Tools: Three Silver Ships
The three silver ships
Editorial history
Created 28/06/2015 by CSG
Contents
Background
Three large ships (The Salvador, the Sampson and the Saint George) of supposedly Lubeck and Hamburg build and ownership were captured by the English in 1652 with highly valuable cargos of bullion. The ships were on their way from Cadiz with bullion from the Spanish West Indies going northwards. It was disputed in court as to whether the ships were bound legally for the Spanish Netherlands, or illegally for Amsterdam.
The case was endowed with political as well as commercial weight - the Protectorate was keen to have the bullion declared lawfull prize, but the Spanish government contested this. The many and varied court depositions and other English Admiralty (and English State Paper) records give very granular and highly colourful accounts of Seville and Cadiz, Hamburg and Lubeck, the Spanish Netherlands, the by-ways between the Spanish Netherlands and Amsterdam by which bullion could be smuggled overland and by canal, and the River Thames, where the ships and sailors were held following seizure. Thomas Violet, a rather dodgy goldsmith, was involved as an agitator on benhalf of the protectorate, and published a pamphlet pleading for reimbursement of his efforts, which supplements the HCA material on the MarineLives wiki.
Timeline
Please enter below all events relating to the Admiralty court case of three Silver ships. Be as specific as possible in terms of day, month, and year.
Please note whether the dates you enter are New or Old style (typically non-English witnesses will use New Style dates, and English witnesses will use Old style dates. In the 1650s the same day in New style was ten days ahead in terms of date compared with Old style.[1]
1650
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1651
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1652
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1653
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1654
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1655
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1656
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1657
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1658
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1659
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=Witness list
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