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Abstract
This article examines the service of royalist privateers during the First Anglo-Dutch War, 1652–4. Most scholarship has focused on the remnants of Prince Rupert’s royalist fleet and its eventual retreat to France in 1653, which is taken as the conclusion of the naval theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, 1639–55. Rather than focusing on Prince Rupert, this article identifies the principal royalist privateers operating outside of his fleet. In turn it demonstrates that these royalists pursued a vigorous guerre de course against the Commonwealth and Protectorate, continuing the Civil Wars at sea. This article demonstrates the ways in which the Cromwellian navy dealt with these privateers and concludes by arguing that they operated within a wider royalist naval strategy spearheaded by the exiled Charles II and James, Duke of York.
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Professor Steve Murdoch, Dr Joseph Wagner, the editors and the anonymous referees for their generous comments and feedback in preparing this article. This article was based on my undergraduate dissertation, completed at the University of St Andrews in 2018, which won the University’s Alan Robertson Memorial Prize as well as the British Commission for Maritime History’s Prize for Undergraduate Achievement. I continue to be very grateful to both institutions for these awards. I am especially indebted to my supervisor, Dr Jacqueline Rose, for her intellectual guidance both then and now.
Notes
1 Roy, ‘Rupert, Prince and Count Palatinate of the Rhine and Duke of Cumberland’.
2 Warburton (ed.), Memoirs of Rupert and the Cavaliers vol. 3, 546; Morrah, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, 275–6; Rodger, Command of the Ocean, 5; Blakemore and Murphy, Civil Wars at Sea, 161–72.
3 Calendar of Whitelocke Papers, 13, fo. 49, 22 March 1653 Marchmont Needham to ‘My Lords’. Papers held at Longleat House, calendar online at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/download/GB%202238%20SM
4 Rodger, Command of the Ocean, 2–6; Gentles, ‘Civil Wars in England’,154; Murphy, ‘British Civil Wars’, 177, 179; Blakemore and Murphy, British Civil Wars at Sea, 172; Capp, Cromwell’s Navy, 20–41; Capp, ‘Naval Operations’, 189; Hainsworth, Swordsmen in Power, 56.
5 One need only look at the dates in the titles of books or articles focused on the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. See for just four examples, Kenyon and Ohlmeyer, Civil Wars, 1638–1660; Edwards, Dealing in Death 1638–1652; Wheeler, Irish and British Wars, 1637–1654; Donagan, War in England, 1642–1649.
6 Take, for example, the Glencairn ‘Rising’ examined in some detail below. Morrill, ‘Between War and Peace’, 306.
7 Anderson, ‘Royalists at Sea, 1651–1653’; Blakemore and Murphy, Civil Wars at Sea; Murphy, Ireland and the War at Sea; Murphy, ‘British Civil Wars’.
8 Murdoch, Terror of the Seas?, 233; Murphy, Ireland and the War at Sea, 86; Davies, Kings of the Sea, 43.
9 Rodger, Command of the Ocean, 5; Blakemore, Murphy, Civil Wars at Sea, 170; Hutton, Charles the Second, 76–7. This is excepting John Cronin’s study on Irish royalists in Charles II’s exiled court, which provides some interesting information on Irish privateers and the Irish exiled elite. See Cronin, ‘Monarchy and Exile’, 148–52, 159.
10 Anderson, ‘Royalists at Sea in 1648’; Anderson, ‘Royalists at Sea in 1649’; Anderson, ‘Royalists at Sea in 1650’; Anderson, ‘Royalists at Sea, 1651–1653’.
11 Anderson, ‘Royalists at Sea, 1651–1653’.
12 Blakemore and Murphy, British Civil Wars at Sea, 170; Hutton, Charles the Second, 76.
13 Ohlmeyer, ‘Irish Privateers’, 130.
14 McElligot and Smith, ‘Introduction’, 1–3. This is also true of Scotland and Ireland, though recent and ongoing work is rectifying this historiographical hole. See Lind, ‘Royalism in Scotland’, 10–11; Lind, ‘Royalism, Resistance and the Scottish Clergy’, 125–34; Robertson, Royalists at War; Cronin, ‘Monarchy and Exile’, 144–64.
15 Hutton, Charles the Second, 74–9; Miller, Charles II, 1. This is excepting C. H. Firth’s fascinating article on Charles II’s royalist army in Flanders in the late 1650s. See Firth, ‘Royalist and Cromwellian Armies’, 67–75.
16 Davies, Kings of the Sea, 13–16, 66–7, 104, 194.
17 For different perspectives from outside this period see Andrews, Elizabethan Privateering, 5; Davies, Kings of the Sea, 249; Craze, ‘Prosecuting privateers’, 661–5. For some of the problems of royalism, generally, see McElligot and Smith, ‘Introduction’, 8–9.
18 See for example, the description of Captain Smith as a ‘Pirate of Brest’ in The National Archives, Kew (hereafter TNA): HCA13/70, Deposition of John Purefoy, 6 Feb. 1654. See more on Smith below.
19 Whitelocke, Memorials vol. 4, 89; Appleby, Women and English Piracy, 91; Davies, Kings of the Sea, 106.
20 Murdoch, Britain, Denmark–Norway, 148–9, 165; Grosjean, Unofficial Alliance, 218; Blakemore and Murphy, British Civil Wars, 154; Groenveld, ‘English Civil War’, 554; Helmers, Royalist Republic, 172–97.
21 TNA: SP25/66, fo. 183, Council of State (Hereafter COS). Day’s Proceedings, 9 Jan. 1652.
22 TNA: SP25/96, fo. 473, COS to Lord General, 30 Aug. 1651; TNA: SP25/96, fo. 527, COS to Militia Commissioners for County York, 13 Sep. 1651; TNA: SP25/97, fo. 37, COS to the Governor of Hull, 23 Dec. 1651; TNA: SP25/29, fo. 79, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 3 Jul. 1652.
23 The victims included one Walter Oglevie and one Mr May of Baudsey. TNA: SP25/66, fo. 564, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 8 Apr. 1652; TNA: SP25/66, fo. 586, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 13 Apr. 1652; TNA: SP25/66, fo. 572; COS to Keeper of Suffolk gaol, 8 Apr. 1652. Flinton, in some documents, is erroneously referred to as Captain Farren or Farrier.
24 TNA: HCA13/70, fo. 7, Deposition of Captain John Welch, 15 Sep. 1654.
25 TNA: SP25/66, fo. 564, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 8 Apr. 1652; TNA: SP25/203, fo. 123, Warrant to collectors of prize goods, 19 Apr. 1652; TNA: SP25/66, fo. 523, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 31 Mar. 1652, fos 524–525. The Fortune was refitted and used in the Commonwealth’s summer guard. See TNA: SP18/27, fo. 78, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 1 Apr. 1652.
26 TNA: SP25/67, fo. 185, COS to [Blank], 1 Jun. 1652; TNA: SP18/24, fo. 58, COS to General Robert Blake, 11 Jun. 1652; TNA: SP25/28, fo. 69, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 11 Jun. 1652.
27 Anonymous, Bloudy Fight at Sea, 5; TNA: SP25/30, fo. 9, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 9 Jul. 1652.
28 TNA: SP78/113, fo. 37, A list of the captains that saile with the Commission of his majesty of great Brittaine, 9/19 Aug. 1652.
29 See appendix 1 for the full list of these captains.
30 Some names, like de Rudder, appear to have been French, Dutch or Flemish, including Jacques de Croix and Michael de Vries.
31 HMC, Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Marquess Of Ormonde vol. 1, 262, 18/28 Feb. 1652 Luke Whittington to the Bishop of Derry. De Rudder seized the Hope of London in mid-December 1652. See TNA: HCA13/70, fo. 692, Deposition of Thomas Everson, 21 Dec. 1655.
32 TNA: SP78/113, fo. 37, A list of the captains that saile with the Commission of his majesty of great Brittaine, 9/19 Aug. 1652.
33 TNA: HCA13/76, fo. 136, Deposition of Francis Dowd, 7 Feb. 1666.
34 Crump, ‘An English Admiralty Court in Brittany’, 456.
35 Thurloe, Collection of State Papers vol. 1, 609–610, Paris, 19/29 Nov. 1653 Letter of Intelligence to Augier.
36 TNA: SP18/46, fo. 36, Capt. Henry Hatsell to the Admiralty Committee [hereafter AC], 18 Jan. 1653; TNA: SP18/46, fo. 130, Capt. Henry Hatsell to Robert Blackbourne, 25 Jan. 1653.
37 TNA: SP18/38, fo. 120, Captain Thomas Sparling to AC, 15 Jul. 1653.
38 TNA: SP18/40, fo. 8, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 1 Sep. 1653; TNA: SP18/59, fo. 210, Capt. Humphrey to AC, 12 Oct. 1653.
39 TNA: SP18, SP25, SP46, passim.
40 Ibid.
41 Rodger, Command of the Ocean, 6; Capp, Cromwell’s Navy, 70–2, 86–7.
42 TNA: SP18/78, fo. 408, Capt. Joseph Cubitt to the AC, Journal of proceedings, [31 Jan.] 1654. See appendix 2 for the full list.
43 TNA: SP25/70, fo. 333, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 5 Sep. 1653.
44 TNA: SP18/62, fo. 240, Gens George Monck and William Penn to AC, 21 Dec. 1653.
45 TNA: SP18/29, fo. 50, John Sherwin to the Navy Commissioners, 18 Nov. 1652.
46 Ibid.
47 Gardiner (ed.), Letters and Papers Relating to the First Dutch War vol. 3, 188–90, 21/31 Dec. 1652 Letter from the Channel.
48 TNA: SP18/26, fo. 60, William Kendall to AC, 18 Dec. 1652.
49 Bodleian Library, Oxford MSS. Clarendon 44, fos 141–2, no. 887, Thomas Holder to the King, 13 Dec. 1652. My thanks to Caroline McWilliams for photographing this source for me. Ogle (ed.), Calendar of Clarendon State Papers vol. 2, no. 982, 20 Feb. 1653, Hyde to Nicholas, 177.
50 Bodleian Library: MS Clarendon 44, fos 141–142, no. 887, Thomas Holder to the King, 13 Dec. 1652. While not mentioning the captains of the ships by name, Holder noted that both were Catholic and that they had been in the king’s service for some time. It is possible that these ships were the Francis and St Patrick of Wexford (or, perhaps, the Patrick of Waterford), private men-ofwar which had served as early as 1642. See Blakemore and Murphy, Civil Wars at Sea, 62, 118–19, 122, 124, 150; Cronin, ‘Monarchy and Exile’, 149.
51 TNA: HCA13/68, fo. 503, Deposition of William Ware, 13 Apr. 1654.
52 TNA: HCA13/70, fo. 221, Deposition of William Sadlington, 2 Feb. 1654; TNA: HCA13/71, fo. 228, Deposition of Claude de Gagnon, 22 May 1656.
53 TNA: SP18/26, fo. 123, Petition of Hen. Godsall to the COS, [Dec.] 1652.
54 TNA: SP18/40, fo. 22, COS Day’s Proceedings, 3 Sep. 1653.
55 Knighton, ‘Beach, Sir Richard’; Powell (ed.), The Letters of Robert Blake, 133, 28 Apr./8 May 1651 Proceedings at Scilly.
56 Ogle (ed.), Calendar of Clarendon State Papers vol. 2, Undated, 1653, The King to [Blank], 291.
57 Atkinson (ed.), Letters and Papers Relating to the First Dutch War, VI, 31 Jan./10 Feb. 1654 Heaton to Blackborne, 227; TNA: SP18/78, fo. 406, Capt. N. Heaton to Blackborne, 31 Jan. 1654.
58 TNA: SP18/79, fo. 396, Capt. Rob. Garrell to AC, ? Feb. 1654.
59 Powell (ed.), The Letters of Robert Blake, 14/24 Feb. 1653/4 Blake and Penn to AC, 253.
60 TNA: SP18/66, fo. 172, Blake and Penn to AC, 25 Feb. 1654.
61 TNA: SP18/80, fo. 32, Tracey to AC, 5 Mar. 1653/4.
62 Gardiner (ed.), Letters and Papers Relating to the First Dutch War, vol. 1, 26, ‘A Few Instances of English Courage and Conduct at Sea Within the Memory of Richard Gibson’; Clowes, The Royal Navy vol. 2, 202.
63 Ogle (ed.), Calendar of Clarendon State Papers vol. 2, 2 Apr. 1654. 1809 Dutch News, 330; Johns, ‘The Constant Warwick’, 262; Clowes, The Royal Navy, vol. 2, 202; TNA: SP18./71, fo. 249, Lt. Thomas Morris to Col. Jno. Clerk, 23 May 1654; Whitelocke, Memorials vol. 4, 89–90, 15 and 18 Mar. 1654; TNA: HCA13/70, fos 452–453, Deposition of John Winslowe, 9 Aug. 1655.
64 Whitelocke, Memorials vol. 4, 89–90, 15 and 18 Mar. 1654; Clowes, The Royal Navy vol. 2, 202; For his service, Potter was given a tankard as reward by the Plymouth council, see Worth (ed.), Calendar of the Plymouth Municipal Records, 164.
65 TNA: HCA34/6, no. 13, Sentence against the Royall James, 26 Apr. 1654; TNA: SP18/68, fo. 4, Gens. Blake and Penn to the AC, 18 Mar. 1654; TNA: SP18/85, fo. 7a, Capt. Thos. Vallis to AC, 11 Jul. 1654; TNA: SP18/84, fo. 183, Capt. Thos. Vallis to AC, 11 July 1654.TNA: SP18/85, fo. 10, Capt. Fras. Willoughby to Navy Commissioners, 19 Jul. 1654; Johns, ‘The Constant Warwick’, 262; Clowes, The Royal Navy vol. 2, 202.
66 Atkinson (ed.), Letters and Papers Relating to the First Dutch War, VI, 18/28 March 1654 Blake and Penn to A.C., 250; TNA: SP18/68, fo. 4, Gens. Blake and Penn to the AC, 18 Mar. 1654.
67 TNA: SP18/42, fo. 262, Petition of Capt. Luke Whittington to the King, undated 1653.
68 TNA: SP46/97, fo. 9, Commission awarded to Capt. David Galbreth, 12 Feb. 1653/4.
69 TNA: SP18/66, fo. 189, Petition of Wm. Pym to the Protector, 28. Feb. 1654.
70 TNA: HCA13/70, fos 201–2 , Deposition of James Banting, 23 Dec. 1654.
71 TNA: SP18/81, fo. 172, Capt. Richard Potter to AC, 14 Apr. 1654. Potter’s letter records Jones’ ship as the Bedy, but the High Court of Admiralty’s sentencing records it as the Bridgett. See TNA: HCA34/6, no. 34, Morgan Jones, 4 May 1654.
72 TNA: HCA13/70, fos 306–7, Depositions of Thomas Philips and Hamlet Fisher, 3 Apr. 1655.
73 TNA: SP18/89, fo. 138, Capt. Fras. Willoughby to Blackborne, 25 Oct. 1654.
74 TNA: SP18/26, fo. 60, William Kendall to AC, 18 Dec. 1652.
75 TNA: SP18/40, fo. 115, Commission by the Keepers of the Liberties of England, 9 Sep. 1653.
76 TNA: SP25/123, fo. 166, AC to Col. Deane, 7 May 1650. Garnett may actually have been freed after being committed to the Sussex county gaol. See TNA: SP25/64, fo. 315, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 7 May 1650.
77 TNA: SP25/70, fo. 333, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 5 Sep. 1653.
78 TNA: SP18/96, fo. 8, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 3 Apr. 1655.
79 Knighton, ‘Beach, Sir Richard’; TNA: HCA13/72, fos 362–3, Deposition of William Bawcock, 8 Jul. 1658. See Anderson, ‘Rebellion at Sea’, 57 on prisoner exchanges with royalists.
80 TNA: SP18/35, fo. 303, Thomas Skelton to Wm Leptratt, 22 Apr. 1653.
81 Ibid.; TNA: SP18/42, fo. 19, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 3 Dec. 1653.
82 TNA: SP18/35, fo. 303, Thomas Skelton to Wm Leptratt, 22 Apr. 1653; TNA: SP25/69, fo.
356 , Petition of Jane Balthazar, 18 Jun. 1653. Skelton referred to Muttelbury as his ‘foresworn enemy’ and ‘[turned] solicitor for cavaliers’.
83 TNA: SP18/42, fo. 19, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 3 Dec. 1653; TNA: SP25/72, fo. 163, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 3 December 1653; Firth and Rait (eds), Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum vol. 2, 612–13.
84 TNA: SP25/69, fos 199–200, COS to Serj. Dendy, 3 Jun. 1653; TNA: SP25/69, fo. 198, COS. Day’s Proceedings, 3 Jun. 1653.
85 Anderson, ‘Rebellion at Sea’, 56.
86 Ibid., 56.
87 TNA: SP18/77, fo. 226, Statement of the Cause between David Galbreth, [undated] 1654.
88 The original release of the ship can be found in Green (ed.), Calendar of State Paper, Domestic, 1653, 433, 24 August 1653 Comrs. Of Great Seal.
89 TNA: SP18/77, fo. 226, Statement of the Cause between David Galbreth, [undated] 1654.
90 Murdoch, Britain, Denmark–Norway, 168–70; Kennedy, ‘Military Rule’, 15, 25–6; Graham, Maritime History of Scotland, 141; Grosjean, ‘Royalist Soldiers’, 67–8, 72–4.
91 In contrast, it appears that the Commonwealth regarded the conflict in Ireland as a ‘rebellion’. In December 1651, the Katherine of Waterford (John Gilbert, master) was seized by the Bull of Bristol for carrying goods and merchandise ‘as belonging to ye Irish Rebells enimies of this Commonwealth and as beinge bound for ye Braintree a port in the said Rebells possession’. See TNA: HCA34/2, no. 53, Sentence against Katherine of Wateford, 18 Dec. 1651.
92 TNA: HCA34/6, passim but especially nos 13, 34, 170, Sentences against Royall James, Bridgett, and Loyall James, 26 Apr. 1654, 4 May 1654, 7 Nov. 1655. In later 1650s the Commonwealth’s war with Spain meant that royalist privateers’ cargo was sentenced as belonging to the Spanish king. See TNA: HCA34/6, no. 170, Sentence against St Francys, 27 Apr. 1659, for one such example. On the war, see Capp, Cromwell’s Navy, 70–2, 86–7.
93 TNA: SP18/66, fo. 86, Peeders Gilles Pene to Ralph Parker, 18/28 Feb. 1654.
94 Ogle (ed.), Calendar of Clarendon State Papers vol. 2, 15 Sept. 1653 Statement, 252; James, The Navy and Government, 77.
95 Ogle (ed.), Calendar of Clarendon State Papers vol. 2, 323, 332, 338, 14 Mar. 1654 Wyndham to the King, 7 Apr. 1654 Warrant to Mr. Wyndham, 17 Apr. 1654 Wyndham to Fleming.
96 While exact numbers for Commonwealth and Dutch privateers are hard to determine, it is estimated that 1,000–1,500 Dutch merchantmen were lost to English privateers and warships while 300–400 English vessels were lost to the Dutch, see Bruijn, The Dutch Navy, 73; Jones, The Anglo-Dutch Wars, 29.
97 Gardiner (ed.), Letters and Papers Relating to the First Dutch War, vol. 1, 49–51, Part II: The Approach of War, Introductory, and 81, 16/26 Feb. 1651/2, A Declaration of the Judges of the High Court of Admiralty of England.
98 TNA: SP46/97, fo. 9, Commission awarded to Capt. David Galbreth, 12 Feb. 1653/4; TNA: SP46/97, fo. 11, Instructions to Captain David Galbreth, Feb. 1653/4.
99 Ogle (ed.), Calendar of Clarendon State Papers vol. 2, 291, Not Dated, 1653 Instructions from the King to the Judge of Admiralty.
100 Ibid. vol. 2, 454, 22 March 1653[?] The King to Mr. Holder.
101 Ibid. Vol. 2, 323, 332, 338, 14 March 1654 Wyndham to the King, 7 Apr. 1654 Warrant to Mr. Wyndham, 17 Apr. 1654 Wyndham to Fleming.
102 Ibid., 10 Jan. 1654 Replies from the King, 303.
103 Davies, Kings of the Sea, 66–7, 104, 194.
104 TNA: SP18/23, fo. 81, Instructions by Charles II to George, Earl of Norwich, 5/15 Feb. 1652; Hinds (ed.), Calendar of State Papers . . . Venice, 1647–52, 245, 13 Jun. 1652 Lorenzo Paulucci to the Venetian Ambassador in France; Little, ‘Comparative Survey’, 363; Little, ‘British Seamen’, 80; Capp, Cromwell’s Navy, 245.
105 TNA: SP18/23, fo. 81, Instructions by Charles II to George, Earl of Norwich, 5/15 Feb. 1652.
106 Bryant (ed.), The Letters, Speeches and Declarations of King Charles II, 27 Jan./6 Feb. , 1652/3 Charles to Boreel, 26. In 1653, Charles also further requested 50 ships and 12,000 infantry from the Dutch to try and effect an invasion of England in exchange for the Orkney Islands, see Hinds (ed.), Calendar of State Papers . . . Venice, 1652–4, 59, 22 April 1653 Sagredo to Doge and Senate. This may have been intended to work in conjunction with the Rising in Scotland; Murdoch notes the intentions for a Royalist–Danish–Dutch alliance with the hope of sending weapons and ships there, see Murdoch, Britain, Denmark–Norway, 168–83. Captain Henry Shawe was instructed by Charles to ‘repair with speed . . . to the Province of Holland’, probably to exact these provisions, see National Records of Scotland, GD1/1158/1. Instructions, for Captain Henry Shawe (Shaw). 2 Nov. 1653.
107 Ogle (ed.), Calendar of Clarendon State Papers vol. 2, 135, 140, ? May 1652 Instructions from the King to the Dutch Ambassador, 11 Jul. 1652 Paper of News.
108 Ibid., vol. 2, 211, 26 May/Jun. 5 1653 Count Frederic William [sic] to the King.
109 Ibid., vol. 2, 185, 21 Mar. 1653 Hyde to Rochester; Rodger, Command of the Ocean, 16–17, 586.
110 Thurloe, Collection of State Papers, vol. 1, 331, 1/11 Jul. 1653 An Intercepted letter designed for Holland; Rodger, Command of the Ocean, 17, 586.
111 Ogle (ed.), Calendar of Clarendon State Papers vol. 2, 235–6, 5 August 1653 W. R. (endorsed ‘Mr. Watson’) to Edgeman; Rodger, Command of the Ocean, 18, 586.
112 Bryant, The Letters, Speeches and Declarations of King Charles II, 26; Hinds (ed.), Calendar of State Papers . . . Venice, 1653–4, 56, 12 Apr. 1653 Sarotti to Doge and Senate; Warner (ed.), Nicholas Papers vol. 2, 8, 14/24 Apr. 1653 Nicholas to Hyde; Rodger, Command of the Ocean, 5.
113 Ogle (ed.), Calendar of Clarendon State Papers vol. 2, 157, 29 Nov. 1652 Paper Delivered by Boreel to the King at Paris.
114 For example, TNA: HCA13/71, fo. 144, Deposition of Doctor Clerke, 3 May 1656; HCA13/71, fo. 455, Deposition of John Cherry, 12 Dec. 1656; HCA13/72, fo. 59, Deposition of Charles Pullen, 30 Jun. 1657.
115 To name but a few, see TNA: HCA13/69, Depositions, 1654; HCA15/5, Early Instance and Prize Papers, 1650–1653; HCA15/6, Early Instance and Prize Papers, 1654–7; HCA1/8, Indictment and subsequent Proceedings filed, 1648–60; HCA25/10, Warrants, 1649–67.
116 ‘Dates’ indicates when the privateer appears on the historical record, not necessarily duration of service.
117 Captain Michael Carew was first noted as sailing out of Dunkirk in 1652. In 1659 he was captain of the St Francys, a man-of-war out of Ostend, which was sentenced by the Commonwealth in April 1659. TNA: HCA34/6, no. 265, Sentence of the St Francys, 27 Apr. 1659.
118 Captain Ignatius Brett’s ship was seized by the Commonwealth and sentenced by the High Court of Admiralty on 27 Apr. 1659. See TNA: HCA34/6, no. 268, Sentence of the St Francisco, 27 Apr. 1659. Although both the St Francisco and St Francys (above) were sentenced on the same day they appear to be two distinct ships.
119 See appendix 2.
120 See appendix 2. Dillon was still in royalist service by April 1655, when he seized the Cane Merchant and transported it to San Sebastian. Its name was changed to the Change and taken over by Richard Beach. See TNA: HCA13/72, fos 362–363, Depositions of Thomas Grimsditch, William Bawcock, 7–8 Jul. 1658.
121 Likely the same man as in appendix 2. Captain Smith of the St Michael appears in the depositions of several sailors of the St Julian as commander of a Brest man-of-war. See TNA: HCA13/71, fos 226–228, Depositions of John Petun, William Mignon, Matthew Ffeas, Claude de Gagnon, Tangin Kerivot, 22 May 1656.
122 George Codd was initially captain of a ship called the Adventure (See Appendix 2) and then the Cornelius, TNA: HCA13/70, fo. 329, Deposition of Henry Shepard, 17 May 1655. The Loyall James was captured by the Commonwealth and sentenced on 7 Nov. 1655. See TNA: HCA34/6, no. 170, Sentence against the Loyall James, 7 Nov. 1655.
123 These Brest men-of-war were identified and compiled by Captain Joseph Cubitt (the Portsmouth) with the help of Walter Roach from the rescued prize Patrick of Liverpool. TNA: SP18/78, fo. 408, Capt. Joseph Cubitt to the AC, Journal of proceedings, [31 Jan.] 1654. I have reordered the list by number of guns.
124 This may be a Walloon privateer named John Martin, alias Martin Williams. Martin was named in a deposition of Sep. 1654 in conjunction with two other royalist privateers, Michael Carew and Captain Fenton. TNA: HCA17/70, fo. 7, Deposition of Captain John Welch, 15 Sep. 1654.
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Jack Abernethy
Jack Abernethy is a PhD candidate at the University of St Andrews. His research focuses on Scotland’s role in the Dutch Revolt, 1568–1609, and the military, political, and social crosscurrents which formed as a result. He is more generally interested in military and maritime conflict and British migration to northern Europe in the early modern period.