Introduction
Acknowledgments
Abstract Log
Articles of Agreement
Bill of Health
Bill of Lading
Bill of Sale (1856)
Bond for Duties (1825)
Bonds for Foreign Voyages
Charter Party
Classification Certificate (1863)
Clearance Certificate
Coasting Permit (1809)
Consular Certificates (Miscellaneous)
Contribution Certificate "Morning Star" (1856)
Convoy Instructions (ca. 1800)
Crew List
Customs Certificates and Forms (Miscellaneous)
Drawback Forms and Certificates
Enrolment Certificate
Freight Circular (1857)
Freight List (1857)
Letter of Marque/Privateer Commission
License (Coasting/Fishing Vessels)
Logbook (1828)
Manifest
Marine Insurance
Marine Society Membership Certificate (1839)
Master Carpenter's Certificate/Measurement Certificate (1853)
Master's Certificate (1861)
Mediterranean Passport/Sea Letter
Oaths and Affirmations
Passenger List
Pilot's License
Port Rules and Regulations
Portage Bill (1852)
Receipts (Miscellaneous)
Registry Certificate/Ship's Register
Sailing Card (ca. 1860)
Sailing Orders (1830)
Seamen's Protection Certificate
Shipbuilding Agreements and Contracts
Steamboat Regulatory Documents
Whalemen's Shipping Paper (1840)
Appendix
Selected Bibliography
Page 1 of 1
A handwritten manuscript, varying in size and composition, which detailed a shipmaster's responsibilities for an upcoming voyage. These orders were usually signed by the vessel's agents or owners. The master master's signature might also appear, indicating that he had read, and/or received his copy of the document. Notary stamps or customs seals are not present since this was essentially a private agreement between the two parties. Formal instructions were not always necessary, and might depend on the shipmaster's relationship with his employers, or even his financial interest in the vessel he commanded.
Sailing Orders are occasionally found in maritime collections. They are always important research sources, often providing insight in the broadly defined range of responsibilities that the master of a merchant vessel might assume during his voyage. He could be required to do much more than get his ship quickly and safely from one port to another, frequently buying of selling cargo, and otherwise managing the ship's business until the voyage was completed. Illustrated is the Sailing Orders given to Captain Paraclete Homes of the ship HELEN MAR, for a voyage from New York to New Orleans, 1830. He was instructed, in part, to assist in procuring "all the freight in your power and also cabin and steerage passengers." Upon his arrival at New Orleans, he was to work with assigned agents there to get "" return freight for Boston," oversee its stowage, and pay all the ship's bills before departure. In return Holmes received 40 dollars per month, plus 5% "passage money" and an extra 5% primage on the total value of the homeward freight.
American Maritime Documents, 1776-1860 - Stein, Douglas L.
Sailing Orders (1830)
Page 1 of 1
A handwritten manuscript, varying in size and composition, which detailed a shipmaster's responsibilities for an upcoming voyage. These orders were usually signed by the vessel's agents or owners. The master master's signature might also appear, indicating that he had read, and/or received his copy of the document. Notary stamps or customs seals are not present since this was essentially a private agreement between the two parties. Formal instructions were not always necessary, and might depend on the shipmaster's relationship with his employers, or even his financial interest in the vessel he commanded.Sailing Orders are occasionally found in maritime collections. They are always important research sources, often providing insight in the broadly defined range of responsibilities that the master of a merchant vessel might assume during his voyage. He could be required to do much more than get his ship quickly and safely from one port to another, frequently buying of selling cargo, and otherwise managing the ship's business until the voyage was completed. Illustrated is the Sailing Orders given to Captain Paraclete Homes of the ship HELEN MAR, for a voyage from New York to New Orleans, 1830. He was instructed, in part, to assist in procuring "all the freight in your power and also cabin and steerage passengers." Upon his arrival at New Orleans, he was to work with assigned agents there to get "" return freight for Boston," oversee its stowage, and pay all the ship's bills before departure. In return Holmes received 40 dollars per month, plus 5% "passage money" and an extra 5% primage on the total value of the homeward freight.
* Funding for digitization provided by: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation