Rare 300-year-old ship’s pass to go on public display
By Brian Hutton
Friday, August 06, 2010
AN extremely rare ship’s pass signed by King James II and famous diarist Samuel Pepys is to go on public display in Ireland.
The 323-year-old document, which has been in the hands of the Dublin Port Company since 1924, was designed to secure safe passage for a merchant ship.
Researchers believe it is the only known example of a ship’s pass from the 17th century signed by King James II.
Three similar examples held in the National Archives in Kew, London, the British Library and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, date from a different reign.
The pass will be on view to the public after being donated to the National Library of Ireland by the Dublin Port Company.
Emma Saunders of the library’s department of manuscripts described the document as unique.
"From my research into all the obvious places where one would be held, this appears to be the only known example signed by King James II and also by Samuel Pepys," she said.
"I contacted the Pepys Museum and they don’t seem to know of any either."
The manuscript would have been used as a de facto passport to ensure the vessel could travel free of interference from British warships or the ships of their allies.
It was issued to The Mary of Cork ship at the Court of Whitehall on September 29, 1687.
King James II signed it as Lord High Admiral at the time, with Pepys acting as the co-signature in his capacity as secretary to the admiralty.
It is thought the pass was obtained to secure safe passage of the vessel and its crew of five, captained by a Zachary Peebuchet, from Dublin port to the Canary Islands in late 1687.
At the time, the Canaries were major exporters of sugar and Malvasia, a fortified white wine which travelled well and was extremely popular in Britain.
Ms Saunders believes The Mary of Cork may have been trading these in return for products such as salted Irish beef.
The ship’s pass was returned to Ireland almost a year later, on April 18, 1688, when it was entered into the registry of the High Court of Admiralty of Ireland by Thomas Williamson.
While it was acquired by the Dublin Port and Docks Board in 1924, there are no records to shed any light on where the port authorities came by the document.
It had been framed and mounted in an office at the port in recent years before it was handed over to the National Library.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Friday, August 06, 2010
