Captaine James Lutton

Captaine James Lutton

Captaine James Lutton
Person	Captaine James Lutton
Title	Captaine
First name	James
Middle name(s)
Last name	Lutton
Suffix
Spouse of
Widow of
Occupation	Mariner
Secondary shorebased occupation
Mariner occupation	Master
Associated with ship(s)	Maydenhead (Master: Captaine James Lutton)
Training	Not apprentice
Is apprentice of
Was apprentice of
Had apprentice(s)
Citizen	Unknown
Literacy	Signature
Has opening text	Captaine James Lutton
Has signoff text	James Lutton
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	East Greenwich
Res county	Kent
Res province
Res country	England
Birth year	1603
Marriage year
Death year	1663
Probate date	October 21, 1663
First deposition age	53
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.28v 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)	Mar 3 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	Merchant ship
Silver Ship litigation in 1650s
Role in Silver Ship litigation	None

Biographical synthesis

Captaine James Lutton (b. ca. 1603; m. Bridgett Hodgkin (her second marriage), date unknown; d. ca. 1663). Mariner.

Master of multiple ships in his career. One of these ships was the Maydenhead, which is recorded on a voyage from London to Cadiz, departing London in January 1650.

Called in 1656 to depose in High Court of Admiralty as an expert witness by Alderman Frederick to attest to direct route and distance from Salina road in Cyprus to London.

Resident in 1656 in East Greenwich.

The will of James Lutton, gentleman, of East Greenwich, was proved on October 21st 1663

James Lutton described himself in his will as a "gentleman" of East Greenwich. Kent. He referred in his will to property in Greenwich, Salisbury and Devon, and to investment in shipping. The same will identified his wife as Bridgett, whose own will was proved five years later in 1668.

In his deposition of March 1656, James Lutton gave his age as "fifty three yeares or thereabouts", which is broadly consistent with the age of sixteen for the James Lutton of Kenton, Devonshire, given in Thomas Colby's Visitation of the county of Devon in the year 1620.

James Lutton's will identifies a brother, Emanuell Lutton, with whom James Lutton had a mortgage of lands in Devonshire. The will also identifies "Cosen James [Lutton]", who was to redeem the mortgage, and a further male cousin, Mr Thomas Cullen.

James Lutton had two daughters by his wife Bridgett, and one daughter, who was the child of his wife's first husband, the deceased Henry Hodgkin. The first biological daughter is named in the will as Christian Lutton, together with her intended husband, Ralph Hodgkin. Unusually, the intended husband was Bridgett Lutton's son by her former husband. A second biological daughter is named as Elizabeth Lutton. The daughter by the wife's first husband is named as Sarah Hodgkin.

James Lutton identifies the parish of Kenton in Devonshire as the place of his birth, and makes a charitable gift to this parish as well as to the parish of East Greenwich.

Bridgett Lutton was named the sole executrix. The will was written when "at present sicke and weake in body", and signed and dated September 7th 1663. It was proved a month later on October 21st 1663.

Bridgett Lutton

Bridgett Lutton was the wife of James Lutton by her second marriage. Her first marriage (according to James Lutton's will) had been to Henry Hodgkin, by whom she had a son (Ralph) and a daughter (Sarah). She had two daughters by James Lutton (Christian and Elizabeth). She survived her husband's death (1663), with her own will proved in 1668. Consequently, she appears in the Kent Heath Tax records for Lady Day 1664 as a widow, living in East Lane East in Greenwich in a sizeable property with twelve hearths.

Duncan Harrington (trans.), Kent Hearth Tax Assessment Lady Day 1664, p.23

Emanuell Lutton

Emanuell Lutton is named in James Lutton's will (1663) as the living brother of James, and is linked in the will to land in Devonshire. This would be consistent with an Emanuel (sic) Lutton, who is named in Thomas Colby's Visitation of the county of Devon in the year 1620 as the eldest son of Emanuel Lutton of Cofford in the parish of Kenton [Devonshire]. Emanuel's age is given as twenty in the year of the visitation, with brothers James (16), John (14), Francis (10) and Richard (7), and sisters Mary (18) and Elizabeth (9).

Frederick Thomas Colby (ed.), The visitation of the county of Devon in the year 1620 (London, 1872), p.173

East Lane, East Greenwich

In his 1655 deposition in the English Admiralty Court James gave his residence simply as "East Greenwich". However, the Kent Hearth Tax records for Lady Day 1664 enable us to identify Lutton's residence more precisely as East Lane East in East Greenwich, where his widow resided, in a sizeable property with twelve hearths. This was a fashionable area, inhabited by a number of leading London merchants and mariners. East Greenwich neighbours included the merchant Sir Theophilus Biddulph (in a twenty-one hearth residence in East Lane East, East Greenwich), the London merchant Benjamin Glanvill (of Devon origins, in a twelve hearth residence in Dock and Taverne Rowe, East Greenwich), and the London merchant Mr Nicholas Cooke.

Chancery Court records exist for a legal dispute between a William Glanvile and a James, Joan and William Lutton. It is possible that this William Glanvile was related to Benjamin Glanvill, who was a major London merchant trading in tin, and that the dispute involved Captain James Lutton and relatives.

Detail, Greenwich section of John Roque's Map of London (1695), copy by Samuel Travers (1810)

Evidence from High Court of Admiralty

1654

Robert Demetrius, a twenty three year old servant of London merchant James Stanier, deposed on March 12th 1654 in a case concerning bullion belonging to Pedro Michelson of Antwerp, which had been seized by the English from the ships the Sampson, the Salvador and the Saint George. Demetrius stated that in January 1650 his master James Stanier had sent a large consignment of Norwich stuffes and bayes "on board the shipp Maydenhead of London Captaine James Lutton commander one third part of which stuffes and bayes were for the sole accompt of the producent Pedro Michaelson, and putt and stated to and upon his accompt by the sayd James Stanier, in his bookes of accompts which this Rendent hath laetely consulted. which goods came safe to the hands of the sayd foresayd factor att Cadiz".

1656

Fifty-three year old Captaine James Lutton deposed on March 3rd 1656 in the High Court of Admiralty. He was examined on an allegation on behalf of Alderman Frederick and others in the cause of "Alderman Frederick and others against Keat Jennings and others".

James Lutton testified at the request of Mr Chowne and Captaine Goodlad. Lutton stated in answer to a cross interrogatory that "he never made Ciprus his last port homewards, but hath bene there twice, and both tymes came to Zant having busines there, and order to goe thither, and he knoweth not that it is usuall for shipps bound from Ciprus to London to touch att Zant unlesse they have order so to doe".

Regarding the ship in question, Kutton stated that "he hath severall tymes seene the sayd shipp the Thomas Bonadventure and she hath two deckes, and is in his judgment about two hundred and sixty or more tonnes".

Comment on sources

1649 - 1684

C 22/77/10 Glanville v Lutton. Depositions taken in the country. 1649 - 1684

C 22/77/31 Glanville v Lutton. Depositions taken in the country. 1649 - 1684
- These records are consistent with details of the Lutton family given in Frederick Thomas Colby (ed.), The visitation of the county of Devon in the year 1620 (London, 1872), p.173

1658

C 5/409/85 Short title: Glanvile v Lutton. Plaintiffs: William Glanvile. Defendants: James Lutton, Joan Lutton, widow, and William Lutton. Subject: property in Kenton, Devon. Document type: bill, answer. 1658
- This record is consistent with details of the Lutton family given in Frederick Thomas Colby (ed.), The visitation of the county of Devon in the year 1620 (London, 1872), p.173

1662

C 10/487/159 Murthwaite and Hide v Reynolds, Lenthall, Moore, Lutton and others: Kent. 1662

1663

PROB 11/312/242 Will of James Lutton, Gentleman of East Greenwich, Kent 21 October 1663

1668

PROB 11/328/355 Will of Bridgett Lutton, Widow of East Greenwich, Kent 24 November 1668

PROB 11/327/573 Sentence of Brigetta Lutton, Widow of East Greenwich, Kent 13 November 1668