Thomas Penrose

Posted by Colin Greenstreet on Friday 21st of August 2015 07:39

Early Nov 1652 (old style): Seizure by the English of the Sampson, the Salvador, and the Saint George in the English Channel. The Salvador, and possibly the other two Silver Ships, was seized by Captain Penrose. See: TNA, HCA 13/69 Silver 1 f.15r. The "case" of the Three Silver Ships was of considerable political importance, leading to protests by the Spanish Ambassador and the Hamburg Senate, and litigation by the Flandrian Advocate on behalf of Archduke Leopold Willem. It is currently the subject of a collabortive research project by the MarineLives academic/public history project.

Captain Penrose may be Thomas Penrose, who is mentioned on Hunne 8th 1660 by Pepys in his diary, and who is descibed in the L&M Pepys Companion as "A captain in the Commonwealth navy, he held two commands 1665-7. He was arrested for debt in 1660, and Conventry's comment on him c. 1667 was 'grows debuached'." See: 'Friday 8 June 1660': The Online Diary of Samuel Pepys.