Privateers and St Aubin

Privateers and St Aubin From articles in the 1948 and 1949 Annual Bulletins of La Société Jersiaise

Jersey privateers and St Aubin

Roving commission

By Julia Marett

During the wars between England and France and Spain, the Channel Islanders were given roving commission to attack and capture any enemy ship, and they sailed the high seas with this object, and brought back many prizes, which were divided between the officers and crew, and many Jersey families owed the foundation of their fortunes to privateering.

Capt Amy (of Cornwall), on 15 June 1650 is said to have entered St Aubin's Roads with 12 captured vessels and in an entry of 25 February 1647, we read "There was brought into St Aubin's Haven a rich prize, a ship loaded with arms, cloth and provisions for the siege of Londonderry. The cellars of St Aubin were filled to overflowing with the goods."

The profits earned were so attractive that St Aubin became the chief privateering port of the kingdom. Successful captains had little difficulty in raising crews, though they were paid no wages and only got their share of the prizes. Other captains had to advertise for crews.

The captains each carried a roving commission called a ' letter of marque', authorising the capture of the ships and goods of the French, the revolted American colonists and other enemies of Great Britain. This important document alone stood between the whole crew being hanged as pirates if taken by an enemy man of war.

Privateering was eventually put down by the forces of Admiral Blake and General Heane in 1651.

Sir George Carteret

By Norman Rybot

As the chief object of the Fort was to protect the vessels which lay in the haven, some reference to the ships and their crews which made Saint Aubin their base, must be made.

It was during the years 1643 to 1651 that the port rose from poverty to affluence mainly through the nefarious operations of Sir George Carteret's privateers, which were known to some as ships of the Royal Navy and to others as "The Jersey Pyrates".

The doings of this flotilla provided Sir George and other adventurers with much wealth, and Jean Chevalier with a great deal of copy for his Journal. They also inspired our godly journalist frequently to quote the Jewish scriptures and moralise on the iniquities committed by his fellow men and the calamitous nature of the times.

The fortunes of the flotilla fluctuated, of course, from time to time; but by following a policy of attacking the weak and avoiding the strong, the pirates succeeded in bringing many a valuable prize in to Saint Aubin, where Sir George's Court of Admiralty adjudged them to be lawful prizes, or otherwise.

Old Court House

It is from the existence of this Court that a house in Saint Aubin still bears the name of The Old Court House - which has given rise to the belief that the village was once the seat of the Royal Court and therefore the capital of the island.

When a ship and her cargo bad been judged a lawful prize, an auction sale - after being advertised with tap of drum in Saint Helier - would be held in Saint Aubin, and thither would congregate on the appointed day many a local merchant and foreign speculator.

One of the most valuable prizes ever taken appears to have been a Parliamentary supply ship on her way from Loudon to Londonderry in February, 1647.

Though only of 90 tons burden, she was reckoned to be worth £15,000. Here is a list of her cargo:

30 barrels of gunpowder: 500 muskets, 500 pistols, 500 carbines, 500 swords and shoulder belts: 500 ready-made suits of clothes, 36 bales of cloth, saddles, boots, bridles and spurs, two small bronze cannons, 450 pairs of shoes, 500 linen shirts, socks, a quantity of red coats, five cases of surgical instru¬ments, musket cases, wheat, a good quantity of peas, sacks of rice, barrels of butter, cheese, sun-dried raisins, chestnuts and other commodities.

Convoy of six vessels

As a rule, only one or two privateers at a time sallied forth in search of prey, but on 18 July 1650, no less than six, convoying two supply boats, set off to provision Castle Cornet. As these six small vessels bore names which were famous or infamous in those days, I give them herewith:

The Raceboat of 14 guns; The Francois of 18; the Patrice of 14; the Pierre of 19; the Marie of 10; and the Lady of four. It is interesting to note that the Lady was adventured or financed by Sir George's lady and her friends.

Turning now to the officers and crews of the privateers, I take the opportunity of pointing out that the phrase "Jersey pirates" is misleading, seeing that there were very few Jerseymen amongst them. It would, in fact, be more accurate to call them Royalist pirates operating from Jersey.

Of the score of captains mentioned by Chevalier, about a dozen were Englishmen who bore typical English names. The rest were Flemings, Ostenders, Dunkirkers and the like.

The crews were a rough lot of rascals of many nationalities, who were merciless and cruel in their treatment of prisoners, and never failed to squander in riotous living the shares they received when their prizes were sold. The excessive intake of strong liquor by men such as these led to many a breach of the public peace in the taverns of Saint Aubin and the occasional shedding of blood in its streets.