site. Are they descended from Francis Maitland and who was Sarah Maitland?
Best Regards Denny Swaby
From: Antony Maitland [mailto:antony@antonymaitland.com]
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 5:06 PM
To: dcswaby
Good to hear from you, even is your information throws my earlier ancestry in
grave doubt!
Did you by any chance take any details of John Maitland's will? (even a
reference number so I can get hold of it either when I next go to Jamaica or
via and agent): It sounds very much as though he is my GGGG grandfather -
Francis and Richard were his sons and Rebecca their mother.
On the subject of your family, I had a couple of emails from a Swaby from St
Elizabeth recently, which might interest you:
The sender is:
Jean Prytyskacz
Hi Antony- I'm writing you to find out more information on the history of the
Swaby family in Jamaica. My maternal grandmother was Anice Swaby from Santa
Cruz, St. Elizabeth Parish. She was married to Wilfred Charles Hendricks (from
England) my grandfather who was a planter in Greenvale, Mandeville during the
20's,30's and 40's. He was also the postmaster of the Mandeville Post Office.
Anyway, I would like to know who was the earliest Swaby on the island? I know
there were several Joseph James Swabys. There was a Horatio Swaby that my
grandmother was related to, but I don't know if there were more than one. Or if
Horatio was a son or grandson of one of the Joseph James (Swaby). Did the
Swaby's own any farms or estates in Yorkshire where they are originally from,
besides having Jamaican property? I hope you could answer my questions. I
enjoy reading your web site very much.
Thanks, Jean
7 Nov 2005
Good to hear from you. Interestingly enough I was scheduled to go to Jamaica
on business tomorrow, but had to cancel as my wife caught a virus. On business
trips to Jamaica I try to schedule some time at the Registrar General’s as
well. I was looking forward to this trip as NCR had offered to show me around
St. Elizabeth. I’m hoping I can go again in a week or two. If I find anything
else I’ll let you know. The Jamaican deeds and wills seem to be the best key
for connecting families.
I was able to connect my maternal grandmother (Mary Maitland Parchment) to
Richard P and Sarah M. It appears that Mary was descended from Sarah Maitland’s
son Nicholas. I have a copy of Richard Parchment’s will as well as the will of
his father John Parchment.
Thanks for keeping in touch. It will be interesting to see what you
find on your visit to the West India Committee.
Posted by: Stephanie Binns Date: May 15, 2001 at 19:36:26 In Reply to: Re:
Southfield Plantation, Saint Elizabeth by Robert Hodgson
Hi,
Thanks for your reply.
I want to start by making things a bit more confusing. John Parchment had two
sons, Richard and John, but he also had several daughters, Elizabeth, Jean,
Mary, and Nancy. I failed to mention the daughters because I incorrectly
assumed that the land was being passed from father to son.
Mary Parchment married Andrew Bromfield. He also had relations with Rose
Reynolds and Amy Bradford. I descend from his relation with Rose Reynolds. I
hate to say he wasn't original but they also had a child Mary Bromfield. His
child with Mary Parchment was Mary Pringle Bromfield.
John Parchment's son Richard had several children with Sarah Maitland (of whom
I have found almost no information) and they had a child names Richard. Richard
married Mary Bromfield (daughter of Andrew and Rose Reynolds). So, Andrew
Bromfield was not only Richard's father-in-law but the husband of his aunt.
Confused?
A bit of clarification, please? Who lived at Berry Hill Andrew Bromfield and
Rose Reynolds or Andrew Bromfield and Mary Parchment?
Okay, you asked if all of the information I have is from my aunt. I have
researched here in the United States and have looked only at parish registers.
I have not seen anything with properties actually mentioned unless they were on
a baptism as a place of residence. I will call her and see if she as copies she
could send me of her research. I will also send you a copy of the information
she gave me. There maybe information you get out of it that I may not yet. I
have only been researching about a year and a half and will not have the
opportunity to travel to Jamaica for these types of documents for at least
another year. She has documents sited but I don't have the hard copies, nor
have I seen them.
You asked about the Mayfield school. I am guessing that this may be the school
at Berry Hill. My grandmother, granddaughter of Richard E. Parchment, the
"school master" went to the Mayfield school. She said it was a one
room school house. Note that she went to school in the early 1900s. Sadly she
died before I was old enough to really start asking her questions. I will ask
my aunt who grew up there.
Lastly, the Binns/Parchment family you mentioned. I would really like to find
out more. There are two Binns/Parchment families I know of. One of them is my
grandparents, both were born in 1901. The other family is Richard Binns and
Adelaide Eugene Parchment. I don't have dates but she is the daughter of
"old man Simeon" so I am guessing she was born earlier.
I will be in touch soon. Please keep me posted with your research.
Thanks,
Stephanie
http://www.southfieldhodgsons.com/andrewbromfield.html
1/2009:
Andrew Bromfield
(1741-1807)
Andrew Bromfield was a great, great grandfather of Mass Teddy. One of six
children, he came from a rich Scottish family that owned Estate's in
Berwickshire and Roxburghshire. He was born in 1741 and baptised 1744 at Eccles
Parish Church, Berwickshire, Scotland.
The Bromfield siblings consisted of three boys and three girls. All six of them
eventually resided at their own properties in the town of Kelso which was just
over the border in Roxburghshire.
Andrew Bromfield and his two brothers all joined the British Army and later
became Officer's of their Regiment. His eldest brother, Stephen became a
Colonel. He and his brother John were Captain's in the same unit, the 40th
Regiment of Foot. Great Britain had owned Jamaica now for just over 100 years
and many English and Scots had become extremely rich after moving there. Andrew
must have had thoughts of owning a Plantation in Jamaica too. Sometime between
the years of 1770-1773 he decided to go to Jamaica. Still a member of the Army
he borrowed money from his eldest brother Stephen who had become the wealthiest
of the brother's. I have heard that there is apparently a Stephen Bromfield
document which states something like this about Andrew "My brother is
wasting away and desperate to seek his fortune in Jamaica!"
In 1772 a Newspaper article appeared in the Scottish, Kelso Chronicle showing
Andrew had purchased an African Slave. He and his brother John sailed to
Jamaica. Andrew or both of them owned land in the parish of Clarendon which was
then adjoined to Saint Elizabeth. Incidentally, Mass Teddy's son Leslie once
said to my father that two brother's had come over from Scotland and that one
of them went to Clarendon, the other one moved to Saint Elizabeth. He also said
nobody knows what happened to the other brother. It is almost certain that
these were those Bromfield brother's, not the Hodgson's
Around 1784 he was named as a signed witness to the will of a man named John
Parchment who was the owner of the land of 'Southfield Penn' in Saint
Elizabeth. Just one year after John Parchment's death, Andrew married his
daughter Mary Parchment in 1785. She had inherited from her father and was now
the owner of the land and slaves of Southfield Penn. Andrew and Mary's marriage
appeared in the Saint Elizabeth church register under the heading
"Marriages of White Persons in 1785"
Prior to his marriage, Andrew had children from "relationships" with two of his slaves, one was a Quadroon and the other a "Person of colour" On the day of his wedding, they were all baptised and given their freedom. A descendant of one of them, David Bromfield once kept in touch and gave me much information concerning the Bromfield's.
Twelve years after his Marriage and with a growing family including our 3 year old Amelia Bromfield, he and his brother John both went AWOL, "Absent Without Leave" from their British Regiment, their positions being replaced by other soldiers. It was 1797 and was probably the time that Andrew officially left Britain. He became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Saint Elizabeth Militia Army instead whilst also owning Southfield Plantation and 80 slaves.
His brother moved back to Scotland where he married and raised a legitimate family of three daughters there. When the brother died at Kelso in 1821, his occupation was listed as a Coffee Planter/Merchant "sometime of Jamaica" It appears that he was probably involved in Andrew and Mary's Coffee Plantation Business at Southfield. There is evidence that John and a sister once sailed to Southfield, became ill and had the Doctor's bill paid by their wealthier brother Colonel Stephen Bromfield of Kelso.
The future would not prove to be as fruititus as the Bromfield's and other Planters thought because in England the "Abolition of Slavery" movement had been operating slowly in the background since 1788 and was gathering momentum at Parliament. It would ultimately play a part in the death of Andrew Bromfield.
Southfield Plantation was now an established business and is shown on a Jamaican property map of 1804 showing the Bromfield and Parchment Properties at Southfield and Yardley Chase. The map also shows their neighbours, the Bent's of Top Hill, Johnson's of Belle Vue and the Ebanks of Flagaman.
In 1807 the abolition Bill was to be passed on the outlawing of the Slave Trade. It was something that all Colonial's including the Jamaican Planters were all strongly opposed to because it would mean the demise of their once highly profitable business. Many Jamaican Planters would be ruined so they petitioned and sailed to London from their Jamaican Estates to try to overturn the ruling which was to be chaired at the House of Commons, London. Andrew Bromfield was in Central London during that Month and died on the 11th March 1807 aged 66. His death occurred just two weeks before the Bill was passed on the 25th March 1807. Although there is no certain proof as to why he was in London, it does seem very obvious that it was connected to the Abolition. He was not buried in the Bromfield Monument at Eccles Parish Church, due to his death occurring outside of Scotland, therefore his place of burial must be in London, but has yet to be found. Because he was a British Gentleman, his death was announced in several English and Scottish Newspapers and publications;
This chapter is very interesting and relevant to an event that was celebrated
and noted in England this year 2007, the Bi-Centenary (200 years) of the
Abolition of the Slave Trade which occurred on the 25th March 1807. It is also
200 years since the death of Andrew Bromfield.
JFS:
William Maitland was born Abt. 1799, and died February 1834, aged abt 35. Partner: Susan Gladstone.
Burial: February 01, 1834, Carawina Estate, Westmoreland, by Thomas Stewart, rector. Occupation: February 1834, Planter, Residence: Bet. 1829 - 1834, Carawina Estate
Children of William Maitland and Susan Gladstone are:
Three children were baptized on the same day by Thomas Stewart, rector. Their residence was Carawina, Baptism: September 04, 1829, Westmoreland:
2 i. James Gladstone Maitland, born December 09, 1824.
3 ii. William Russell Maitland, born December 17, 1826.
4 iii. Margaret Maitland, born September 25, 1828.
MILITIA OF JAMAICA
MILITIA OF FOOT 1874
ST. ANDREW’S REGIMENT
Mate, Alexander Maitland
Unpublished data and addresses etc as footnotes format i,ii,iii…
Denny Swaby[xlv]
David Bromfield[xlvi]
Michael Sandford[xlvii]
Louise Currie[xlviii]
These do not appear on the web version of this paper.
Sources as Endnotes format 1,2,3…
The following sources are indicated in superscript; there are so many pieces of
data that only the general source is shown: detailed references are on a
dedicated list (XL):
NP: http://newspaperarchive.com/
Extensive collection of English (mainly London) 18thC newspapers. Searchable by
name.
LL: http://www.maritimearchives.co.uk/lloyds-register.html.
Lloyds Register & Lists. Searchable by name.
SCG South Carolina Gazette (SCG) and
SCAG South Carolina and American Gazette,
London Metropolitan Archives
Genesreunited Newspaper Archive shipping intelligence
Newspaper archive records (British) (http://newspaperarchive.com/)
Charleston Newspapers:
South Carolina Gazette
The South Carolina & American General Gazette — 1764–1775
both found with name indexes in the SC Room, Charleston
Library.
Some notes on South Carolina Shipping are included in the Maitland Extracts
Volume.
CO 142 shipping records for Jamaica
-13 1680-1705
-14 1709-22
-15 1727-53
-16 1752-62 Hungerford arrival missing – what about the Duke, 1757? – 1752-
March 1762, Duke period missing?
-17 1766-69 relevant period missing
-18 1762-65 after John M’s shipwreck
-19 1766-84
-20 1771-88
-31 1754 Landholders
BT 6/186: Jamaica Shipping returns: Hope found.
ADM 51/1025: HMS Valeur Captain’s logs.
ADM 51/385: HMS Garland Captain’s logs re the Duke.
CO 5:
Shipping Returns:
Charleston port records:
-510 1736-64
-511 1764-65 Little Carpenter & Achilles appear.
-573 1765-69 – St Augustine n/a.
-710 1764-67
-1450 1766-70
-601 Land grants Florida see Richard Maitland.
ADM36 & 37 RN Muster Logs
C 13/661/36 – Re George Booth esq 1769 land 1811 Mayhew litigation.
C 13/679/20 - ditto 1813
CO 141 – Gazette.
C 11/352/25 Thomas Penford litigation 1728. – refers to will and estate from
early 18thC & property in Leicestershire. TP butcher of Kingston Jamaica.
Prob N/A.
CO 441/11/20 Sinclair incumbered estates commission. Daniel Sinclair,
Westmoreland, adjoins Old Hope Pen. N/a
PROB 4/5522 Inventory of Thomas Burton, 8/11/1680 Jamaica – illegible.
TS 11/1057 – Trial papers of Ebenezer Smith Platt – all
copied
T 1/509 ff174-177 - Letter from East India Company re tea losses in Georgia. Copies, but N/A.
HCA 26/12/87 – Registers of Declarations for Letters of Marque against France for Richard Maitland
HCA 26/12/101 – John Maitland surgeon on privateer.
PRO 30/29/3/5 – 17 copy letters, background only.
Note Lloyds List were printed using the ecclesiastical year.
These are mostly available online.
Google books extracts & hard copies in the SC Room in
Charleston Library:
Henry Laurens used the Maitlands (Richard and occasionally John) to carry
freight and papers across the Atlantic, and was a partner in the building of
the Magna Charta with Richard Maitland. His papers were transcribed by the
South Carolina Historical Society. Henry & his brother James were sometime
part owners of the Magna Charta with Richard Maitland.
Henry Laurens (March 6, 1724 [O.S. February 24, 1723] – December 8, 1792) was
an American merchant and rice planter from South Carolina who became a
political leader during the Revolutionary War. A delegate to the Second
Continental Congress, Laurens succeeded John Hancock as President of the
Congress. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and President
when the constitution was passed on November 15, 1777.
Laurens had earned great wealth as a partner in the largest slave-trading house
in North America (Austin and Laurens). In the 1750s alone, this Charleston firm
oversaw the sale of more than 8,000 enslaved Africans.[2] He was for a time
Vice-President of South Carolina and a diplomat to the Netherlands during the
Revolutionary War. He was captured at sea and imprisoned for some time by the
British in the Tower of London.
His son John Laurens, a colonel in the Continental Army and officer on
Washington's staff, believed that Americans could not fight for their own
freedom while holding slaves. In 1779, he persuaded the Continental Congress to
authorize the recruitment of a brigade (3000 men) of slaves, who would be given
their freedom after the war. However, when he presented it to them, the South
Carolina Provincial Congress overwhelmingly rejected the proposal, and instead
voted to use confiscated slaves as payment to recruit more white soldiers. John
Laurens was killed in a skirmish in South Carolina in 1782.
I suggest you prioritize as follows (see the hyperlinks for their catalogs):
1 – Daniel Library at the Citadel – being a military college, they have a sizable collection of Navy related publications from the American Revolution era (it’s where I obtained the material I previously forwarded you). You can also access many e-journals from there.
2 – SC Room at the Charleston County Library – they have many of the same materials as the Historical Society and your photocopy costs will be much less expensive. They have microfilm of the colonial era and revolutionary era gazettes and better film reader capabilities than the Historical Society. They also have the “Index of Surnames” for the gazettes which will help you. The South Carolina Gazette will have several ship launching announcements that pertain to the Maitlands. Also Nicholas Oldsberg’s “Ship Registers in the South Carolina Archives.”
3 – Addlestone Library at the College of Charleston – specifically, their copy of “Charleston's colonial boat culture, 1668-1775” which might be of interest. It’s a dissertation by Prof. Lynn Harris who is now at East Carolina University. The South Carolina Historical Society catalog is now combined with the College of Charleston library catalog, so be sure to read the “location” information when catalog searching.
4 – the SC Historical Society – I don’t see a surname file listed in their catalog for the Maitland family, so they don’t appear to have much material that would be uniquely theirs. They will charge you $5 per day plus $35 per photocopy and they restrict what you can carry into the reading room.
5 – the Charleston Library Society – much like the Historical Society but you might find something that is uniquely theirs. It’s one of the earliest libraries in America.
Regards,
Charlie
(ps: don’t hold it against me that my ancestor James helped in the seizing of the Philippa…)
From: Antony Maitland [mailto:antony@antonymaitland.com]
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2014 3:51 AM
To: Charlie Black
Subject: Re: RICHARD MAITLAND AND THE PHILIPPA
Dear Charlie,
Your email comes at a very apposite moment: I am in the middle of
reconstructing some of Richard Maitland's marine adventures from Lloyd's Lists
and, more revealingly, Henry Laurens Papers, published by the South Carolina
Historical Society, extracts of which are on Google books. It turns out that HL
& Richard Maitland were at one time partners in the ownership of the Philippa,
and there are many references to RM in the papers. Google only has extracts of
some volumes on line.
I am conducting a long study of my Jamaican ancestors (RM's son John produced
my GGG grandfather by a free woman of colour in Jamaica). I expect to make
another research trip to Jamaica in the late summer (I had 3 visits in 2013, so
will limit myself this year!) and thought of swinging by South Carolina for a
few days to see what may be there on Richard Maitland. In particular, I would
like to see the other volumes of Henry Laurens Papers and any other papers that
may concern RM's dealings there - he was in Charleston regularly of a number of
years before Independence.
Any idea of where I might best go for this. I see that the SC Historical
Society is in Charleston - I assume they would have copies. The state archives
are elsewhere in Columbia I think?
Any help on this would be much appreciated, as you must have a good idea of
where similar records to James Black might be found.
I will read your extract in detail later: as you may have seen, I have copies
of all the court papers which were raised in London to do with the English end
of the case.
Antony Maitland
On 21/03/2014 01:38, Charlie Black wrote:
I came across your webpage with Richard Maitland and the Philippa while I was researching my ancestor James Black, the shipwright from Beaufort, SC. I thought you might be interested in the attached information concerning the capture of the Philippa.
Regards,
Charlie Black
Bristol, Africa and the Eighteenth-century Slave Trade to America: The years of Ascendancy 1730-45 Vol 2...
edited by David Richardson
Among the British ports involved in the African trade Bristol is particularly well served by the availability of official trade and shipping records. These records are sufficiently full that it is possible to trace virtually all the ships that embarked at Bristol on voyages to Africa from 1730 to 1745, and, in many instances, to establish their individual voyage patterns. A few Bristol ships may have cleared for Africa from ports other than their home port in this period, but no systematic attempt has been made to trace them. Those that have been detected are listed in this volume but the number escaping detection is unknown. There is no evidence, however, that Bristol- owned vessels were fitted out for voyages to Africa at other British ports in this period, while the surviving colonial office records suggest that very few Bristol ships cleared for Africa from colonial ports. The voyages included in this volume appear, therefore, to encompass virtually the whole of Bristol’s dealings with Africa between 1730 and 1745.
The basic source of information about Bristol ships trading to Africa between 1730 and 1745 is, as in the years down to 1730, the Exchequer K.R. Port Books (P.R.O. Series E 190). The series comprises both overseas outward and inward books. A record of goods exported from and imported into Bristol, the Port Books provide information about the names of ships and their masters, the goods laden or discharged, the dates of loading or unloading, and the merchants responsible for the goods. They also indicate in the case of outward books the intended first port of call abroad of vessels, and in the case of inward books their last port of loading abroad. Outward books have survived for most years in this period, though the books for 1740 and 1743-45 are missing and those for 1736 and 1738 were unfit for use. Even larger gaps exist in the inward series of Port Books, with books being either missing or unfit for use in each year, except 1742, from 1736 onwards.
Information similar to some of that provided by the Port Books is obtainable from other sources, and can be used to supplement that contained in the Port Books or to compensate for gaps in the latter. The sources available include newspapers such as the Bristol Oracle and County Advertiser and Lloyds Lists. as well as the Wharfage Books housed at the Merchant Venturers Hall, Bristol and the
Mediterranean Passes (P.R.O. Admiralty Series, ADM 7/77 onwards). There are scattered editions of the Bristol Oracle and Lloyds Lists from 1741 onwards at the Bristol Central Library and the Guildhall Library, London, respectively; these offer evidence about dates of departure and return of vessels at Bristol and some details of their voyages abroad. The Wharfage Books arose from the collection of wharfage duties by the Society of Merchant Venturers at Bristol, and have survived in a more or less continuous series from 1727 to the end of the eighteenth century. Primarily a record of produce unloaded at Bristol, the books give details about the dates of arrival of vessels at Bristol, their tonnage and their last port of call.
Registers of Mediterranean Passes date from 1662 but have survived for the eighteenth century only from 1729 onwards.3 The issuing of passes by the Admiralty arose from treaties signed by the British authorities with the various corsair city-states of the Barbary Coast of North Africa in the second half of the seventeenth century. Passes were intended to offer protection to British vessels against attack by the corsairs. Vessels journeying into the Mediterranean were naturally often issued with passes, but passes were also taken out by shipowners whose vessels were expected to sail in the course of their trading ventures through waters frequented by Barbary corsairs. Vessels travelling to Africa from Bristol and other British ports naturally fell into the latter group, and the indications are that a very high proportion of such vessels, normally 90 per cent or more, were usually issued with Mediterranean Passes before embarking on their voyages to the African coast.
The information provided by the surviving registers of passes varies over time but almost invariably includes the dates of issue and return of passes, the names of vessels to which passes were issued and their masters, and the intended first (and in some cases, subsequent) destination of vessels overseas. In addition, details are given about the vessels themselves, including their port of ownership, place of construction,4 tonnage, and numbers of guns and crew. Registers of Mediterranean Passes are thus a major source of data about the ships involved in Bristol’s trade to Africa from 1729 onwards.
3 For a discussion of the origins of Mediterranean Passes see my The Mediterranean Passes, Wakefield, 1981.
4 Vessels arc normally recorded as having been British, Plantation or Foreign built.
5 Guides to the surviving West Indian Naval Office Lists are available in W.E. Minchinton, The Naval Office Shipping Lists for Jamaica. 1683-1818. Wakefield. 1977 and W.E. Minchinton and Peter Waite, The Naval Office Lists for the West Indies. 1678-1825 Iexcluding Jamaica). Wakefield, 1981.For a recent compilation of data on slave imports into Virginia based primarily on Naval Office Lists see Walter Minchinton, Celia King and Peter Waite (eds.), Virginia Slave-Trade Statistics 1698-1775, Richmond, Virginia, 1984. This reveals some small-scale involvement by Bristol ships in transhipping slaves from the British Caribbean islands to the Chesapeake colony.
As in the period before 1729, however, the most detailed evidence about the characteristics of Bristol vessels trading to Africa is to be found in the Colonial Naval Office Shipping Lists (P.R.O. CO scries).5 Information contained in the Naval Office lists varies over time and from one colony to another, but in most instances they provide data about the tonnage, guns, crew size, and owners of vessels, as well as the dates and place of their construction and registration. They also indicate the dates of entry and clearance of vessels at colonial ports, the goods they carried (including numbers of slaves), and the origins or proposed destination of goods. Vessels importing slaves directly from the African coast arc normally recorded as entering a colonial port from Africa but occasionally more specific coastal origins of the slaves imported are given. The Naval Office lists are valuable therefore for investigating the nature of Bristol slave ships and their pattern of trading activity abroad.
Unfortunately the survival rate of Naval Office lists for each of the major slave-importing colonies in British America between 1730 and 1745 is variable. With regard to the southern mainland colonies, no lists have apparently survived for this period for Maryland. However, lists for Virginia are largely complete while lists are also available for South Carolina for most years. Gaps in the Naval Office lists for the West Indian islands are much more substantial than for the mainland colonies in this period. No lists have apparently survived for any of the four Leeward Islands of Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis and St Kitts, while lists for Jamaica are available only from 1741 onwards. Lists for Barbados are available for most years in the 1730s but are missing after 1738.
The low survival rate of Naval Office lists means that only 30 per cent of the ships that left Bristol on slaving ventures between 1730 and 1745 are traceable in the surviving lists. Other records allow one, however, to cover some of the gaps in our information about Bristol slaving voyages in these years left by the missing Naval Office lists. Data on ships’ tonnages, armaments and crews are to be found, as noted earlier, in registers of Mediterranean Passes or Wharfage Books. The latter, together with inward Port Books, newspapers and Lloyds Lists, also allow one to establish the probable markets in America that most Bristol slave ships supplied. Finally, information relating to the date of arrival of Bristol slave ships in colonial ports, the numbers of slaves they imported, the African origins of the slaves, and the colonial merchants or factors to whom they were consigned for sale may be obtained from various other sources, notably Treasurers accounts for Barbados in 1730-36 and for South Carolina from 1735 onwards and the advertisements for sales of slaves imported into South Carolina after 1733 published by F.lizaheth Donnan and cleaned from the South Carolina Gazette.6 trace the markets in British America to which 92 per cent of the Bristol slave ships included in this volume delivered their slaves. It is also possible to trace the coastal origins in Africa of some 20 per cent of the slave cargoes shipped by Bristol vessels in this period.
The method adopted here for summarising the data relating to Bristol vessels and their voyages to Africa and America is, as in the previous volume, to list vessels alphabetically according to the year in which they embarked on their voyage to the African coast. Information about each voyage is itemised under 14 separate headings, as follows:
(1) The tonnage and armament of the vessel
(2) The size of the vessel’s crew, either outwards from Bristol, on its return to the port, or otherwise specified
(3) The place and year of construction of the vessel
(4) The place and date of its registration
(5) The master of the vessel
(6) The owner(s) of the vessel
(7) The vessel’s date of departure from Bristol or other (named) port
(8) The vessel’s known place or places of trade in Africa
(9) The number or intended (*) number of slaves shipped in Africa
(10) The port or ports of arrival of the vessel in America
(11) The vessel’s date(s) of arrival at the port(s) in America
(12) The number of slaves delivered or sold at the port(s) in America
(13) The date of departure of the vessel from its last port of call in America
(14) The date of the vessel’s return to Bristol or other known conclusion to the voyage.
A lack of information about a vessel or its voyage under any of these 14 headings is signalled by a blank entry, except for heading (8) where a blank entry indicates that the vessel's trading location on the coast was referred to simply as ‘Africa’. Where there is information about the dates of departure or return of vessels at Bristol and the....
ANN SNOW |
1739/3 |
|
(1) |
90 tons; 4 guns |
(8) |
(2) |
28 outwards |
(9) |
(3) |
British |
(10) St Kitts |
(4) |
|
01) |
(5) |
David Barclay |
(12) |
(6) |
William Gordon & Co. |
(13) |
(7) |
18 December (poss 5 December) |
(14) 4 January (4 June) 1741 |
Sources: E190/1214/3; ADM 7/83; SMV Wharfage books; Lloyds lists
The Maitlands of Pittrichie have very similar arms to those of the Eccles
branch.
Stirnet:
This section first uploaded on 17.05.08.
Descended from Robert Maitland was ...
Patrick Maitland of (Auchincrieff and) Pitrichie in Udney, Aberdeenshire
m. Katharine Burnett (dau of Alexander Burnett of Leys)
d 1632.
1/1. Sir Richard Maitland, 1st Bart of Pitrichie (d 22.02.1677,
Senator of the College of Justice, 'Lord Pitrichie')
m. Margaret or Mary Gordon (dau of Robert Gordon of Straloch & Pitlurg)
B 1623, Pitrichie, (re Clan MacFarlane).
2/1. Sir Richard Maitland, 2nd
Bart of Pittrichie (dsp c08.1679)
2/2. Sir Charles Maitland, 3rd Bart of Pittrichie (d 1700)
m1. Jean Forbes (dau of Sir John
Forbes, Bart of Monymusk, by Margaret Arbuthnott)
3/1. Sir Charles Maitland, 4th Bart of Pittrichie (dsp by 1704)
m. (before 23.06.1703) Margaret
Burnett (step-sister)
“To the memorie of Sir Charles Maitland of Pittrichie. Who departed this life
March 20th 1704”.
Verse by Alexander Hill, Nat Lib of Scotland. Who was this??
See notes on Pittrichie in Clan Maitland volume.
3/2. Jean Maitland (d 22.10.1746)
m. Alexander Arbuthnott, later Maitland of Pitrichie (d 06.1721)
3/3. Mary Maitland
m. (1707) Thomas Forbes of Echt (d 1738)
3/4. Catherine Maitland apparently of this generation d. 1743.
m. Theodore Morison of Bognie
3/5. Margaret Maitland probably of this generation
m. (1714) Sir Patrick Bannerman, Provost of Aberdeen (d 1733)
3/6. 2 daughters.
m2. (1696) Nichola Young (dau of Peter Young of Auldbar, widow of Sir Alexander Burnett of Craigmyle)
2/3. Jean Maitland probably of this generation
m1. Robert Gordon, 7th of
Pitlurg (b 1641, d 22.08.1682)
m2. John Gordon, 2nd of Fechil
2/4. Elizabeth Maitland (d 1719) probably of this generation
m. (mcrt 18.05.1669) Robert Ross of Auchlossin (d c1703)
Thomas Forbes of Knockwane, later of Echt (d 1696)
m. _ Forbes (d 1698, dau of Patrick Forbes of Westerecht)
1/1. Arthur Forbes of Echt (d 1728)
m1. Elizabeth (Janet) Innes (d
1695, dau of Sir Robert Innes, 2nd Bart)
2/1. Jean Forbes (d 21.01.1761)
m. (mcrt 28.04.1704) John Ross, 1st of Arnage (b 04.1665, d 09.1714)
2/2. Thomas Forbes of Echt (d 1738, sold Echt)
m1. (1707) Mary Maitland of
Pittrichie or Pittritchie
3/1. Arthur Forbes Maitland of Pittrichie (b 1708, d 1786)
m. Judith Minoch
4/1. Thomas Maitland (dvp)
5/1. Richard Arthur Maitland of Pittrichie (d 1833)
m2. (1719) Margaret Forbes (d 1752, dau of Sir John Forbes, 2nd Bart of Craigievar)
Arthur Forbes m2. (1696) Katharine Melville ('Lady Gray')
Boddington suggested that RM (d1775) was of the Pittrichie Branch (P6
Sir RM senator for Pittrichie 14/12/1671
There was a Richard Maitland, born Dundee, 1675, son of John Maitland,
collector of Excise in Dundee, of the line of Sir ROBERT MAITLAND – Burd-Alane.
The descendants of this Richard Maitland are probably not complete in the Clan
Tree. They were of the Pittrichie branch as referred to by Boddington.
The Maitlands of Kirkton of Oyne (Aberdeenshire) and some of Their Descendants
- Richardson Dougall. Traces blood descendants, through male or female lines
and through lines both legitimate and illegitimate, of John Maitland and his
wife Margaret Gregor, who were married in Oyne Parish, Aberdeenshire, in1733.
In addition to blood descendants, includes (when information was readily
available) adopted children and stepshildren and their descendants. Includes
the following when appicable: full name, nickname, place and date of birth or
baptism, occupation, military service, university attendance, information on
emigration and naturalization, present address or place and date of death and
burial, place and date of each marriage and divorce, and source or sources for
such information. John Maitland, born in or before 1709, was a tenant farmer
living in the tiny hamlet of Kirkton (or Kirktown) of Oyne. 1999, 8½x11, paper,
indices, xvi+424 pp. $40.00 D3638 ISBN: 0788436384"
Also mentioned as a reference is Maitland Family: G. R. Harrison (1869).
No references found on Google.
http://www.methlickparishchurch.co.uk/assets/files/Kirk%20Notes%20201804.pdf
Charles Maitland was the Surgeon who performed the first inoculations for smallpox both in England and Scotland. 2018 marks the 270th anniversary of his death. He died in Aberdeen on 28th January 1748 and was interred in Methlick Kirkyard on February 7th. He was buried in the same grave as his parents Patrick Maitland, late of Little Ardoch, (Little Ardo) and Jean Robertson, and according to the memorial inscription, several of his siblings.
Little is known about Charles Maitland’s family. He was aged about 80 at the time of his death, however it is not possible to pinpoint his birth or baptism as the baptismal records for the relevant period, around 1666-68, no longer exist. It has been possible to find baptismal records of other children of Patrick Maitland, and although the mother’s name has not been recorded, it’s probable that some of Charles’s siblings were: Jean baptised on 6th November 1670, John baptised on 16th December 1672, Lodvick baptised 7th March 1675, Anna, baptised on 27th September 1678, and James baptised on 22nd May 1680. The parochial registers record that Patrick Maitland from Little Ardo was buried on 22nd December 1687, and that Jean Robertson was buried on 17th April 1684.
An obituary in the Aberdeen Press and Journal dated 9th February 1748 stated Charles Maitland was descended from “an honourable Aberdeenshire Family, the Maitlands of Pitrichy.” The obituary said “he was estimated to be worth £5000, a fortune acquired by his own endeavours.” Alexander Bannerman of Frendraught and Mr Charles Cheyne of Edinburgh were beneficiaries of his fortune. The obituary also said he was “an excellent surgeon and famous for inoculating the smallpox, and the person appointed by the present majesty, (George II) to go to Hanover and inoculate his Royal Highness Frederick Prince of Wales and was handsomely rewarded.”
The Maitland Family of Pitrichy (today Pittrichie) were
distant relatives of the Earls of Lauderdale and returned a number of MPs to
Parliament. It is entirely possible that Patrick Maitland was a cousin of this
family, but cannot be proved. What is known is that Charles Maitland of
Methlick became the surgeon to the British Ambassador in Turkey in 1717-18. At
a time when posts were most likely the subject of patronage, it is not
unreasonable to suggest that Patrick Maitland, and his son were well connected.
The wife of the British Ambassador, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu championed the
cause of inoculation in England. A few years after their return from Turkey, in
1721 she asked Maitland to inoculate her daughter Mary. In 1722 Maitland inoculated
6 people in Aberdeenshire, but one died, which made the procedure unpopular in
that county. He is known to have inoculated approximately 80 people in England
and was involved in the inoculation of the Princesses Amelia and Caroline at
the behest of Princess of Wales, in April 1722. He subsequently inoculated
their brother Prince Frederick in Hanover in 1724.
In 1930 John M Bulloch produced a pamphlet, A Pioneer of Inoculation, Charles
Maitland. In addition to describing Maitland’s role in the story of inoculation,
it also speculated that his father Patrick appeared in a Poll Book as a tenant
of Newplace in 1696, but this seems somewhat unlikely as Patrick was buried in
1687. Bulloch also makes mention of the “handsome reward” mentioned in the
obituary, Maitland was paid £1000 from the privy purse for inoculating Prince
Frederick. There are many ways of calculating how much this equates to in
today’s money, but as a minimum, it would be worth £143,100.00 and by the same
measure, his estate would be worth about £715,000.00.
The Caledonian Mercury of 15th February 1748 described him as “a gentleman justly esteemed by those who knew him, who had acquired a handsome fortune by his own industry. In addition to leaving his estate to friends and relations, he had not forgotten the poor, particularly a Charity to the parish of his birth – A worthy Example to others, by reasonably remembering the poor, without hurting their Relations!” The same newspaper recorded in their edition of 20th August 1726, that the Magistrates
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and others waited on Maitland and paid him the compliment of making him Burgess and Freeman of the Town.
Charles Maitland did indeed make provision for the poor of Methlick prior to his death, and the Kirk Session records of the time record the details of the bequest at their meeting held in July 1748. He did not leave a will, but rather, he made his bequest by a Deed which was registered in the Aberdeen Sherriff Court in 1746. Maitland made his “Mortification” by means of a heritable bond with a value of 6000 Merks* Scots money. Maitland loaned the money to John Grant on property and land comprising the manor of Rothmaise, near Insch which was secured by the bond.
(https://canmore.org.uk/site/150144/mains-of-rothmaise).
Maitland assigned the bond to the then Minister (Mr Alexander Knolls) and members of the Kirk Session, and their successors. In his deposition Maitland said the heritable bond was the best way he could find to secure the funds for the benefit of the poor. The income was to be paid twice a year, at Whitsunday and Martinmass. It seems that he was very concerned about the number of poor people reduced to begging, and he gave very precise instructions to the Minister and Kirk Session about how he wanted his mortification to be used.
In addition to supporting the common poor, he wanted to support local tradesmen and families who had fallen on hard times, in order that they would not need to “go about the country as Common Beggars”. Maitland further instructed the Kirk Session that he wanted them to use all the income and not to allow the capital to accrue.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s sister Frances was the Countess of Mar, wife of the Jacobite Earl of Mar. Perhaps someday, a researcher might be able to discover if the Earl or Countess of Mar recommended Maitland to become their surgeon and explain how the man from Methlick achieved his place in history.
• A Merk
https://www.rps.ac.uk/search.php?action=print&id=46542&filename=charlesii_ms&type=ms
The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, K.M. Brown et al eds (St
Andrews, 2007-2020), date accessed: 25 February 2020
Charles II: Manuscript > 1681, 28 July, Edinburgh, Parliament > Parliamentary Register > At Edinburgh 6th September 1681 > At Edinburgh the 6th September 1681 > Charters: ratifications
[1681/7/141]1
Ratification in favours of Richard Maitland of Pitrichie [and protest]
Our soveraign lord, with advice and consent of his highnes['s] estates of parliament, hes ratified, approven and confirmed and, be thir presents, with advice and consent foresaid, ratifies, approves and confirmes ane chartor and infeftment granted be his majestie, under the great seale, of the date the sexth day of July jM vjC and seventie-two years, to and in favors of Richard Maitland, younger of Pittrichie, eldest laufull sone and appearand aire to Sir Richard Maitland of Pittrichie, one of the senators of the colledge of justice, his airs, successors and assigneyes whatsomever, heretablie and irredeemablie, without any reversion, redemption or regress whatsomever, off all and haill the lands and baronie of Geicht, alias Schives, with tower, fortalice, mannor place, housses, biggings, yeards, orchyairds and teind sheaves of the samen, comprehending the townes, lands, milnes and others underwritten, viz, the Maines of Geight, the lands of Milnebrecks, Blackhillock and Swanfoord, Fadounhill, Litle Geicht, Meikle Ardoch, Milne of Ardoch, milnelands, multurs and sequells thereof, Litle Ardoch, Auchincreive, Monlettie, Newtoun of Schives, Chappeltoun of Schives, milne, milnelands, multurs and sequells thereof, Skillmanae, Balnagoaks, Balquhynachie, milne, milnelands, multurs and sequells thereof, Midlemuir, Touxtoun, Cairnorie, Monteith, Newseat, milne of Geicht, milnelands, multurs and sequells thereof, Stanehouse of Geicht and cottoun thereof, the lands of Tettirlettir,2 Monkshill, Lethintie, Bruckleseat, the maines and mannor place of Schives, Newseat, Burnsyde, with the old and new milnes, milnelands, multurs and sequells thereof, the town and lands of Old Tounleyes, Brodward, Quilquacks and Killmachillie, with all and sundrie the teind sheaves thereof, housses, biggings, yairds, orchyairds, mosses, meadows, marresses, commontie, common pasturage, tofts, crofts, outsetts, insetts, annexis, connexis, dependances, tennants, tennandries and service of free tennents, pairts, pendicles and haill pertinents thereof, all lying within the parochins of Fyvie and Tarves and shirefdome of Aberdeen; proceeding upon his owne resignation, togither with the clause of novo damus, and union and new erection of the saids haill lands and baronie, to be called the baronie of Geicht; as also, the dispensation anent the seasing to be taken at the mannor place thereof, to be sufficient for the saids haill lands in all time comeing, to be holden of his majestie and his highnes['s] successors in taxt ward, for payment of the yearlie taxt dewties underwritten, viz, for the ward and nonentrie, the soume of two hundreth pounds Scots money, at two termes in the year Whitsonday and Mertimas in winter be equall portions, and the soume of two hundreth pounds money foresaid for the releiff, when the samen shall happen, and the soume of four hundreth pounds money foresaid for the mariage of the aire or airs, when the samen shall fall, for payment of the which soumes the foresaid ward, releiff, nonentrie and mariage are disponed, notwithstanding that the samen lands [were] held formerlie of his majestie for service of ward and releiff, togither with the precept under the quarter seale with the infeftments following thereon, with the instrument of seasing or seasings taken upon the samen. And siclike, with advice and consent foresaid, ratifies, approves and confirmes ane other chartor granted be his majestie, under the great seale, of the date the second day of May jM vjC and sevinty-eight years, to and in favors of the said Sir Richard Maitland, and his airs male and assigneyes whatsomever, heretablie and irredeemablie, without any reversion, redemption or regress whatsomever, all and haill the lands of Auchincreive and Skillmanae, with housses, biggings, yairds, orchyairds, pairts, pendicles and haill pertinents thereof, with the teinds thereof, lying within the parochin of Tarves and shirefdome of Aberdeen, and of the salmond fishing thereto belonging in maner therin mentioned, togither with the clause of novo damus, union and new erection of the saids lands and salmond fishing, to be called the baronie of Auchincreive, and the dispensation anent the seasing to be taken at the mannor place of Auchincreive, to be sufficient for the saids lands and salmond fishing in all time comeing; to be holden of his majestie and his highnes['s] successors in taxt ward, for payment of the yearlie taxt ward dewties underwritten, viz, for the ward and nonentrie, the soume of ten merks Scots, at the saids two termes in the year Whitsonday and Mertimas be equall portions, and the soume of ten merks for the releiff, when the samen shall happen, and tuentie merks for the mariage of the aire or airs, when the samen shall fall, for payment of which soumes the foresaid ward, releiff, nonentrie and mariage are disponed, notwithstanding that the samen lands and salmond fishing [were] held formerlie of his majestie for service of ward and releiff; with the precept of seasing contained in the said chartor and instrument of seasing and infeftment following thereon, in all and sundrie the heads, articles, clauses and conditions mentioned in the saids two chartors, precepts and instruments of seasing following thereon; [and] willing and declareing this present ratification to be als valide and sufficient as if the saids two chartors, precepts and instruments of seasing were at length herein insert and ingrost; with the which his majestie, with advice and consent foresaid, have dispensed and, be thir presents, dispenses for ever.
Protestation the town of Aberdeen against the before writen ratification
Sir George Skeen of Fintrie, commissioner for the burgh of Aberdeen, protested that the ratification past this day, in favours of Sir Charles Maitland of Pittrichie, of the baronie of Auchincreive and fishings thereto belonging, should be without prejudice to the said town of Aberdeen of their rights, libertie and priviledge in the sands betuixt the two rivers of Dea and Don and salmond and other fishings pertaining to the said burgh, betuixt the saids two rivers and about and within the mouths thereof, and upon both syds of the samen pertaining and belonging to the said town, and that the foresaid ratification in favors of the said Sir Charles shall not be prejudiciall to the said towne of any right they have to the saids lands and others contained in the ratification.
NAS. PA2/31, f.90v-91v.
APS has 'Fettirlettir' but 'Tettirlettir' in register.
Records
of the
Sheriff Court of Aberdeensbire
Edited by
David Littlejohn, LL.D.
Advocate in Aberdeen
Sheriff Clerk of Aberdeenshire
Vol. m.
Records, 1642-1660
with Supplementary Lists of Officials, 1660-1907
and Index to Volumes I., H, HI.
5/7/1643:
Rent. Richard Maitland in Hilbray, Chalmerlane of Bourtie v. John Reithe at
the Milne of Torrie. The Pursuer produced a Factory granted to him by Elizabeth
Johnstoun, widow of John Seatoun of Petmedden, dated 27
November, 1640.
12/7/1643:
Registration. Katherine Lumisden, widow of Mr. Richard Maitland of Auchincreiwe
v, Richard Maitland of Auchincreiwe, son and heir of the said Mr. Richard
Maitland. The deed, which was ordained to be registered, was
the Marriage Contract between the deceased Mr. Richard Maitland and the
Pursuer, by which there was settled on her, the liferent of Milne of
Cairnefechill, in the Parish of Udny. The Pursuer had been previously married
to Patrick Gordoun of Neithermuire, at which place the Contract had been signed
on 9 March, 1630. Some money which Mrs. Maitland possessed at the date of the
Contract was to be invested at the sight of George Gordoun of Neithermuire, and
Mr. Wm. Lumisden, Advocat in Abd., both of whom, together with John Gordoun, a
brother of the former, were witnesses to the signing of the Deed.
The Sheriffs:
1672-77. ALEXANDER, LORD FYVIE, AFTERWARDS
3RD EARL OF DUNFERMLING.
The connection of this family with Aberdeen shire is now a matter of ancient history and not many are aware that Setons were proprietors of the estate of Fyvie for about a century. It passed from the Meldrums by purchase in 1596 to Lady Seton and her son, afterwards ist Earl of Dunfermline, and it was forfeited in the person of James the 4th Earl, who adhered, at the Revolution of 1688, to the cause of King James VII. and fought at Killiecrankie. The first, second and fourth Earls seem to have been men of mark : but nothing notable is on record regarding the third Earl. His father died in 1672 and he did not long survive, for the
93
Aberdcenshire Sheriff Court :
Commission of his successor in the Sheriffship of Aberdeen is dated October, 1677. The only mention of the Earl's Sheriffship in the Sheriff Court Books is found in that Commission, and in that of Sir Charles Maitland of Pitrichie, as Sheriff-Depute, but in the Calendar of State Papers, Domestic 1671-2, there is mention of a warrant dated 22 January, 1672, for a grant of the office to Lord Fyvie, as Sheriff for his life, in succession to William, Earl Marischal. His death took place between 23 August and 27 October, 1677.
1677-82. JOHN, i2TH EARL OF ERROLL.
Lord Erroll's Commission, which was for life, was dated at
Whitehall, 27 October, 1677, and was presented by him in Court in Aberdeen, on
8 January, 1678, and engrossed in the Diet Book. He presided on 25 Jany., 1681,
at the serving of Sir Charles Maitland of Pitrichie (who was then a
Sheriff-Depute) as heir to his brother Sir Richard Maitland, in the Barony of
Gight, and on various other occasions, some of them in connection with rival
claims to the office of Sheriff-Depute, which will be afterwards noticed. On 22
Novr., 1682, he presided, when the Commission of his successor (he having
resigned office) was presented, the closing words of the entry on that occasion
being these " And the said Nobl Earle removeing furth of Judgement the
said Court was affirmed & fenced in name of the said Lord Chancellor."
1677-82. CHARLES MAITLAND (AFTERWARDS SIR CHARLES
MAITLAND OF PITRICHIE).
In the Royal Commission, appointing him conjunct Sheriff-Depute with Mr. John Forbes during the life of the latter, and sole Depute after his death, dated 25 October, 1677, Charles Maitland is designed "second lawfull sone to the deceast Sir Richard Maitland of Pittrichie ane of the Senatores of the Colledge of Justice." Here again it may conduce to clearness as well as brevity, if a quotation is given from the Commission which was presented at Aberdeen on 14 December, 1677 : " We considering that our right trustie cousing Alexander Earle of Dumfermling Lord Fyvie & Urquhart etc Shirreff Principall of the Shirreffdome of Aberdeen hathe by his letter patent daited at Edr. the twentie thrid day off August i m vic and seventie seven yeares Nominated and appoyntcd Charles Maitland secound lawfull sone to the deceast Sr. Richard Maitland of Pittrichie ane of the senatores of the Colledg of
100
Justice to be conjunct Shirreff deput with Mr John Forbes present deput of the
Shirreffdome of Aberdeen dureing all the dayes of the said Mr John his lyftyme
and after his deceas sole deput of the sd. Shirreff-ship dureing the said
Charles his lyftyme The said Mr John haveing by his consent under his hand directed
to the said Earle of Dumfermling Intreated and desyred him sua to doe. Lykas
the said Earle did thereby condiscend and consent that the said Charles
Maitland should obteane from us ane deputatione of the said Shirreffshipe in
maner and during the space above set doune. And we understanding the good
affection of the said Charles Maitland for doeing us service and that he is
suffkientlie indued with knowledge and experience for exerceing of the said
office off Shirreff deput within the said Shirreffdome of Aberdeen THAIRFORE
" &c., &c. [Among other powers the following was conferred.]
" Substituts if neid beis in the sd. office with officers serjands Sempsters and all other members of Courte necessare to make create and ordcane for whom he shall be answerable. (Reserving alwayes out of this our present gift and deputatione full power to our Secretarie of State of our said Kingdome off Scotland to nominate ellect and establishe the Shirreff Clerk off the forsaid shirreffdome als fullie in all respects as any other our Secretarie did or might have done before in this or any other Shirreffdome of Scotland)."
According to Dean Temple's Thanage of Fermartyn, Sir Richard Maitland, Lord Pitrichic, died in 1678, but his son's Commission proves that his death had taken place before October 1677.
Lord Pitrichie's elder son, Sir Richard, the 2nd Baronet, survived his father only a very short time, and was succeeded by the subject of this notice as 3rd Baronet. Accordingly in August, 1680, we find him, as Sir Charles Maitland of Pitrichie, protesting that he had sole right to the office of Sheriff-Depute which, however, he demitted on 21 April, 1682.
He subsequently represented the County in Parliament.
His death took place in 1700.
1680-2. MR. WILLIAM MOIR OF HILTOUNE, ADVOCATE.
It may have been observed that the date of the Crown
appointment of Sir Charles Maitland of Pitrichie (then Charles Maitland) as
Sheriff-Depute, on the nomination of the Earl of Dumfermling, was 25 October, 1677,
while that of Lord Erroll as Sheriff Principal was 27 October, or two days
later. So long as Mr. John Forbes lived, the new Sheriff Principal seems to
have allowed matters to rest : but immediately after
101
his death he proceeded to appoint Mr. William Moir to be conjunct Sheriff-Depute
with Sir Charles Maitland, and to succeed him if he should be the survivor. The
Earl bound himself not to grant any other deputation during Mr. Moir's
lifetime, and farther consented to his nominee purchasing a Ratification or a
new Deputation from the Crown. The date of the Commission was 25 August, 1680,
and it was presented on 26 August, when the Earl himself admitted his nominee.
On the former of these days Sir Charles Maitland had appeared in Court and
solemnly protested that he and he alone was entitled to the office, and from
various entries in the month of September following, it is obvious that there
was a keen difference of opinion over the competing claims thereto.
Although on 7 September, 1680, the Sheriff Principal ordered
the Courts of the Sheriffdom to be fenced in his own name and in those of Maitland
and Moir, the latter does not appear to have taken almost any part in the
judicial work.
Pages_from_1700_FM_card_catalogue Highland life com
Downloaded 25/2/20
FORBES, Major Arthur 346.008
Answers for Major Arthur Forbes, only son of Mary the second daughter of the deceased Sir Charles Maitland of Pittrichie, Baronet, pursuer and claimant in a service of heir of tailzie to Mr Charles Maitland of Pittrichie, advocate, his cousin-german, to the petition of Mrs Katharine Maitland, sister-german to the said Mr Charles Maitland, who was the only son of Jean the eldest daughter of the said Sir Charles Maitland. - [s.l.;s.n.], 1753. - 32p.; fol. – bound with: Leith, Walter. The petition of Walter Leith and George Leslie, merchants in Aberdeen, [s.l.], 1748
FM3322 1.[346.05]
2. MAITLAND, Charles 3. MAITLAND, Mrs Katharine
FORBES, Major Arthur 346.008
Information for Major Arthur Forbes, claimant in a service as heir of tailzie to Mr Charles Maitland of Pitrichie, advocate, his cousin; against Mrs Katharine Maitland, opposer of said service. - [s.l.:s.n.], 1753. - 22p. ; fol. - bound with: Leith, Walter. The petition of Walter Leith and George Leslie, merchants in Aberdeen, [s.l.], 1748.
FM3322
1. MAITLAND, Charles