Name of Vessel:

Northampton

Master of Vessel:

Thomas Hall [William Gray]

Rig of Vessel:

Brig

Date of Capture:

21 July 1777

Place of Capture:

55°22'N, 3°20'E, 150 miles northeast by east from Spurn Head

Captor:

Continental Navy Cutter Revenge

Home Port:

King’s Lynn, England

From What Port:

Wyburgh [Baltic Sea]

To What Port:

King’s Lynn, England

Cargo:

Deals, lumber, battins

Tonnage:

Battery:

Crew:

Owners:

Hogg of King’s Lynn, England

Prize master:

Benjamin Bailey

Prize crew:

21 [total]

Ordered Into:

Bilbao, Spain

Into What Port:

Yarmouth, England

Date Arrived:

26 July 1777

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

Yes

Comments: Early on the morning of 21 July 1777 Continental Navy Cutter Revenge (Captain Gustavus Conyngham) captured the brig Northampton (Thomas Hall [or William Gray]),  from Wyburgh in the Baltic bound to her home port of King’s Lynn, England, with a cargo of deals, boards and battins. She had cleared out on 11 June 1777. The master and crew were removed and Benjamin Bailey was assigned as her prize master and ordered into Bilboa, Spain, consigned to the Continental factors there, Gardoqui and Company. Bailey, an enlistee from Dunkerque, was given a mixed crew of five English “outlawed smugglers” and sixteen French sailors.

Conyngham gave his orders to Bailey in the name of James Smith, and the letters to Gardoqui included and introduction to “Captain Smith.” Bailey was also given copies of Conyngham’s two commissions, one, the “true” one, in the name of Gustavus Conyngham (commanding the Revenge). The other was for Richard Allen, commanding the Pegasus of North Carolina. Bailey was to pass Northampton off as a prize of the Pegasus at Bilboa. Bailey was ordered to take special care of his papers, to sink them if captured, except for the two commissions. He was only to produce the “true” one in the “last Extremity.”

After these careful warnings it is a surprise to find Bailey, in his journal entries, casually identifying his vessel as the Revenge and his commander as “G. Cunningham.” Bailey turned his coat on 23 July. Among the prize crew was one Francis Mulligan, acting as Bailey’s mate. These two drew up an agreement, at 0800 on the 23rd, stating that they were “Enforced through Necessity” aboard the Revenge. The two agreed to take the prize into King’s Lynn, or to turn her over to a British warship if one were found first. There are many professions of loyalty in this document; one gathers it was more a cover for what they were about to attempt.

In the afternoon of 26 July Bailey brought Northampton into the harbor of Yarmouth, England. He found a young Midshipman, one Edwards, commanding a press boat. When the midshipman boarded the Northampton Bailey obligingly surrendered her to him. The astonished midshipman informed his superior, Captain Francis Richards. All the men, including Bailey and Mulligan, were taken prisoner and secured on the tender Kitty (Lieutenant John Moore) in the press room. Richards asked for further orders on the prisoners and vessel, not forgetting to claim his salvage rights. Lieutenant Moore obtained the two commissions, Bailey’s orders from Conyngham, and Bailey’s journal, and forwarded all to the Admiralty. The prisoners were ordered sent to Forton Prison on 1 August 1777. On 11 August Bailey was committed to Forton Prison, but subsequently was released to enter the Royal Navy. No doubt attempting to get out of prison, Bailey wrote a letter to one Hogg, the owner of the Northampton, on 19 September 1777.

Bailey and fourteen of the prize crew were still prisoners at Forton Prison on 29 December 1777.

[NDAR, IX, 517 and note, 517-519 and 519 note, 522, 534-535 and 535 note, 535-536 and 536 notes, 537 and notes, 539 and note, 543-544, 544 and note, 550-551, 599-601, 610-611; X, 197-199 and 200 notes, 901-902 and 902 note, 1030-1032 and 1032 note; XI, 888-891 and 891 note]

Revised 20 January 2009