Source 5

Extracts from an inventory of goods taken from the Neptune of Emden by Sir John Hawkins, 1590, Catalogue Ref: HCA 30/840/171 f.386-389.   

Take a look at this list of goods, also known as an inventory. This inventory was used in the High Court of Admiralty as part of a collection of papers called the Prize Papers.  

The Prize Papers are a collection of documents that were found on ships immediately after they were captured by an enemy during wartime. These include documents such as bills, inventories, and accounts. These would be used as evidence in the Admiralty Court to determine whether the ship and its goods were ‘lawful’ prize that could be kept by the people who captured it, or whether it had to be returned to its enemy. 

Sir John Hawkins was a famous English trader and was son of the famous slave trader and explorer, who went by the same name. John Hawkins took many Spanish ships as Prize during England’s War with Spain (1585-1604). Many of these Spanish ships contained cargoes of goods which had been grown in Brazil. These goods were then taken back to England. This document concerns the Prize goods that were taken from the ship The Neptune by an English captain Sir John Hawkins.