William Smith
| William Smith | |
|---|---|
| Person | William Smith |
| Title | |
| First name | William |
| Middle name(s) | |
| Last name | Smith |
| Suffix | |
| Spouse of | |
| Widow of | |
| Occupation | Mariner |
| Secondary shorebased occupation | |
| Mariner occupation | Master's mate |
| Associated with ship(s) | Catherine (Master: David Young) |
| Training | Not apprentice |
| Is apprentice of | |
| Was apprentice of | |
| Had apprentice(s) | |
| Citizen | Unknown |
| Literacy | Signature |
| Has opening text | William Smith |
| Has signoff text | Will: Smith |
| 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 | Wapping |
| Res parish | |
| Res town | |
| Res county | Middlesex |
| Res province | |
| Res country | England |
| Birth year | 1618 |
| Marriage year | |
| Death year | |
| Probate date | |
| First deposition age | 39 |
| Primary sources | |
| Act book start page(s) | |
| Personal answer start page(s) | |
| Allegation start page(s) | |
| Interrogatories page(s) | |
| Deposition start page(s) | HCA 13/72 f.139r 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) | Sep 18 1657 |
| 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 Smith (b. ca. 1618; d. ?). Mariner.
Master's mate of the ship the Catherine of London (Master: David Younge) on a voyage in the Mediterranean in summer 1657 and back to London.
Resident in 1657 in Wapping in the county of Middlesex.
Evidence from High Court of Admiralty
Thirty-nine year old William Smith deposed on September 18th 1657 in the High Court of Admiralty. He was examined on an allegation on behalf of David Younge and Company in the cause of "David Younge and Company against David Bonnell".[1]
The case concerned a lading of oil taken into the ship the Catherine at the port of Vado, ten leagues from Genoa. They were laded for the account of David Bonnell and were to be transporte to London. William Smith had helped lade and stowe the oils.[2]
William Smith did not know what agreement had been made with David Younge by David Bonnell's agent, since he was not present when the contract was made and had not seen the relevant bills of lading, but said that "three pounds five shillings a tonne and more is usually paid for the freight of bringing a tonne of oyle from Genoa or Vado or any of those adiacent places to London.[3]
William Smith also helped to stowe and unlade the oils at London and therefore knew that any leakage that took place to the oils "did not happen to the same through any neglect of the master and company of the sayd shipp". Smith argued that "the same weer well and carefully stowed and were surveyed at debtford by skillfull and able seamen before their unladeing and found to bee well and sufficiently stowed and bedded and coyned according to the custome of the sea and not to have any heavie or chargeable goods stowed about them whereby to doe them any wrong with weight". Smith pointed to weaknesses in the casks in which the oils were stored, saying that "what oyle is wanting out of the sayd casks leaked out through the insufficiencie of the sayd casks they being as it appeared made of greene wood and by that meanes shrunke which occasioned the leakage". The problem lay, he argued, with the wood not the hoops, since he observed at the time of the unlading of the oils that "there was not a hoope broken or pulled off any of the sayd caskes soe that the leakinesse of them must needes and did (as hee beleeveth) proceede and happen only by the shrinkeing of the casks by reason of the greenesse of the wood they were made of and by reason of divers knotts which hee observed to bee in the staves of them".[4]
Smith remembered a cooper visiting the ship on behalf of David Bonnell to inspect the casks and stated that after the cooper viewed them he "did acknowledge before this deponent and others of the sayd shipps Company that hee could find noe fault in the stowage of them, but sayd they were made of greene wood which had caused them to shrinke and thereby become leakie, and gave this deponent a noate under his hands (which noate this deponent delivered to the sayd David Young the master) expressing that the caskes which were most leakie were were well stowed".[5]
