An Early Admiralty Case (A.D. 1361)

Extract

The following case in Admiralty, dated 26 July, 1361, may possibly have escaped the notice of the late Mr. R. G. Marsden, since it is thirty years earlier than that of Sampson c. Curteys, which is the earliest printed in Select Pleas in the Court of Admiralty. It is contained on a small parchment roll of one membrane measuring 20½ by 10¼ in., and formerly known as Chancery Miscellaneous Roll 20/18. It deals with a case of piracy arising from the war with France. The plaintiffs, William Smale, of Dartmouth, a well-known shipowner, and John Bronde state that their ship the St. Mary boat, sailing from Dartmouth for Flanders, was captured off Winchelsea on Friday before Whit-Sunday, 33 Edw. III (7 June, 1359) by John Houeel, the defendant, and others, and taken to France. The ship was recaptured and taken to Great Yarmouth and was now in the hands of Bartholomew Nogan, who did not appear. They claimed £4,000 for the cargo and £1,000 as damages.