A very good copy of what proved to be the last Scottish pirate trial.
Peter Heaman and Francois Gautiez were placed on trial for, in June 1821, having stolen the brig Jane of Gibraltar which was sailing toward Bahia with cargo containing in excess of $38,000 of Spanish silver. Heaman served as mate onboard and Gautiez as a cook.
Not far out from the Canary Islands, the two men murdered the captain, Thomas Johnson, and seized the ship. They committed a further murder of seaman James Paterson in the act of taking the ship, and threw the bodies overboard. They then allegedly terrorised the remaining crew into becoming accomplices. The captured vessel sailed north to the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides where, having removed its cargo, they sank the ship. They were apprehended shortly thereafter.
This account of the trial includes a list of witnesses, nearly 90 pages of their accounts (including Heaman and Gautiez), the closing arguments of the prosecutor and defendant’s lawyer, plus the verdict and sentence.
After 1830 the High Court of the Admiralty of Scotland was dissolved, meaning that any subsequent cases of international maritime law were referred to the High Court of the Admiralty of Great Britain, in London.
An edition was printed in Leith the same year.
No copies at auction since Sothebys 1969, prior to which copies came up at Anderson Galleries in 1920 and 1908.
