Liquidating the Prizes

The return to port meant the end of the adventure for the privateer, well, almost, that is. One thing remained: the liquidation of the prizes. Upon his arrival, the privateering captain had to report to the Admiralty to submit his report. The outfitter was then informed of his ship's return, and he came out to see if fortune had favoured him.

Once the inventory had been completed, the time of the auction was announced publiclyA team of public servants in the colonial administration then boarded the prize and took an inventory. Once the inventory had been completed, the time of the auction was announced publicly. Such auctions often spanned several days. The sum of these procedures was known as "liquidation."

Occasionally, outfitters could buy back the entire load of merchandise from the capture and even the prize ship itself, in which case these sales became profitable for them. However, the profits were rarely phenomenal.

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The Inventory

Precise and meticulous are the two words that best describe the way privateer inventories were conducted.

Everything was inspected and noted before witnesses. Every chest and cupboard on the prize was opened, its content noted, and so it was for all the merchandise aboard the ship. After the inspection of the prize ship, seals were placed on all the ship's chests, cupboards and hatches. The seals were made of pieces of paper or parchment, and were affixed with wax. Very often a damaged seal meant that merchandise had been stolen.

In addition, a guard was usually posted to watch over the prize. That way, the authorities had done everything they could to prevent theft. The registrars in charge of taking down the inventory did so with painstaking detail. All the privateering stakeholders—outfitters, captain and crewmembers-could refer to the inventory in the event of a disagreement concerning the distribution of profits.

Crying

Crying made for picturesque scenes, but it was also essential to the liquidation of prizes. It served to announce the auction and the sale of privateering booty. Although the text was posted on church doors, the town crier had to read it in public since most of the population could neither read nor write.

The sale was announced by town criers and beating drums in all the public squares of the city where the auction was to be held.

In Quebec City, in July 1698, the inhabitants of the lower town could hear the following announcement from their windows:

[...] may it be known to all that the brigantine called L'aventure and the ketch called La prospérité with their tackle, taken from the English by the late Sieur Jean Outlaw, will be sold to the highest bidder [...] in this city's port where said buildings are located [...]

ANQ-Q, TL5 D 269 p, 5/7/1698.

The Auction

Before going ahead with the sale, there had to be three cries. After the first announcement was made, people interested in buying came to make their bids. Only the highest was kept. The process was then repeated twice. Generally, the entire process took three days.

Quite often, the time devoted to auctioning was counted with a candle. Selling time ended when the candle was consumed. This was the case with the sale of Sieur Milly la Croix's capture in early November 1756 at Louisbourg.

Which auction we had announced until the clock struck five, after which we had a piece of candle lit with [the] declaration to the bidders that the adjudication [sale] of said schooner would take place at the going out of said candle in favour of he who, at that time, would be the last bidder. [...]

LAC, MG6-A2 Charente-Maritime Departmental Archives Coll., 02/11/1756.