Capt. Ephraim Deane

Barnstable MassachusettsTo Nova Scotia Migration

In 1777, British Parliament granted permission for merchant vessels in Nova Scotia to begin lawfully arming themselves in order to protect their cargo from any raiders, and they also agreed to permit restricted privateering by loyal British vessels, provided that any captured ships or cargoes be claimed within the stated rules of warfare.

 Prize vessels, when captured, were to be catalogued by the Court of Admiralty and sold, with a portion of the proceeds going to the entrepreneurial souls who had captured the vessel. As a result, many Liverpool vessel owners applied for Letters of Marque to recoup some of the losses they had sustained during the early years of the conflict.

 Joseph Barss, in command of the privateer Despatch, was one of the first to make a major privateering score in the name of Liverpool. Capt. Barss was able to secure an unknown brigantine off the coast. Upon bringing the vessel into port, Barss and local administrators learned that the brigantine was actually the Diane, a British ship that now had returned to British hands.

 The local observer for the Admiralty, William Johnson, agreed that the perishable foods among the cargo - including a store of ham, cheese and flour - could be landed immediately and sold as part of the prize.

 The Court of Admiralty eventually concluded that the rightful owners of the Diane, McGill & Co. in Halifax, could salvage the vessel by paying a fee of one-eighth the value of the cargo. They agreed to the terms and the warship Delaware escorted the Diane back to Halifax.

 Unfortunately for Capt. Barss, when the Diane landed, observers for McGill & Co. claimed that a portion of the cargo had been plundered, and a bit of research revealed that it had happened after the Diane had been returned to Liverpool.

 Capt. Barss took the blame for the missing cargo and as a penalty he was forced to forfeit his Letter of Marque.

 Also successful was the schooner Dreadnaught, under command of Capt. Ephraim Dean. The Dreadnaught captured herself a number of American prizes but, like Capt. Barss, Capt. Dean often found himself tied up in legal matters.

 In one case, after securing a sloop commanded by John Humphrey, Dean claimed the cargo on board the ship, but released the vessel; the gesture in releasing the captured ship ended up causing Dean more trouble than he must have anticipated, as the owners of the vessel brought their case before the Court of Admiralty seeking repayment for the cargo Dean had taken.

 In another similar case, after the Dreadnaught had managed to secure a brigantine named Union, a complaint was brought before the Admiralty, but in that instance, they ruled that Capt. Dean was entitled to one-eighth the value of the vessel.

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