Jacques Francis, a 20-year-old slave from Guinea, worked as a diver
for Pietro Paulo Corso in his salvage operations both on the sunken
St Mary and St Edward of Southampton and other ships. When
Corso was accused of stealing, Francis made this deposition, through
an interpreter, in support of his master's innocence and claim
for compensation.
In his statement, Francis describes how the tin allegedly stolen was
in fact salvaged from another vessel sunk off The Needles, where '200
blocks [of] tin, a bell and certain lead' had been found 'under
water being there perished and forsaken'.
HCA 13/93, ff. 203-4 (8 Feb 1547/8)
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