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Auction: 18013 - The Brian Brookes Collection of St. Kitts-Nevis
Lot: 10

St. Christopher
Early Letters
1745 contemporary transcript of a case in the courts of St. Kitts about a lawful prize taken at sea. "Israel Sommersal, Commander of the Private Sloop of War called the Brimstone Hill on the 19th November 1745 about 2 Leagues distant from the Island of St. Christopher in America took and seized as prize a Sloop the Catherine, Hermanus Mulder Commander, bound as pretended from the Island of St. Eustatia a Dutch settlement in America to Barbice". 2pp. folio, with covering sheet marked "Case. For your opinion. Mr Attorney Genl. 3 Gs". Brittle, with old repairs and marginal tears with the loss of a few words only, not beyond conservation

Note: France had declared war on Britain on 4 March 1744. St. Kitts Privateers began to harass French shipping to great local advantage. However, Dutch and Danish islands were used as bases from which food and other supplies could be smuggled into the French colonies. Warehouses on St. Eustatius were crammed with British goods for sale to the French. One of the questions raised in this detailed case (complicated by the obstinacy of the Dutch captain who threw his written orders overboard and refused to sign any affidavit) was whether the "Eatables" on board were lawful prize.

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Sold for
£130