American Vessels Captured By The British During The Revolution And War Of 1812 PDF Download

From the Introductory. The records of the Vice-Admiralty Court at Halifax, Nova Scotia, covering the period of the American Revolution, are now preserved in the Provincial Building at Halifax, in the custody of the Provincial Secretary. The registers for the years 1776-1783 are in three folio volumes and preserve only the essential facts. The original files of documents relating to each case have disappeared. Some years ago a considerable mass of manuscripts was found stored at the Navy Yard in Halifax, and after burning a portion and selling considerable for junk, the remainder was sent to the Admiralty Office in London. Possibly some of these Vice-Admiralty Court papers may have found their way to London in this manner. The Vice-Admiralty Court records for the period of the War of 1812 are now stored in the County Court House at Halifax. The register of eases is in the Prothonotary's Office and the files of original papers are contained in some dozen or more boxes stored in a damp basement. The papers in each file are numbered to correspond with the number of the case in the register of the court, and in the abstracts here printed these case numbers are included so that it may be possible to secure additional information upon application to the office of the Prothonotary. These files in many instances contain a considerable number of papers in addition to the documents of the Court. The ship's papers, if not already destroyed at the time of capture, will be found, consisting of the commission-in the case of a privateer -the ship's register or license, the crew list, bill of health, various bills of lading, and sometimes owner's instructions with business correspondence. In the following pages the records covering the period of the Revolution are printed in a condensed form, alphabetically arranged by the name of the vessel captured, and precede the records of the War of 1812. The first case brought before the Court was under date of April 15, 1776. Previous to that time prizes taken along the New England coast had been condemned at a Vice-Admiralty Court sitting in Boston. Two typical cases recorded in the register of the Court are here reprinted verbatim to illustrate the form of entry.