Conspiracy in Canada

[margotdarby]

This is to add minor clarifications about Patrick C. Martin and the "Marie Victoria" salvage case in 1864-65, in reply to Laurie Verge's summation of the 1957 book "Conspiracy in Canada." (Extract of original post at bottom.)

We read that Booth's trunk of costumes brought in only $500 at auction because they were so damaged. Actually they were part of a quick sale of "perishables" prior to the court hearing. From a salvage point of view, the main assets were the barrels of coal oil, a marketable commodity that is easy to appraise (unlike theatrical costumes!). The court appraised a total value of about $12,000 for this oil and the remains of the ship, awarding the salvors about half the amount.

In making this award, the court also noted the suspicious circumstances of the vessel. The bow of the ship had been smashed or stove-in by unknown causes. All hands had abandoned the vessel, and apparently hadn't turned up or made a report by the time the case came to court:

"The schooner as she now lies has been appraised, under the authority of the Court, at 2,280 dollars, the coal oil at 9,656 dollars, and the other articles of freight have been sold as perishable, under the like authority, and have produced a net sum of 560 dollars. Nothing appears of what occurred on board the vessel, from the time of her leaving Montreal, until she was found abandoned on the 7th of November last, in the open river about fifteen miles from Father Point, neither master nor crew having been found on board of her, nor having been seen or accounted for in any way."

(From "Cases Selected from Those Heard and Determined in the Vice Admiralty Court at Quebec Involving Questions of Maritime Maw of Frequent Occurrence in the Trade and Navigation of the River and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Volume 2, 1875. Case 'Marie Victoria--Ellis', heard 5 Sept, 1865)

(06-07-2013 03:40 PM)Laurie Verge Wrote:  ***
Booth shipped his theatrical costumes south with Patrick C. Martin, but the Marie Victoria schooner floundered. There was a salvage operation that yielded his trunk(s), and the contents were auctioned off in July of 1865. They were valued at $15,000, but only brought $500.

Feel free to challenge this information because I have listed things that I learned from the book, but all of the author's statements may not be true.
***