William Anderson
| William Anderson | |
|---|---|
| Person | William Anderson |
| Title | |
| First name | William |
| Middle name(s) | |
| Last name | Anderson |
| Suffix | |
| Spouse of | |
| Widow of | |
| Occupation | Mariner |
| Secondary shorebased occupation | |
| Mariner occupation | Common man, Foremastman |
| Associated with ship(s) | Mary (Master: John Dixon) |
| Training | Not apprentice |
| Is apprentice of | |
| Was apprentice of | |
| Had apprentice(s) | |
| Citizen | Unknown |
| Literacy | Signature |
| Has opening text | William Anderson |
| Has signoff text | William Anderson |
| 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 | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Res county | |
| Res province | |
| Res country | England |
| Birth year | 1635 |
| Marriage year | |
| Death year | |
| Probate date | |
| First deposition age | 21 |
| 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.130v 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) | Apr 5 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
William Anderson (b. ca. 1635; d. ?). Mariner.
Hired for a voyage from Newcastle to Danzig and then to London, Hull or Newcastle, and infact ending in London. "Hired as a common man or fore mast man for the summe of six pounds tenn shillings for the said voyage, was paid off here at London by the said Dixon the master".[1]
Resident in 1656 in Newcastle.
Evidence from High Court of Admiralty
Twenty-one year old William Anderson deposed on April 5th 1656 in the High Court of Admiralty. He was examined on an allegation in the cause of "Betson against Dixon".[2]
The case concerned a suit for wages brought by a mariner named John Betson against his ship's master, for a voyage on the ship the Mary (Master: John Dixon)
William Anderson stated the terms of his hire, and that of a fellow mariner named John Betson, who was the producent in the cause. He stated that"John Betson was shipped in her to serve in her as a mariner for her then intended voyage which was to goe from Newcastle to Dantzike, and thence to retourne either for this port of London, Hull or Newcastle and that to which soever of the said three ports of London, Hull or Newcastle the said shipp should first come upon such her retourne there her voyage was to end".[3]
Anderson himself was hired for the same voyage, and on the same terms. As a common man or foremastman (which Anderson seems to have regarded as equivalent terms) he was paid a flat sum of £6-10 s for the voyage, and was paid off in London at the end of the voyage. It was common report that John Betson was hired on the same terms.[4]
Anderson described Betson as "an able sea man, and behaved himselfe very well and as a skilfull and faithfull sailer ought to doe during the terme of the said voyage", who well deserved his wages. It was ten months since the Mary arrived at London in June 1654 and Anderson asserted (somewhat surprisingly) that "the said John Betson might in that time have well earned twenty pounds in going to sea, at the least". Anderson asserted that "soe much this deponent conceiveth him damnified in losse of that time by following the businesse for getting his said hire, over and above the hire it selfe as aforesaid, and besides the charges and expenses hee hath bin at, which hee this deponent cannot estimate.[5]
In a curious answer to the first interrogatory, Anderson gave an account of the master's heavy drinking on shore at Elsenore on May 16th 1654. That evening, the master already gone on shore to drink, "Betson and the rest (saving this deponent) went to refresh them selves and drinke together, and shortly after they were so gonne the master full of drink went to the waterside, and insisting his men sent this deponent to call them, which hee did and they came presently away, and albeit this deponent ran back without staying, yet the master was gonne off, and two of the men hired another boate and rowed after him, and the next day {the} boate came ashore and fetched the said Betson and this deponent and others aboard". As a result of the delay, the ship missed a fair wind, and "they lost their voyage for severall weekes".[6]
