Private Shipyards and Victuallers

Every statement above that rests on a checked claim carries a small number; the numbers lead here. Each entry gives what is claimed, how far the record supports it, and where it comes from.

1. Naval victualling in this period was the work of a state board and not of a private contractor: the Commissioners of the Victualling sat at the Victualling Office in London, laded provisions on the government's order and applied to the Treasury for the charge, and supplied the King's ships on distant stations through correspondents under contract to them. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Official correspondence of the Victualling Board and the Admiralty: The Victualling Board to William Popple, Victualling Office, 9 May 1698, Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies, vol. 16, 1697-1698, no. 438, p. 206 (Board of Trade, Newfoundland, 3, nos. 110 and 110 I): "Pursuant to orders we have laden the provisions for Newfoundland in the ship John of London" and "we shall apply for that sum to the Treasury", signed Tho. Papillon, Hum. Ayles, John Burrington. Josiah Burchett to Mr Popple, Admiralty Office, 25 June 1719, same Calendar, vol. 31, 1719-1720, no. 263, p. 138 (C.O. 152, 12, no. 141): "I have received an answer from the Commissioners of the Victualling... that they have wrote to their correspondent at Barbados (who is under contract with them to supply the ships both there and at the Leeward Islands)". Neither document dates the founding of the board.
2. The Adventure Galley was launched at Castle's yard at Deptford about 4 December 1695, a private Thames yard and not the Crown establishment, on the authority of Kidd's own narrative; under articles of 10 October 1695 a ship was to be bought for the voyage, Kidd was to have the command and he and Robert Livingston were to pay a fifth part of her cost, so she cannot have been bought in August 1696 for 8,000 pounds, as is sometimes stated. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. The captain's own narrative and the owners' articles of agreement: Narrative of William Kidd, 7 July 1699, Public Record Office C.O. 5:860, no. 64 XXV, printed in J. F. Jameson, Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period: Illustrative Documents (Washington, 1923), doc. 76: "That the said Adventure Gally was launched in Castle's Yard at Deptford about the 4th day of December 1695". Articles of Agreement between the Earl of Bellamont, Robert Livingston and Captain William Kidd, 10 October 1695, printed in C. N. Dalton, The Real Captain Kidd: A Vindication (London, 1911), Appendix A: "a good and sufficient Ship to the Liking of the said Captain Kidd, shall be forthwith bought, whereof the said Captain Kidd, is to have the Command", and "the said other Fifth Part of the charges of the said Ship to be paid by the said Robert Levingston and William Kidd". No total cost is stated in the articles.
3. Samuel Bellamy's ship was the Widdaw, taken from Captain Prince as he was turning through the Bahama Islands homeward bound from Jamaica; she carried twenty six guns and had a hundred and twenty men aboard when, after taking a Madeira ship near Cape Cod on 27 April 1717, her people got drunk and ran her ashore at a place called Nossetts Bay to the southward of the Cape, and only two of the men were saved. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Governor's despatch reporting advice from Boston: Lieutenant Governor Benjamin Bennett to the Council of Trade and Plantations, Bermuda, 30 July 1717, Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies, vol. 29, 1716-1717, no. 677, p. 360 (C.O. 37, 10, no. 5): "From Boston in New England I am advised that on the 27th of April a pirate ship of 26 guns commanded by one Bellemy met with a ship, bound for New England from the Maderas which she took near Cape Codd... The pirates in both vessells regaled themselves so liberally with Madera that they all got drunk and ran their own vessell on shoar att a place called Nossetts Bay to the Southward of the Cape, on board her were 120 men, two whereof were only saved: The ship that Bellamy had called the Widdaw, which he took from one Capt. Prince belonging to Bristol as he was turning through the Bohama Islands from Jamaica bound home". Bennett is repeating advice from Boston and was not a witness.
4. Blackbeard was killed on 22 November 1718 from two sloops which Alexander Spotswood, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, hired and supplied with pilots at his own charge, the captains of HMS Pearl and HMS Lyme furnishing fifty five men, because it was found impracticable for the men of war to go into the shallow and difficult channels of that coast; the 1724 account adds that the hired sloops were furnished with ammunition and small arms but had no guns mounted. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Governor's despatch and a period narrative: Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, Virginia, 22 December 1718, Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies, vol. 30, 1717-1718, no. 800, pp. 430-431 (C.O. 5, 1318, no. 61): "It was found impracticable for the men of war to go into the shallow and difficult channells of that country... I undertook the other part of supplying at my own charge sloops and pilots. Accordingly I hyred two sloops and put pilotes on board, and the Captains of H.M. ships having put 55 men on board", and "they came up with Tach at Ouacock Inlett on the 22nd of last month". A General History of the Pyrates (London, 1724): "The Sloops were well mann'd and furnished with Ammunition and small Arms, but had no Guns mounted".
5. The Adventure Galley was so leaky by the spring of 1698 that she had to be woolded round with cables to keep her together, and Kidd gave her up at St Mary's in Madagascar that year; the manner of her end is unresolved, his own narrative saying she sank in the harbour once the men who pumped her were carried away, Duncan Campbell's memorial saying the company took out her guns and set her on fire, and Edward Buckmaster's examination saying only that she sank at St Mary's, and no source read mentions worm. Blackbeard's ship of forty guns was run ashore and lost in June 1718, at Topsail Inlet by the 1724 account and at the mouth of Ouacoch Inlet by Spotswood's. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. The captain's own narrative, two examinations and a period narrative: Narrative of William Kidd, 7 July 1699, Public Record Office C.O. 5:860, no. 64 XXV, printed in J. F. Jameson, Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period: Illustrative Documents (Washington, 1923), doc. 76: "the said Gally was so leaky that they feared she would have sunk every hour, and it required eight men, every two Glasses to keep her free, and was forced to woold her round with Cables to keep her together", and "the Moors he had to pump and keep the Adventure Gally above Water being carried away, she sunk in the harbour". Memorial of Duncan Campbell, 19 June 1699, same collection, doc. 75, reporting Kidd's account: "haveing taken out of her her Guns and some other Things and put them on board the Prize, sett the said Gally on fire". Examination of Edward Buckmaster, 6 June 1699, same collection, doc. 73: "afterwards the Adventure Galley sunck at Saint Maries, and Kidd and Company went on board the prize". A General History of the Pyrates (London, 1724): "before the Queen Ann's Revenge was lost in Topsail Inlet". Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood to the Council of Trade and Plantations, Virginia, 22 December 1718, Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies, vol. 30, 1717-1718, no. 800, pp. 430-431 (C.O. 5, 1318, no. 61): "one Capt. Tach a noted pyrate in a ship of 40 guns run ashore in June, at the mouth of Ouacoch Inlett in North Carolina".