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Abstract
The lengthy prize litigation over the proceeds of Spanish treasure conducted between 1801 and 1803 involving Lord Nelson and Earl St Vincent is often referred to, but little understood. Using contemporaneous records, correspondence and law reports, this article considers the original prize captures that gave rise to the dispute, the tactics adopted by the litigating parties, the issues in the litigation and how it progressed, through the first instance decisions in the Court of Common Pleas to the final judgment of the King's Bench and its aftermath.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Dr Nick Slope, Professor Vanessa Knapp obe and Duncan Macleod, who kindly commented on early drafts of this article.
Notes
1 For the logs of British frigates involved in the chase see the National Archive, Kew (hereafter TNA) ADM 52/2651, 51/1318, 52/3241, 51/1291 and 51/1329.
2 Although described as ‘little damage’ in her log, she was ‘very leaky’ following the grounding; Triton captain's log, TNA ADM 51/1329.
3 The Santa Brigada (1800) 3 C. Rob. 52, Sir Willam Scott (while the name is misspelt, it is clearly the same action).
4 Hill, The Prizes of War, 178 citing TNA ADM 1/814; London Gazette 1799, no. 15197, 1093–5.
5 Ibid., 177, citing papers held by the Digby family.
6 Lavery, Nelson's Navy, 252.
7 Scott to Evan Nepean; TNA ADM 1/3894.
8 Hill, The Prizes of War, 178.
9 Marsden, ‘Early Prize Jurisdiction’, 677.
10 The proclamations of 1744, 1756 and 1797, and the material variations between them, are considered below.
11 Hill, The Prizes of War, 201. In contrast the crew of American ships under commission from George Washington during the American War of Independence enjoyed one-third of the value of the cargo of ships taken and sent into port, with the captain receiving only six shares to each seaman's one share, see Bonner Smith, ‘The Capture of the Washington’, 420–5. By the time of the 1800 Act of Congress ‘for the better government of the navy of the United States’, however, the captors took the whole value of the prize ship and its goods if they took a prize of equal or superior force and half the proceeds if they took a prize of inferior force (section 5), and the captain took three twentieths of the proceeds, accounting for one twentieth to the fleet commanding officer where applicable (section 6).
12 Rodger, The Wooden World, 256–7 and 314–27.
13 Robinson, ‘British Seamen's Dress’, 325–7
14 E.g. Captain Graham Moore, Wareham, Frigate Commander, 111.
15 As with the pursuit of prizes in the West Indies by Grey and Jervis, see Duffy, Soldiers, Sugar and Seapower, 106–14, and Fewster, ‘Prize money’, 1–28.
16 For an engaging account of the world of these professions, see Downer's account of Alexander Davison's relationship with Nelson in Nelson's Purse.
17 See e.g. Fewster, ‘Prize money’.
18 (1802) 3 Bos. & Pull. 257; (1803) 4 East 238.
19 Naval Chronicle 1801 vol. V, 256. The dates are correct according to the ships’ logs, in which the naval day ran from noon until noon and was thus 12 hours behind the calendar date, much to the frustration of William James when he wrote his Naval History of Great Britain, vol. 2, 521: ‘this silly and perplexing custom’.
20 Haslewood to Benjamin Tucker 4 Mar. 1801, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (hereafter NMM) CRK/6/135.
21 (1802) 3 Bos. & Pull. 260.
22 TNA ADM1/398, 10 Oct. 1798 Nepean to Orde and ff.
23 In the absence of any party arguing to the contrary, (1802) 3 Bos. & Pull. 258.
24 With his secretary Benjamin Tucker and a 17-gun salute; Argo muster book, TNA ADM 36/12823, captain's log TNA ADM 51/1295 and St Vincent's journal TNA ADM 50/93.
25 Having taken a prize en route, the Spanish packet Infanta Amelia bound for Havana with dispatches; TNA ADM 51/1295 and TNA ADM 50/93.
26 TNA ADM1/400/224 16 Aug. 1799 from St Vincent at Spithead to the Admiralty.
27 TNA ADM2/136/146 and 149.
28 TNA ADM2/136/174, 28 Aug. 1799.
29 Le Caux v Eden (1781) 2 Douglas Rep. 614.
30 Probably Lord Alvanley CJ, see below. Naval Chronicle, vol. V, 256.
31 See e.g. draft deed of indemnity prepared by Booth & Haslewood for Nelson to indemnify John Tyson against claims by others for the chief flag officer's share of £500 from the capture of Civita Vecchia in Italy by HM Ships in Sep. 1799, NMM, CRK/6/ 142.
32 An office roughly equivalent to the Treasury Solicitor in Admiralty matters.
33 See Hill, The Prizes of War, 163–4, and Bourguignon, Sir William Scott, 274.
34 Appointed under the Act of 43 Geo III ch. 16, Dec. 1802, it reported in Jul. 1803, HC Paper 160.
35 Bonner Smith, Letters of Earl St Vincent, vol. II, 221.
36 In construing the Navigation Acts; ‘Well done, Lawyer, Nelson!’, Nelson to William Suckling 14 Nov. 1785, Nicolas, Dispatches and Letters of Lord Nelson, I, 144, 147.
37 Nelson to Davison 19 Dec. 1799 from Palermo; Nicolas, Dispatches and Letters of Lord Nelson, VII, cxciii.
38 Nelson to Davison 9 May 1800, Nicolas, Dispatches and Letters of Lord Nelson, IV, 233. His assumption that no admiral going for the benefit of his health from a foreign station had been entitled to prize money was being undone by the judgment of Sir John Scott in The St Anne as he wrote, and was to be at the heart of the legal arguments, see below.
39 Davison to Nelson 15 Jan. 1801 NMM CRK/3/125.
40 Copy of letter of 5 Jan. 1801 enclosed with that of 15 Jan. 1801, NMM CRK/3/125.
41 Keith v Pringle [1804] IV East 262.
42 Duckworth v Tucker (1809) II Taunt. 7, Court of Common Pleas, see further below.
43 12 Jan. 1801, NMM CRK 3/125.
44 (1802) 3 Bos. & Pull. 261
45 15 Jan. 1801, NMM CRK 3/125.
46 Davison to Nelson 27 Jan. 1801, NMM CRK/3/127.
47 15 Jan. 1801, NMM CRK 3/125.
48 Copy of letter of 5 Jan. 1801 enclosed with that of 15 Jan. 1801 NMM CRK/3/125.
49 NMM CRK 3/128.
50 29 Jan. 1802, NMM CRK 3/128.
51 8 Feb. 1801, Nicolas, Dispatches and Letters of Lord Nelson, IV, 285. St Vincent did not approve of the relationship with Lady Hamilton, which was part of the rift between the two men.
52 Bonner Smith, Letters of Earl St Vincent, vol. 1, 370. In July 1801 Tucker was appointed Clerk of the Cheque at Plymouth Dockyard, and in November he joined the Navy Board as a Commissioner on the enforced retirement of George Rogers. The role of private secretary to St Vincent was assumed by George Parker, elder brother of Admiral Sir William Parker, but Tucker returned to the Admiralty in January 1804 as second secretary when Marsden was promoted to first secretary on Nepean's departure. Despite being unpopular with the king, Tucker was thought to exercise great influence over St Vincent. Knight, Britain Against Napoleon, 320.
53 4 Apr. 1801, NMM CRK/3/129.
54 Nelson to Davison 19 Dec. 1799, Nicolas, Dispatches and Letters of Lord Nelson, VII, cxciii.
55 British Library, London (hereafter BL), BL Add MS 34918/325.
56 Davison to Nelson 15 Jan. 1801, NMM CRK/3/125.
57 Set out at (1803) 4 East 246
58 See Harvey v Cooke (1805) 6 East 502.
59 See e.g. (1802) Bos. & Pull. 280, recited by Lord Alvanley.
60 Per Rooke J. (1802) 3 Bos. & Pull. 270.
61 (1800) 3 C. Rob. 60
62 Not to be confused with Admiral Sir George Murray, a younger man who was chosen by Nelson as his captain of the fleet but narrowly missed out on being at Trafalgar.
63 Earl St Vincent v Tucker, NC 1801 vol. V, 254.
64 Sir R. Pepper Arden had succeeded Lord Eldon (Sir William Scott's brother John) with the change of administration in 1801 and taken the title Lord Alvanley; Hon. George Kenyon, Life of LCJ Kenyon, 384.
65 (1802) 3 Bos. & Pull. 278
66 Haslewood to Nelson 9 Apr. 1804, NMM CRK/6/138.
67 Conveyance of Merton Place, Wimbledon Museum Archive LDWIM000426. Merton Place had been purchased in 1801 for £9,000 against the advice of Haslewood who considered the property over-priced and inappropriate, BL Add MS 34918/194.
68 (1802) 3 Bos. & Pull. 257. The case is reported as Lord Nelson v Tucker following the style of the final judgment in the King's Bench. Nelson is thus referred to as the plaintiff and Tucker as the defendant, although at this stage the formal position was that St Vincent was the plaintiff, Tucker was the defendant and Nelson was an interested party.
69 Serjeants-at-law were an order of senior barristers, now abolished, who had exclusive rights of audience before the Court of Common Pleas. It was for this reason that Haslewood told Nelson that William Garrow (the real-life inspiration for the TV series Garrow's Law) who had previously been against them in an earlier matter could take no part in these proceedings (BL Add MS 34918/233). Garrow and Nelson would cross paths again, however, in April 1803 when Garrow successfully (and somewhat surprisingly given the views of J. Heath that there was no defence) defended Nelson's colleague Captain Macnamara at the Old Bailey on a charge of manslaughter arising from a duel, with Nelson giving character evidence for the defendant (Report of the trial of Captain Macnamara, BL GRC 06496a17). Serjeant's Inn still exists off Fleet Street in London, but is now occupied by the Temple Court Hotel.
70 25 Mar. 1802 to 18 May 1803.
71 Townsend, Lives of Eminent Judges, vol. 1, 159.
72 (1802) 3 Bos. & Pull. 257,288.
73 See e.g. Lady Gardner v Lyne (1811) 13 East 574
74 Scott was killed at Trafalgar beside Nelson. It is his blood that can be seen on Nelson's clothing.
75 Sugden, Nelson; The Sword of Albion, 929, n4, where the claims are cited as examples of Scott's ‘if in doubt, claim’ approach.
76 E.g. Lord Ellenborough LCJ, see below.
77 Lord Nelson v Tucker (1803) 4 East 238, also reported (briefly) in Naval Chronicle, vol. X, 432.
78 Trinity Term; (1803) 4 East 268 n.
79 St Vincent left the Board of Admiralty on 14 May 1804 when Pitt resumed the office of prime minister on the fall of Addington's administration. He took up command of the Channel fleet again from 9 November 1805. In 1806 Ellenborough controversially accepted a seat again in the ‘cabinet of all talents’ while remaining as Lord Chief Justice. Ellenborough was also a near neighbour of Davison's, but in 1808 sent him to prison for fraud against the public purse.
80 Knight, Britain Against Napoleon, 40.
81 Keith v Pringle (1803) 4 East 262, also briefly reported in Naval Chronicle, vol. X, 432.
82 Johnstone v Margetson 1 H. Blac. 261, Pigot v White 1 H. Blac. 265 n.
83 15 Nov. 1803, NMM CRK 3/144
84 Don Domingos Xavier de Lima was the Marquis Consort de Nisa, having married Eugénia Maria Teles de Castro da Gama (1776–1839), 11th Countess of Vidigueira, 7th Marchioness of Nisa and 7th Countess of Unhão, a descendant of Vasco da Gama to whose family the de Nisa title had been granted by King John IV of Portugal in 1646.
85 I.e. the war before the Peace of Amiens.
86 NMM CRK/6/139
87 19 Mar. 1804, NMM CRK/6/140
88 NMM CRK/6/141. Sir John Nicholl succeeded Sir William Scott as King's Advocate in Nov. 1798 and by 1804 was a member of parliament.
89 Duckworth v Tucker (1809) 2 Taunton 7
90 9 Apr. 1804, NMM CRK/6/138.
91 Lambert, Admirals, 194.
92 9 Apr. 1804, NMM CRK/6/138.
93 Coleman, Nelson, 332.