Of privateering interest: a scarce Georgian letter of marque and associated bill of sale for the...

Of privateering interest: a scarce Georgian letter of marque and associated bill of sale for the armed sloop Betsey:

Vellum Bill of Sale: dated 29th July 1803, formalising the transfer of title to the Betsey from a syndicate of individuals in Devon and Cornwall to Hannibal Curnow Blewett of Guernsey, signed by each of the former parties and bearing their seals, witnessed verso and with confirmation of the receipt of £700 from Blewett.

Vellum Letter of Marque: dated 23rd June 1807, bearing blue stamp duty seal and the imprint of the Great Seal of the High Court of Admiralty on a separate piece of velum joined to the letter by a ribbon (wax seal missing), giving authority for the Captain Charles Chant "fitly qualified who hath equipped and victualled a Ship Called Betsey.......of about Sixty Tons, Foreign built...with eight carriage Guns carrying Shot of Four and [?] pounds weight...to set forth in a warlike Manner the said Ship called the Betsey.....and therewith by fforce of Arms to Apprehend, seize and take the Ships, Vefsels and Goods belonging to Batavian Republic"

This passage is preceded by a an explanation of the circumstances in which George III, in 1803, issued a paramount authorisation that "general Reprisals be granted against the Ships, Goods and Subjects of the Batavian Republic so that as well our ffleets and Ships as also all other Ships and Vefsels that shall be commifsionated by Letter of Marque and general Reprisals....may lawfully apprehend, seize and take all Ships, Vessels and Goods belonging to the Batavian Republic....". It is followed by details of the terms under which such ships as Chant might capture would be disposed of.

The Treaty of Amiens, which had produced a brief interlude in the hostilities between Britain and France, broke down in May 1803. Among the forces aligned against Britain were those of the Batavian Republic - a client state of Napoleonic France. The Betsey appears originally to have been a French vessel, herself taken as a prize some time before 1796. She was lengthened in 1800, and bought by Blewett in 1807. The previous owners originated in the West Country villages of Rame and Maker - known for smuggling, and this invites speculation that the Betsey may have been used in such a connection. The Blewett name (present in the Letter of Marque in the persons of John Edwards and Merchant & Aaron Groub), is associated with a number of vessels that sailed under letters of marque. Under Captain Chant the Betsey seized the De Vrow Elizabeth, Twee Gezusters, Minerva and De Hoop.

Research: Tony Pawlyn, National Maritime Museum, Plymouth.