Difference between revisions of "MarineLives"

Revision as of 11:29, April 24, 2015

Welcome to the MarineLives project

The MarineLives collaborative public history project was established in 2012 to digitise, transcribe and annotate the manuscript records of the English High Court of Admiralty from the 1650s and 1660s. The original records are held at the National Archives in Kew.

The project is led and advised by academics and members of the general public.

In the last three years project volunteers have transcribed over 3 million words and 6000 pages of Admiralty Court records.

Our team based transcription programmes

We run regular team-based transcription programmes on-line, facilitated by trained team leaders, with teams of three or four volunteer associates. These programmes last twelve weeks, and will take a transcriber from a novice to a confident transcriber in that space of time.

To learn more about our programmes read what our volunteers have to say - Katie Parker (a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburg), Thomas Davies (a third year undergraduate at Bath Spa University), and Roger Towner (a regulator of seafarers' qualifications, who has spent twenty five years at sea as a navigator and Master)

Please contact us to discuss volunteering, or to explore how we might work with your University, School or Local History Society.

The Court records

The English High Court of Admiralty produced a wide range of documents.

The various steps in a particular case can be followed in summary form in the Acts of Court.

A case was commenced with the issuing of a Warrant by the Court, and the preparation of a Libell or an Allegation by the party commencing the case.

Prior to witnesses being called to make their depositions, the defendant or "respondent" might make a Personal Answer in response to the Libell or Allegation.

The most accessible of the court records are the statements made by witnesses, which are called Depositions. These depositions were in response to written Interrogatories, which were prepared by both plaintiffs and defendants in a case.

Various written documents were submitted by plaintiffs and defendants, as well as witnesses, during a court case. Some of these have survived as loose documents in the Instance Papers.

Many cases were settled prior to the giving of a formal verdict or Sentence. For those cases which went to sentence, the sentences can be found in document bundles. These bundles often include bills of expense related to the case, and in some cases include copies of the allegations or libells, and other miscellaneous documents.

Explore and work with the Court records

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	Act Books HCA 3/43 – HCA 3/48	Volumes pending HCA 3/43 - awaiting imaging, awaiting transcription HCA 3/44 - awaiting imaging, awaiting transcription HCA 3/45 - awaiting imaging, awaiting transcription HCA 3/46 - fully imaged, images awaiting uploading, partially transcribed HCA 3/47 - fully imaged, images awaiting uploading, partially transcribed HCA 3/48 - awaiting imaging, awaiting transcription
	Personal answers HCA 13/124 – HCA 13/129 Schedules	Volumes pending HCA 13/124 - fully imaged, images awaiting uploading, partially transcribed HCA 13/125 - awaiting images HCA 13/126 - awaiting images HCA 13/127 - awaiting images HCA 13/128 - awaiting images HCA 13/129 - awaiting images
	Interrogatories HCA 23/15 – HCA 23/19	Volumes pending HCA 23/15 - awaiting images HCA 23/16 - awaiting images HCA 23/17 - awaiting images HCA 23/18 - awaiting images HCA 23/19 - awaiting images
	Depositions HCA 13/64 – HCA 13/73 Schedules	Volumes pending HCA 13/64 - fully imaged, images awaiting uploading, partially transcribed HCA 13/64 - fully imaged, images awaiting uploading, partially transcribed HCA 13/65 - awaiting complete images, partially transcribed HCA 13/66 - awaiting images HCA 13/67 - awaiting images HCA 13/68 - awaiting images HCA 13/69 - awaiting images, partially transcribed HCA 13/74 - awaiting images HCA 13/76 - awaiting complete images, partially transcribed	Currently available volumes: HCA 13/70 - fully imaged, transcribed, partially edited HCA 13/71 - fully imaged, transcribed and edited HCA 13/72 - fully imaged, transcribed, partially edited HCA 13/73 - fully imaged, transcribed, partially edited
	Instance papers HCA 15/5 – HCA 15/7 Accounts Bills of lading Bonds Inventories Petitions	Volumes pending HCA 15/5 - awaiting images HCA 15/6 Box One - awaiting images HCA 15/6 Box Two - awaiting images HCA 15/7 - awaiting images
	Sentence bundles HCA 24/110 – HCA 24/114 Allegations Libells Primum decretum Secundum decretum Schedules Bills of expenses Accounts Bills of sale Inventories Protests Wage schedules Supplier schedules	Volumes pending HCA 24/110 - awaiting images HCA 24/111 - awaiting images HCA 24/112 - awaiting images HCA 24/113 - awaiting images HCA 24/114 - awaiting images