Port Royal Lecture 3 Notes

Port Royal

Keywords

• The western Design

• The treaty of madrid

Pirates: Ye Be Warned

Map of Jamaica

• Port Royal was founded by the English in 1656.

Oliver Cromwell

• Oliver Cromwell effectively ruled England from 1649 to his death in 1658.

The "Western Design" of 1654-55

• Consisted of 38 ships and 7,500 troops.

• Led by Admiral William Penn and Colonel Robert Venables.

Attack on Santo Domingo (1655)

• Problems encountered:

  • Bad weather and rough seas forced a landing 30 miles from the city.

  • Torrential rain led to a Spanish ambush, resulting in 700 English soldiers killed.

Population of Jamaica in 1655

• Approximately 2,000–2,500 people.

• Mostly Spanish, with some enslaved Africans.

• A few Taíno people remained (74 in a 1611 census).

Jamaica's Capital Cities

• New Seville (1509).

• Spanish Town (1534).

• Port Royal (1656).

• Kingston (1692).

Early Seventeenth Century: Imperial Upstarts

• English colonies: St Kitts (1623), Barbados (1627).

• French colonies: St Kitts (1625), Tortuga (c. 1629), Guadeloupe (1635), Martinique (1635).

• Dutch colonies: St Martin (1631), Curaçao (1634), St Eustatius (1636).

The "Islas Inútiles"

Western Design Personnel Departure

• Penn and Venables left Jamaica in June 1655.

• They left behind 12 ships and approximately 7,800 men (6,500 soldiers and 1,300 sailors).

• By March 1656, only 3,094 men remained (a decline of about 60%).

• By October 1656, the number decreased to 2,598 men (a further decline of 17%).

Early Governors of Jamaica

• Governor 1: Colonel Richard Fortescue died in October 1655.

• Governor 2: Commissioner Robert Sedgwick died in May 1656.

• Governor 3: Colonel William Brayne died in September 1657.

• Governor 4: Colonel Edward Doyley took over in September 1657 and served until 1662, succeeded by Thomas, Lord Windsor.

• In 1657, Governor Edward Doyley had twelve ships and about 2,500 men.

Buccaneers

• By 1662, approximately 1,500 buccaneers operated out of Jamaica.

Thomas, Lord Windsor

• Arrived in Jamaica as governor in August 1662.

• From September 1662 to July 1663, he and his deputy governor issued letters of marque to 31 privateering vessels.

• By 1664, about 2,000 men earned a living in Jamaica as privateers.

Letters of Marque

• Issued by Thomas Lord Windsor to George Brimacam, captain of the Fortune, 18 Sept. 1662.

• Brimacam was described as captain of “the good ship or frigate called the Fortune, a private man-of-war, which he (the said George Brimacam) has armed in a warlike manner.”

• Windsor authorized Brimacam to attack Spanish ships and seize goods in America.

• Restrictions:

  • The Fortune must not harm ships or goods belonging to countries allied with England.

  • Captured goods must be brought to Port Royal, Jamaica immediately.

  • The Court of Admiralty in Port Royal would assess the value and take one tenth plus one fifteenth (approximately 16.66%) for the English crown.

  • $(1/10 + 1/15 = 3/30 + 2/30 = 5/30 = 1/6 \approx 16.66\%)$

• Procedures after capturing a ship:

  • The decks must be sealed and goods not removed until arrival at Port Royal.

  • The bill of lading must be secured and delivered with the ship to Port Royal.

  • All sailors of the Fortune are searched upon arrival at Port Royal to prevent smuggling.

  • Sailors must be searched when going ashore at other ports before Port Royal.

Capt. George Freeborne (1661–62)

• George Freeborne, captain of the Pearl, captured goods from a Dutch ship (the St Peter) off the coast of Cuba in Dec. 1661.

• He landed the goods secretly on Jamaica.

• Cornelius van Oole, captain of the St. Peter, complained to Governor Doyley.

• Doyley seized Freeborne in January 1662 and sent him to England to be tried for piracy.

• Doyley punished Freeborne’s crew by distributing them to plantations in Jamaica as slaves.

Court of Admiralty at Port Royal

• Between Nov. 1662 and Dec. 1663, 21 captured ships were brought to the Court, valued at £7,533, with £1,255 paid to the Crown (approximately $1.2 million dollars).

• Between 1666 and 1668, 14 captured ships were brought to the Court, valued at £12,908, with £2,151 paid to the Crown (approximately $2.1 million dollars).

Articles of Agreement of Henry Morgan (8 Jan. 1669)

• Division of spoils from Spanish ships:

  • 16.66% to the king (“the tenths and fifteens”).

  • $(16.66\% \approx 1/6)$

  • One quarter of the remaining 83.33% to the ship owners in Morgan’s fleet.

  • The other three quarters to be equally divided among the privateers.

• Exceptions:

  • Captains who lose their ship in battle receive a captured ship in exchange.

  • Anyone who loses a limb receives compensation of 120 pounds (approximately $120,000).

  • The first person to sight a Spanish ship receives a double share.

  • Morgan himself receives five shares instead of one.

Port Royal

• Cagway Harbour.

• Fort Charles.

• Population Growth:

  • Approximately 700 people in 1660.

  • Approximately 2000 people in 1670.

  • Approximately 2800 people in 1680.

  • Approximately 6000 people in 1690.

Demography of Port Royal

Buccaneers' Spending Habits (circa 1690)

• Quote from Alexander O. Exquemelin's "The Buccaneers of America."

• Buccaneers quickly spend their earnings on dicing, whoring, and drinking.

• Some spend two or three thousand pieces of eight in a day, then have nothing left.

• Example: A man in Jamaica gave 500 pieces of eight to a prostitute to see her naked.

Pieces of Eight

• One piece of eight equals eight reales.

• Spanish terms: “real de a ocho” or “peso”.

• 13.3 pieces of eight were equivalent to one pound of English currency.

Converting a Pound to a Piece of Eight

• One British pound was worth twelve ounces of silver.

• A gold sovereign equaled one British pound.

• (First banknotes issued by the Bank of England in 1694).

• One piece of eight contained about 9/10ths of an ounce of silver.

• One British pound was worth 13.3 pieces of eight.

Port Royal Taverns (17th Century Partial List)

• Numerous taverns existed, as evidenced by registry dates.

  • Examples:

    • The Black Dogg (1682)

    • The Blue Anchor (1679)

    • The Catt & Fiddle (1676)

    • The Cheshire Cheese (1684)

    • The Feathers (1681)

    • The Green Dragon (1674)

    • The Jamaica Arms (1677)

    • The King’s Arms No. 1 (1677)

    • The King’s Arms No. 2 (1682)

    • The Salutation (1680)

    • The Shipp (1674)

    • The Sign of Bacchus (1673)

    • The Sign of the Mermaid (1685)

    • The Sign of the George (1682)

    • The Sugar Loaf (1667)

    • The Three Crowns (1673)

    • The Three Mariners (1677)

    • The Three Tunns (1665)

    • The Windmill (1684)

John Taylor’s “Present State of Jamaica,” 1687

• Port Royal described as loose, rude, and more debauched than Sodom.

• Despite strict laws and daily execution by magistrates, the town was so infected with prostitutes that it was almost impossible to civilize.

Demographics of Privateering Crews

• Privateering crew of John Duglas, 1664 (25 men total):

  • 13 Englishmen (52%).

  • 4 Frenchmen (16%).

  • 2 Dutchmen.

  • 2 Belgians.

  • 1 Spaniard.

  • 3 “West Indians”.

• Henry Morgan's Fleet (1669):

  • Twelve captains were signatories: Eleven with English names, one possibly French.

  • Twenty-six crew members were signatories: 73% with English names, some indeterminate names, one Welsh, two possibly French, and one appearing Indigenous.

Prominent Figures

• François l'Ollonais.

• Rock the Brazilian.

• Henry Morgan (1635-88).

Chronology of Privateering from Port Royal

• Invited by Edward Doyley in 1657.

• Governors issued privateering commissions throughout the 1660s.

• Morgan attacked Portobello in July 1668 with 460 men, yielding £75,000 in plunder (about $75 million today).

  • Each man earned about £120 (about $125,000 today).

The Treaty of Madrid (1670)

• Spain recognized English ownership of settled territories in the West Indies.

• England agreed to halt privateering raids.

• Closed trade system:

  • English ships could not trade in Spanish ports, and vice versa.

  • Exception: Damaged ships could temporarily visit each other’s ports for repair, and ships could shelter during storms.

• Peace lasted until 1702.

Chronology of Privateering (part two)

• English ordered privateers to stand down during Treaty negotiations.

• Governor Modyford gave Morgan new letters of marque before receiving the order from England.

• Modyford sent a boat to catch up with Morgan, but did not cancel the letters.

• Morgan claimed “necessity would compel him to land in the Spaniards’ country for wood, water, and provisions.”

• Morgan attacked Panama City in January 1671 with 2,000 men, yielding £30,000 in plunder (about $30 million today).

  • Each surviving privateer got about £16.

Henry Morgan’s Major Expeditions

• Portobello, July 1668: £75,000 divided among 460 men (about £120 each).

• Panama City, January 1671: £30,000 divided among 1,500 surviving men (about £16 each).