MARTIN, HENRY [SSNE 8443]
Text source
Captain Henry Martin was a Scottish commander of a French privateer named the Charlotte of Calais. He obtained a letter of protection in August 1675 from Charles II, rendering him free of prosecution in Great Britain and asked for this to be registered in the Scottish High Court of Admiralty.
It is probably no coincidence that a case against Martin was made in November 1675 by Captain Henry Handshell, master of the ship City of Hamburg and Philip van Porten (merchant of Hamburg. Haunsheill and van Porten accused Martin of seizing the ship in 1674 while it was voyaging to Archangel and taking 60,000 rix dollars worth of goods (mostly luxury fabrics and jewellry). Martin sold the goods to Sir Charles Erskine (Lord Lyon), Captain Andrew Dick of Leith, Mr John Dick (customs agent in Leith), Thomas Martin, Captain William Blackett [SSNE 7759], John Rus, Edward Baird, widow Margaret Young, and Andrew Johnston. Dick was ordered to return his portion of the taken goods.
Sources:
NRS, AC7/4, Supplication for Captain Henry Martin, 6 August 1675.
NRS, AC7/4, Henry Haunsheill and Philip van Porten, 11 November 1675.
NRS, AC7/5, Commission to the Magistrate of Hamburg, 3 January 1679.
NRS, AC7/5, Handshell and van Porten, 20 December 1678 and 15 July 1679.
This entry created by Mr Jack Abernethy.
Service record
- FRANCE, CALAIS
- Arrived 1675-01-01, as CAPTAIN
- Departed 1675-08-06, as CAPTAIN
- Capacity PRIVATEER, CAPTAIN, purpose NAVAL, MARITIME WARFARE