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American Prizes October 1776 |
Name of Vessel:
Lively
Master of Vessel:
Nicholas Martindale
Rig of Vessel:
Brig
Date of Capture:
29 October 1776
Place of Capture:
Off St. Johns, Newfoundland
Captor:
Continental Army Schooners Franklin and Hancock
Home Port:
From What Port:
Aire, Scotland
To What Port:
St. Johns, Newfoundland
Cargo:
Dry goods, winter clothing, liquor
Tonnage:
150-160
Battery:
Crew:
Owners:
Prize master:
Prize crew:
Ordered Into:
Boston, Massachusetts
Into What Port:
Boston, Massachusetts
Date Arrived:
13 November 1776
Date Tried:
17 December 1776
Date Sold:
11 March 1777
Action:
No
Recaptured:
No
Comments: Lively was built in Whitehaven, Scotland in 1773. Lively’s cargo of shoes and winter clothing was extremely valuable to the Continental Army. The cargo was valued at between £20000 and £25000. The clothing was forwarded to the Army in early December, unfortunately without being appraised, A partial listing of the invoices added up to £2503. Libeled 28 November 1776. Her remaining cargo was sold at public auction on 16-17 January 1777, which caused a great deal of dissatisfaction among the captors by the method used in the auction, The quartermasters from the Army bought between £8000 and £9000 of the cargo auctioned off. Bradford purchased her for the Secret Committee of the Continental Congress and she was renamed the Robert.
[NDAR, VII, 137 and note, 137-138, 139-141 and 141 note, 232-233 and 233 note, 567 and note, 809-810, 850-851, 980-981 and 981 note, 1013-1014, 1117, 1216-1218, 1305-1306; Clark, George Washington’s Navy, 235, 236; The Independent Chronicle [Boston], October 24, 1776 [which contains a garbled version of the libel]]
| Posted 5 September 2011 |
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