Name of Vessel:

Batchelor

Master of Vessel:

William Seon [Sion]

Rig of Vessel:

Sloop

Date of Capture:

20 January 1777

Place of Capture:

6 miles east of Cape Henry, Virginia

Captor:

HMS Preston

Home Port:

From What Port:

St. Eustatius, Netherlands West Indies

To What Port:

Virginia

Cargo:

Rum, salt, dry goods

Tonnage:

Battery:

Crew:

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

New York, New York

Into What Port:

New York, New York

Date Arrived:

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: Sloop Batchelor (William Seon [Sion] was bound from St. Eustatius, Netherlands West Indies to Virginia with a cargo of rum, salt, and dry goods. On the afternoon of 20 January 1777 she was sighted by HMS Preston (Captain William Uppleby) about six miles west of Cape Henry, Virginia. Uppleby sent his barge and pinnace after the sloop which was soon captured. Uppleby then put a lieutenant and twenty-five men in the sloop and sent her, with HM Frigate Brune, after a ship (Farmer) which had run inshore while trying to escape the bay. Seon appealed for an exchange on 22 January 1777. Batchelor was eventually sent to New York, New York, where she was condemned in the Vice Admiralty court. The master’s name is given as William Sion.

[NDAR, VII, 1004 and note, 1019 and note; VIII, 1053-1063; HCA 32/278/2/1-7]