Records of the High Court of Admiralty and colonial Vice-Admiralty courts
Item
Country
GB
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
eng
Contact information: postal address
Kew, Richmond TW9 4DU, London
Contact information: phone number
0044 (0) 2088763444
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
Reference number
HCA
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (official language of the state)
Records of the High Court of Admiralty and colonial Vice-Admiralty courts
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
High Court of Admiralty
Date note
circa 1450/1995
Language(s)
eng
lat
Extent
65 series
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This fonds comprises records of the High Court of Admiralty (mainly its Instance and Prize Courts), Admiralty Sessions, and the High Court of Appeals for Prizes, as well as the successors of those bodies. It also contains other records of the Admiralty Registrar and Admiralty Marshal, Vice-Admiralty courts, Droits of Admiralty and Droits of the Crown, and the Slave Trade Adviser to the Treasury.
It is divided into 67 series, gathered into seven divisions according to the producer:
- Records of the Instance and Prize Courts, containing accounts (HCA 2), acts (HCA 3), appraisements (HCA 4), assignation books (HCA 5 - HCA 11), examinations and answers (HCA 13), exemplars (drafts) (HCA 14), instance and prize case papers (HCA 15), instance case papers (HCA 16 - HCA 20), interlocutory decrees (HCA 21 - HCA 22), interrogatories (HCA 23), letters of marque declarations (HCA 26), letters of marque warrants, bonds and bails (HCA 25), minute books (HCA 27 - HCA 29), miscellaneous artefacts and documents (HCA 65), miscellaneous documents (HCA 24 and HCA 32), monitions (HCA 31), prize case papers (HCA 32 and HCA 33), sentences (HCA 34) and warrants (HCA 38 and HCA 39).
- Records of the High Court of Appeals for Prizes, containing acts (HCA 41), assignation books (HCA 43 and HCA 44), case books (HCA 45), interlocutories (HCA 46), miscellaneous documents (HCA 47), prize papers (HCA 42) and sentences files (HCA 48).
- Records of Admiralty Sessions, including records relating to proceedings in trials at Admiralty Sessions (HCA 1), and warrants arising from such proceedings (HCA 55).
- Records of the Admiralty Registrar and Admiralty Marshal, including the black book of the Admiralty (HCA 12), correspondence and papers (HCA 52 and HCA 53), instance causes (HCA 56), letter books (HCA 58), minute books (HCA 57 and HCA 60), miscellaneous documents (HCA 30, HCA 61 and HCA 62), muniment books (HCA 50 and HCA 51), reports (HCA 54), ships' files (HCA 64), and warrants (HCA 63).
- Records of Vice-Admiralty Courts, containing records of proceedings in Vice-Admiralty courts as were forwarded to the High Court of Admiralty (HCA 49), as well as prize commissions, letters patent and warrants relating to Vice-Admiralty courts (HCA 59).
- Records of Droits of Admiralty and Droits of the Crown, including royal warrants authorising grants out of the proceeds of prizes condemned as droits of Admiralty or droits of the Crown (HCA 40).
- Records of the Slave Trade Adviser to the Treasury relating to the administration of questions arising following the abolition of the slave trade, including report books (HCA 35), with registered papers (HCA 37) and unregistered papers (HCA 36).
Scattered throughout this vast fonds is abundant information regarding Sephardic merchants from the 16th to the 18th century. Some examples are the following:
HCA 14/27, no. 69: Suit initiated by Hector Nunes in the High Court of Admiralty, whose result was the accusation of Nunes as a secret informer of the Spanish Crown and an enemy alien. December 8, 1590. More information on Nunes can be found in other documents of this fonds. See Meyers (2004).
HCA 13/70, November 21, 1653: Claim of António Fernandes Carvajal concerning a shipment of silver from Cadiz that had been seized in the ships Samson, Salvador, and St. George, all of Amsterdam. Published by Woolf (1970-73).
HCA 13/72, October 27, 1658: Claim of Manuel Martines Dormido for the ship the Three Cranes, seized with its loading. The claim was examined and sworn by Solomon Franco of London. The same volume contains a claim by Manoel da Fonseca and William Tucker on behalf of António Fernandes Carvajal, to the vessel George and Angel, which had been seized by Commonwealth forces. Published by Woolf (1970-73).
HCA 30/1066: Documents regarding the capture of the ship St John the Evangelist (or St Jean Evangeliste of Marseilles), a French ship bound from Marseilles to Hamburg via Alicante, in 1665. The ship was called at Malaga and Cadiz, where Jacob Brandon (or Brandão), Joseph da Costa and Moises Abandina (Abendana?) were taken on board as passengers for Amsterdam, having arrived there from Salé. It includes the personal archive of Jacob Brandon from circa 1656 to 1665, various letters and papers presumably carried by Brandon from Salé to Amsterdam.
HCA 32/7/30: Records on the capture of the ship Golden Lion, master Leonard Webber, bound from Barbados to London, laden with sugar, cotton, and ginger, the goods of Englishmen consigned to London, and of Jews resident in Barbados consigned to Jewish merchants in London. The ship was seized on August 26, 1672.
HCA 30/230: Documents regarding the ship De Goede Hoop, bound from Amsterdam to Salé, containing merchant and private correspondence of Sephardic Jews of Amsterdam, in 1702.
HCA 32/160/9C: Affidavits sworn by Francis Salvador and his son Joseph Salvador in October and November 1741, as to goods, really owned by them but liable to be found on Spanish ships, as ostensibly enemy property, though having been exported before the war.
HCA 32/134/7: Records regarding the capture of the ship Nuestra Senora de los Remedios (also known as La Nimfa del Mar or Nymphe) in 1747, whose goods were supposedly owned by Joseph and Jacob Salvador.
HCA 32/121/23: Records on the capture of the Russian ship Juffrouw Magdelena or Demoiselle Madelaine of Riga, bound from Amsterdam to Bordeaux. The ship was taken between August 31 and September 10, 1747. It includes a letter in Spanish from Joshua Cohen in Amsterdam to Mosseh Henriques Castro in Bordeaux , both Sephardic Jews, and a related note in Dutch.
It is divided into 67 series, gathered into seven divisions according to the producer:
- Records of the Instance and Prize Courts, containing accounts (HCA 2), acts (HCA 3), appraisements (HCA 4), assignation books (HCA 5 - HCA 11), examinations and answers (HCA 13), exemplars (drafts) (HCA 14), instance and prize case papers (HCA 15), instance case papers (HCA 16 - HCA 20), interlocutory decrees (HCA 21 - HCA 22), interrogatories (HCA 23), letters of marque declarations (HCA 26), letters of marque warrants, bonds and bails (HCA 25), minute books (HCA 27 - HCA 29), miscellaneous artefacts and documents (HCA 65), miscellaneous documents (HCA 24 and HCA 32), monitions (HCA 31), prize case papers (HCA 32 and HCA 33), sentences (HCA 34) and warrants (HCA 38 and HCA 39).
- Records of the High Court of Appeals for Prizes, containing acts (HCA 41), assignation books (HCA 43 and HCA 44), case books (HCA 45), interlocutories (HCA 46), miscellaneous documents (HCA 47), prize papers (HCA 42) and sentences files (HCA 48).
- Records of Admiralty Sessions, including records relating to proceedings in trials at Admiralty Sessions (HCA 1), and warrants arising from such proceedings (HCA 55).
- Records of the Admiralty Registrar and Admiralty Marshal, including the black book of the Admiralty (HCA 12), correspondence and papers (HCA 52 and HCA 53), instance causes (HCA 56), letter books (HCA 58), minute books (HCA 57 and HCA 60), miscellaneous documents (HCA 30, HCA 61 and HCA 62), muniment books (HCA 50 and HCA 51), reports (HCA 54), ships' files (HCA 64), and warrants (HCA 63).
- Records of Vice-Admiralty Courts, containing records of proceedings in Vice-Admiralty courts as were forwarded to the High Court of Admiralty (HCA 49), as well as prize commissions, letters patent and warrants relating to Vice-Admiralty courts (HCA 59).
- Records of Droits of Admiralty and Droits of the Crown, including royal warrants authorising grants out of the proceeds of prizes condemned as droits of Admiralty or droits of the Crown (HCA 40).
- Records of the Slave Trade Adviser to the Treasury relating to the administration of questions arising following the abolition of the slave trade, including report books (HCA 35), with registered papers (HCA 37) and unregistered papers (HCA 36).
Scattered throughout this vast fonds is abundant information regarding Sephardic merchants from the 16th to the 18th century. Some examples are the following:
HCA 14/27, no. 69: Suit initiated by Hector Nunes in the High Court of Admiralty, whose result was the accusation of Nunes as a secret informer of the Spanish Crown and an enemy alien. December 8, 1590. More information on Nunes can be found in other documents of this fonds. See Meyers (2004).
HCA 13/70, November 21, 1653: Claim of António Fernandes Carvajal concerning a shipment of silver from Cadiz that had been seized in the ships Samson, Salvador, and St. George, all of Amsterdam. Published by Woolf (1970-73).
HCA 13/72, October 27, 1658: Claim of Manuel Martines Dormido for the ship the Three Cranes, seized with its loading. The claim was examined and sworn by Solomon Franco of London. The same volume contains a claim by Manoel da Fonseca and William Tucker on behalf of António Fernandes Carvajal, to the vessel George and Angel, which had been seized by Commonwealth forces. Published by Woolf (1970-73).
HCA 30/1066: Documents regarding the capture of the ship St John the Evangelist (or St Jean Evangeliste of Marseilles), a French ship bound from Marseilles to Hamburg via Alicante, in 1665. The ship was called at Malaga and Cadiz, where Jacob Brandon (or Brandão), Joseph da Costa and Moises Abandina (Abendana?) were taken on board as passengers for Amsterdam, having arrived there from Salé. It includes the personal archive of Jacob Brandon from circa 1656 to 1665, various letters and papers presumably carried by Brandon from Salé to Amsterdam.
HCA 32/7/30: Records on the capture of the ship Golden Lion, master Leonard Webber, bound from Barbados to London, laden with sugar, cotton, and ginger, the goods of Englishmen consigned to London, and of Jews resident in Barbados consigned to Jewish merchants in London. The ship was seized on August 26, 1672.
HCA 30/230: Documents regarding the ship De Goede Hoop, bound from Amsterdam to Salé, containing merchant and private correspondence of Sephardic Jews of Amsterdam, in 1702.
HCA 32/160/9C: Affidavits sworn by Francis Salvador and his son Joseph Salvador in October and November 1741, as to goods, really owned by them but liable to be found on Spanish ships, as ostensibly enemy property, though having been exported before the war.
HCA 32/134/7: Records regarding the capture of the ship Nuestra Senora de los Remedios (also known as La Nimfa del Mar or Nymphe) in 1747, whose goods were supposedly owned by Joseph and Jacob Salvador.
HCA 32/121/23: Records on the capture of the Russian ship Juffrouw Magdelena or Demoiselle Madelaine of Riga, bound from Amsterdam to Bordeaux. The ship was taken between August 31 and September 10, 1747. It includes a letter in Spanish from Joshua Cohen in Amsterdam to Mosseh Henriques Castro in Bordeaux , both Sephardic Jews, and a related note in Dutch.
Archival history
Many of the older documents were transferred from the Tower of London to the Public Record Office between June 1856 and March 1857. From 1899, records were transferred by the Supreme Court of Judicature, High Court of Justice's Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division.
Administrative / Biographical history
The High Court of Admiralty emerged as a separate entity probably after the battle of Sluys in 1340. It was established to deal primarily with questions of piracy or spoil but later developed a jurisdiction in prize and a civil jurisdiction in such matters as salvage and collision, based on Roman or civil law. Actions could be taken against ships and goods as well as against persons.
Soon after the restoration in 1660, the civil business of the court was divided, with an instance court and a prize court (the latter only existing in wartime).
The criminal side passed to the Central Criminal Court in 1834. When the Supreme Court of Judicature was established in 1875, the civil law business of the court joined the other civil law courts in the creation of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice. Unlike these other courts, the records retained their own code, HCA.
Soon after the restoration in 1660, the civil business of the court was divided, with an instance court and a prize court (the latter only existing in wartime).
The criminal side passed to the Central Criminal Court in 1834. When the Supreme Court of Judicature was established in 1875, the civil law business of the court joined the other civil law courts in the creation of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice. Unlike these other courts, the records retained their own code, HCA.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
Access, restrictions
Records are subject to 30-year closure unless otherwise stated.
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2022
Bibliography
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