"Batavia" heretofore the "Unity."
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 15 February 1882 |
| Date | 15 February 1882 |
| Court | High Court of Admiralty |
English Reports Citation: 165 E.R. 1559
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ADMIRALTY
[500] " batavia " heretofore the "unity." Feb. 15, 1822-The owner of a British ship cannot, by the sale of his ship to a foreigner in a distant part of the world, divest the seaman of his wages earned under a contract entered into with himself m this country, and the Court of Admiralty will enforce the payment of wages so earned A fortiori, if the transfer of the ship was merely colourable. This was a suit brought by Samuel Curtis, for wages earned by him in the capacity of mate, on a voyage from this country to the East Indies and back The ship, originally named the " Unity," was built at Dundee, in Scotland, and duly registered as the property oi Richard Thornton, a British subject She was dispatched, under the command of James Turner as master, with Curtis on board as mate, to Batavia, where she landed part of her cargo,-proceeded thence to Singapore and back to Batavia, where she delivered the rest of her cargo. Whilst lying at Batavia, Robert Thornton, who was a British-born subject, but had been for some time absent from England, caused the name and national character of the ship to be changed, directing the,master to obliterate the name " Unity/' which had been painted on her stern, and to call her the " Batavia von Batavia." Richard Thornton deposed, that this change of name and national character took place in consequence of a sale of the ship by him to Robert Thornton, who had settled at Batavia ; but Curtis and others deposed that no such transfer took place ; that the ship originally was and still remains the property of Richard and Robert Thornton and William Ogle West, who were partners in a house of trade in London ; and that the pretended transfer * On the 14th of July 1821 Sir William Scott was created a Peer of the United Kingdom, by the title of Baron Stowell of Stowell in the county of Gloucester. 1560 the "juliana" 2ixros.soi. of the ship was, as admitted by Robert Thornton at the time, for the sole pur-[501]-pose of evading the payment of the additional duties which would be charged upon her as an English ship in the ports and colonies of the Netherlands. The vessel was afterwards navigated under the Netherlands East India flag to Antwerp, where she delivered her cargo to William Ogle West, to whom it was consigned, and then sailed in ballast for the port of London. At Gravesend, Richard Thornton came on board, in the absence of...
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