Richard Rich

Richard Rich

Richard Rich
Person	Richard Rich
Title
First name	Richard
Middle name(s)
Last name	Rich
Suffix
Spouse of
Widow of
Occupation	Merchant
Secondary shorebased occupation
Mariner occupation
Associated with ship(s)
Training	Not apprentice
Is apprentice of
Was apprentice of
Had apprentice(s)
Citizen	Unknown
Literacy	Signature
Has opening text	Richard Rich
Has signoff text	Richard Rich
Signoff image	(Invalid transcription image)
Language skills	English language
Has interpreter
Birth street
Birth parish
Birth town
Birth county
Birth province
Birth country
Res street
Res parish
Res town	London
Res county
Res province
Res country	England
Birth year
Marriage year
Death year
Probate date
First deposition age	22
Primary sources
Act book start page(s)
Personal answer start page(s)
Allegation start page(s)
Interrogatories page(s)
Deposition start page(s)	HCA 13/72 f.366v Annotate
Chancery start page(s)
Letter start page(s)
Miscellaneous start page(s)
Act book date(s)
Personal answer date(s)
Allegation date(s)
Interrogatories date(s)
Deposition date(s)	Jul 10 1658
How complete is this biography?
Has infobox completed	Yes
Has synthesis completed	No
Has HCA evidence completed	No
Has source comment completed	No
Ship classification
Type of ship	N/A
Silver Ship litigation in 1650s
Role in Silver Ship litigation	None

Biographical synthesis

Richard Rich (b. ca. 1636; d. ?). Merchant.

Resident in 1658 in London.

Evidence from High Court of Admiralty

Twenty-two year old Richard Rich deposed on July 10th 1658 in the High Court of Admiralty. He was examined on an allegation on behalf of Edward Smith in the cause of "Smith against the Golden Winefatt and against a parcell of deale boards} laded aboard the same".

Richard Rich stated that the ship the Golden Wine Fat (Master: Albert Huberts) was freighted by Albert Brunson of Amsterdam, who was the factor or correspondent in Amsterdam of London deal merchant Edward Smith. The ship was to go from Amsterdam to Lerwick in Norway to meet Richard Rich himself, who was Edward Smith's factor at Lerwick. Rich was permanently based in Lerwick "to buy deales and timber for the service and account of the said producent". In addition, Edward Smith lept a permanent factor at Waterford in Ireland "for receipt there of deales and timber from Norway upon his account".

Richard Rich caused to be laden into the Golden Wine Fat 8664 deal boards to be transported to Waterford in Ireland. But after setting sail from Larwick, the master of the ship sailed to Boston in Lincolnshire, rather than to Waterford. Being told of the master's miscarriage, Richard Rich was "ordered by letters to goe and looke after him and the said deales, this deponent departed from Lerwick in a shipp bound for London, which put him ashore at dunwich, whence hee rode to Boston, where hee arived about a fortnight since, and there found the said shipp the Golden Wine Fatt lying at a sluce called the Goate where hee went round her and viewed and knew her to bee the same was". Richard Rich found that the deal boards had been sold for a pittance to John Ellis, John Atkins, Thomas Cheyney and Elisha Kell, who "had gutten the said deale boards into their custody from the said master, and that the said master having gotten some money there upon his shipp and goods, had quitted the same, and was run or gonne away".

Richard Rich valued the deal boards at "the summe of seven pounds sterling per hundred (on hundred with another) and rateably for a lesse quantitie) or thereabouts at Boston" at the time of their disposal there by the ship's master. Moreover, they would have yielded a similar amount at Waterford in the period November 16557 to January 1658.

Asked to described the four Lincolnshire men who had acquired the deal borders at Boston, Richard Rich stated that "hee at Boston saw the said Cheyney, and could know him againe if hee soe had, and never knew before and saith hee is a lustie fatt man, full faced, and of a lightish hair but doth not know the other three, but at Boston heard it commonly said that those foure were the persons that had got the said shipp and lading into their possession".

Edward Smith's allegation made in the Admiralty Court has survived. It is dated July 8th 1658 and was made by Suckley, Edward Smith's proctor. The allegation provides further information regarding the facts of the case. The Golden Wyne fatt, taken to freight at Amsterdam was "of Lubeck", and its master is named as Allaert Huiberts. Edward Smith is identified aas a Deale Merchant of the city of London. It had been argued that the ship was leaky and unsafe to carry the deals, yet the allegation argues that deal boards "help buoy up a ship and keepe her from sinkeing".

Comment on sources

1675

PROB 11/347/23 Will of Edward Smith, Merchant of City of London 11 January 1675