
Contents
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Commissioners and Deponents Commissioners and Deponents
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Pieces of Eight Pieces of Eight
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Men of Authority Men of Authority
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Raisins Galore Raisins Galore
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The Wreck Economy The Wreck Economy
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Wrecking and the Social Order Wrecking and the Social Order
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8 The Bounty of the Golden Grape
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Published:September 2022
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Abstract
Extraordinarily detailed depositions from 342 witnesses naming 547 individuals tell the story of the Golden Grape, a Dutch merchantman that was wrecked on Chesil Beach, Dorset, in 1641. Seven crewmen drowned, but at least twelve survived to lament their loss as ‘the people of the country by force and violence took and carried the same away’. The episode sheds light on the stresses of law and custom, duty and opportunity, as participants told their stories. Many of the themes of this book are highlighted here. The records reveal inter-village rivalries and solidarities, teamwork and enterprise, deference and cooperation, as barrels of raisins, jars of oil, bales of silk, and sacks of silver were brought ashore. There were instances of intimidation and theft, but little overt violence, no ‘barbarity’. Rather than a disordered frenzy, the evidence depicts a practiced communal effort to take what the sea offered. Salvagers treated the survivors with courtesy, worked collaboratively with neighbours, and deferred to men in authority. Identified by name, address, gender, and occupation, the wreckers were a cross-section of coastal society, exhibiting a community in action. Explaining themselves before Admiralty commissioners, most deponents acknowledged their roles at the wreck, but they gathered goods, they said, only for safe keeping until lawful authority arrived. Their veracity and memories may be doubted, but none of the villagers was punished.
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