BEFORE THE MOST NOBLE AND RIGHT HONORABLE THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF APPEALS IN PRIZE CAUSES. (APPEAL FROM ANTIGUA). ELIZABETH, PETER TRIPP, MASTER.[docket title]

[Saint Barts]

Published by Strahan and Preston, [London], 1809

About this Item

4,[2],4,9,[1]pp. Large folio. Dbd. Minor foxing, some marginal chipping. Overall good condition. In a blue cloth chemise and slipcase, gilt morocco spine label. Three legal briefs filed in an Admiralty Prize Court in St. Barts in the early 19th century. Such briefs are very rare, being printed only for the use of the litigants. These relate to the seizure of the ship Elizabeth, from Hamburg, by a British privateer operating in the Caribbean during the Napoleonic Wars. The British vessel seized the Elizabeth near Monserrat and took her to Antigua, where the vessel was awarded to the attackers. However, the case was reversed on appeal, as a manuscript note on the docket page tells us, and was restored to her original owners. The seizure was made on spurious grounds, since the owners had taken care to register the boat with one John Elders, a merchant residing at St. Barts, which then belonged to a neutral power, Sweden. The vessel was restored to its rightful owner. The evidence contained here gives a detailed picture of commercial arrangements in the Caribbean at the time, and especially the use of St. Barts as free port during the Napoleonic Wars, its first heyday before its modern ultra-hip boom. No copies in OCLC. Seller Inventory # WRCAM56805

Bibliographic Details

Title: BEFORE THE MOST NOBLE AND RIGHT HONORABLE ...

Publisher: Strahan and Preston, [London]

Publication Date: 1809