Chapter 3 - Prizemaking and the Vice-Admiralty Court at Halifax

Summary

By 1812, the Halifax Court of Vice-Admiralty had had over half a century to refine its procedures for adjudicating prize. The American Revolution and sporadic war with France provided the court with dozens of precedents for the administration of prize law against goods or vessels captured from the enemy or forfeited by neutrals for breach of the international law of nations. The role of the Halifax vice-admiralty court was crucial in a legal and economic sense. Regulating vice-admiralty court procedures was a series of documents including petitions, allegations, and affidavits that generated the evidence the court needed to condemn or restore a prize. The court, its judge, and officers had to be both honest and competent since their decisions were so closely tied to the economic success or failure of prizemaking. While captors occasionally complained about the cost of adjudication, there were no accusations of illegality, nor did anyone attribute court registrar Richard Uniacke's great wealth to more than the energetic pursuit of legitimate fees. In comparison, there are numerous criticisms surrounding the often unscrupulous activities of prize agents. Although appeals from prize judgements did occur, Judge Alexander Croke rarely had a decision overturned by the High Court of Admiralty. The vice-admiralty court was a key participant in prizemaking in Atlantic Canada during the War of 1812. By highlighting the key practitioners, reviewing court procedures, and examining the cost of vice-admiralty activities, this chapter confirms that the adjudication of prize was both legitimate and lucrative.

Although not totally extant, the Vice-Admiralty Court Series of prize files held in the Public Archives of Canada contains a wealth of information concerning the proceedings, testimonies, court costs, accounts, and sales of over 600 vessels seized as prize by British naval vessels and privateers from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia between 1812 and 1815. By analyzing these records, it is possible to derive a sequence for the proceedings of the court, determine the impact of various court costs, and understand why certain verdicts were appealed and what considerations influenced the court's decisions.

While the mechanics of prizemaking by privateers and naval vessels will be examined in later chapters, it is important to recognize that the act of capture was but the first step in a complex legal process, which by 1812, had become “as formalized as a quadrille.”