Henry Hughes

Henry Hughes

Henry Hughes
Person	Henry Hughes
Title
First name	Henry
Middle name(s)
Last name	Hughes
Suffix
Spouse of
Widow of
Occupation	Rope merchant
Secondary shorebased occupation
Mariner occupation	Purser
Associated with ship(s)	Thomas Bonadventure (Master: George Hughes)
Training	Not apprentice
Is apprentice of
Was apprentice of
Had apprentice(s)
Citizen	Unknown
Literacy	Signature
Has opening text	Henry Hughes
Has signoff text	H Hughes
Signoff image	(Invalid transcription image)
Language skills	English language
Has interpreter
Birth street
Birth parish
Birth town
Birth county
Birth province
Birth country
Res street
Res parish
Res town	Deptford
Res county	Kent
Res province
Res country	England
Birth year	1632
Marriage year
Death year	1680
Probate date	January 10, 1680
First deposition age	24
Primary sources
Act book start page(s)
Personal answer start page(s)
Allegation start page(s)
Interrogatories page(s)
Deposition start page(s)	HCA 13/71 f.20r Annotate
Chancery start page(s)
Letter start page(s)
Miscellaneous start page(s)
Act book date(s)
Personal answer date(s)
Allegation date(s)
Interrogatories date(s)
Deposition date(s)	Feb 23 1656
How complete is this biography?
Has infobox completed	Yes
Has synthesis completed	No
Has HCA evidence completed	No
Has source comment completed	No
Ship classification
Type of ship	Shore based trade, Merchant ship
Silver Ship litigation in 1650s
Role in Silver Ship litigation	None

Biographical synthesis

Henry Hughes (b. ca. 1634; d. poss. ca. 1680, Deptford). Rope merchant.

Purser of the ship the Thomas Bonadventure from 1651 to 1653, and specifically on her voyage in the Eastern Mediterranean in 1652.

Henry Hughes was presumably related to George Hughes, who was the master and commander of the ship of which George Hughes was purser. Henry Hughes also kept the accounts of the ship for her owners, which he produced in the High Court of Admiralty in April 1659 to confirm outanding debts to ship suppliers by the executrix of the deceased George Hughes.

George Hughes, the master of the Thomas Bonadventure may be the same George Hughes, mariner of Depftford "being now outward bound on a voyage to the Straits", whose will was proved on October 13th 1657.

Resident in 1656 and again in 1659 in Deptford in the county of Kent.

Evidence from High Court of Admiralty

February 1656

Twenty-four year old Henry Hughes deposed on February 23rd 1656 in the High Court of Admiralty. He was examined on an allegation dated February 1st 1656 on behalf of Keate in the cause of "Keate Jennings and others against ffrederick Chowne and others"

Henry Hughes recalled the voyage of the Thomas Bonadventure in 1652, and her taking in bales of cotton wool and bags of galls at Cyprus in May 1652, saying "he was purser of the sayd shipp the voyage in question and tooke an aććompt of her lading".

April 1659

Twenty-eight year old Henry Hughes deposed on April 29th 1659 in the High Court of Admiralty. He was examined on an allegation on behalf of Jane Hughes in "A busines of examination of witnesses on the behalfe of Jane Hughes concerning the shipp the Thomas Bonadventure and against the owners of the said ship".

The case concerned outsanding debts to ship suppliers owing by the executrix of the deceased master of the Thomas Bonadventure.

Henry Hughes stated that the master of the Thomas Bonadventure, George Hughes, was dead. Henry Hughes stated that he had been made master by the owners and proprietors of the ship and had commanded her on several voyages.This he knew "because hee this deponent saw him execute the said place of master for all the said time, and went voyages in her in the yeeres 1651, 1652 and 1653 as purser of her, and kept the account as to the said owners".

Hughes had the ship's book of accounts with him in Court, and was able to confirm that:

George Hughes did lay out, disburse and expend diverse summes of money amounting in all to elaven hundred fourtie and eight pounds sterling in abd about the said shipps provisioning, repairing, mens wages and other necessarie occasions, which hee knoweth because hee this deponent as purser aforesaid kept the accounts of the said shipps expenses and charges and of the said masters disbursements thereabouts, and hath the said accounts now with him, and further saith that over and besides the said summes soe disbursed by the said George Hughes amounting as aforesaid, there are due to severall tradesmen of whom commodities and aterialls were taken for the said shipps use and service within the time aforesaid wherein the said George hughes was soe master of her, severall summes of money amounting in all to the summe of foure hundred and eightie pounds and fourteene shillings, which with the foresaid summe disbursed as aforesaid amounts in all to sixteene hundred twenty nine pounds and thirteene shillings as by the said booke of accounts is to be seen, and saith that all the said moneys were due to the said George in his life time and by him payable, and are still due to and payable by Jane Hughes his Executrix, and saith the said owners [?haveing] perused the said account have allowed and approved thereof, and acknowledged the said moneys to be due as aforesaid"..

Comment on sources

1645

PROB 11/194/439 Will of Thomas Hughes of Deptford, Kent 04 December 1645

1657

PROB 11/269/54 Will of George Hughes, Mariner being now outward bound on a Voyage to the Straits of Deptford, Kent 13 October 1657

1673

PROB 4/19534 Hughes, Thomas, of Deptford, Kent 1673 14 Jan. (1671)

1677

PROB 11/355/320 Will of Elizabeth Hughes, Widow of Deptford, Kent 29 November 1677

1680

PROB 11/362/51 Will of Henry Hughes of Deptford, Kent 10 January 1680