London (to wit) Peter Leige of London Merchant, maketh Oath That in the month of September last he went from London to Nantes in the Kingdom of France on the behalf of and as Agent for divers Merchants and others all leige Subjects of his Britannick Majesty and the Owners and Proprietors of the Ships called the Clarendon (whereof Thomas Cowell was Master) and the Hanover Planter (whereof Thomas Luny was Master) and the Cargoes on board both the said Ships, which had been taken and seized by one or more Ship, or Ships Vessel1 or Vessels belonging to or fitted out by some of his Britannick Majesty's Rebellious Subjects in North America and acting under a pretended Commission or Commissions from the pretended States of America, as this Deponent hath been informed apprehends and believes, and this Deponent so went to Nantes in order to Claim the said Ships Clarendon and Hanover Planter and their respective Cargoes in the Name and on the behalf of the several Owners and Proprietors thereof and did accordingly obtain Restitution of both the said Ships and their Cargoes to be made to him for the use of his Constituents And he further maketh Oath That whilst he was at Nantes (to wit) in or about the month of October last, he was there informed and believes That the Ship Ann Susanna (whereof John Taylor was Master) the Ship Jamaica (whereof David Watt was Master) and the Ship Manning (whereof John Brewer was Master) and their respective Cargoes consisting of Rum Sugar and other things, and all the property of his Britannick Majesty's Leige Subjects as he hath been informed and verily believes had been taken by some Ships or Vessels belonging to or fitted out by some of his Britannick Majesty's Rebellious Subjects in North America and acting under pretended Commissions from the pretended States of America, that the said Ship Manning was brought into, or near the mouth of the River of Nantes, and that the Ships Ann Susanna and Jamaica were carried into or near Port L'Orient in the Kingdom of France that thereupon the Deponent as Agent for the West India Merchants frequently made diligent enquiry concerning the said Ships Ann Susanna Jamaica and Manning and their Cargoes of several Persons most likely to give the Deponent Information about the said Ships and their Cargoes And the Deponent was informed at Nantes by some Person or Persons but whom the Deponent cannot now particularly recollect, and he believes that the said Ships Ann Susanna, Jamaica, and Manning had been unladen or partly unladen that the greatest part of their Cargo'es had been taken out of the said Ships and put on Board Dutch Ships hired for the purpose of conveying the said Sugars to Holland, That the Brokers who procured the said Dutch Ships were Monsieur Odiette de la Bouche and Monsieur Boudet sworn Interpreters and Brokers for foreign Ships resident at Nantes That the Deponent during the time he was at Nantes had frequent Occasions to and did converse with the said Monsieur Odiette de la Bouche concerning the said Ship Hanover Planter and her Cargoe and with the said Monsieur Boudet concerning the said Ship Clarendon and her Cargoe, that the said Monsieur Odiette de la Bouche frequently at such times discoursed also of the Captures of the said ships Ann Susanna, Jamaica and Manning by the Americans and at one of such times but the particular day the Deponent cannot now set forth, the said Monsieur Odiette de la Bouche with great seeming Satisfaction told the Deponent that he had had an Account by Letter that some of the Sugars from on Board the Ann Susanna, Jamaica and Manning were already safely arrived at Rotterdam in Holland And the said Monsieur Odiette de la Bouche at the same time observed That he did not know how soon some of them might be stopped in the Channel, thereby meaning as this Deponent then understood and now believes, he did not know how soon some of the Dutch Ships carrying the said Sugars might be stopped by English Cruizers in the British Channel on their Voyage from France to Holland And he further maketh Oath That while he was so at Nantes he received intelligence that some Sugars had been arrested at Amsterdam, and soon after the Deponent having occasion to be with one of the Principal Persons employed in the Counting House of the said Monsieur Boudet whose Name the Deponent cannot now recollect, the Deponent observed to him that he understood the Cargoes or part of the Cargoes of the said Ships Ann Susanna Jamaica and Manning or some of them had been carried to Amsterdam by three Dutch Ships and arrested there, to which he replied that it would be a difficult matter to prove the Sugars to belong to th[ose] Ships as they had their Clearances from Nantes or to that effect¹ And he further made Oath That on or about the eleventh day of December last he saw the said Ship Ann Susanna lying at a place called Pelring in the River of Nantes and about ten Miles below Nantes, that she was then a light Ship and without any Cargoe on board, and unrigged, that he had several times before seen the said Ship Ann Susanna and well knew her and is very sure that the said Ship which he so saw lying at Pelring and the Ship Ann Susanna, hereinbefore mentioned was the same Ship—

Sworn the Sixteenth day of
January in the Year 1778—
Before me at Guildhall
James Esdail Mayor²