Passengers on the Ship "Britannia"

Pages 35-36 of the book, Acadians in Maryland by Gregory A. Wood contains the following information about the Schooner Britannia:

...the last significant Maryland Acadian movement to Louisiana took place in 1769. On 5 January, the schooner Britannia embarked on what was to be a disastrous voyage requiring nearly a year to accomplish.  Strong winds and fog steered the vessel off course to the Espiritu Santo Bay area of Texas.  There, the schooner's commander, Philip Ford, sought provisions and permission to return to Louisiana. Rash behavior by the Spanish officer and pillaging of the abandoned vessel left the passengers and crew ship less.  In a 20 November letter to Louisiana's new governor, Ford and his crew claimed that the captain and the pilot had even been placed in stocks for twenty-four days.  Finally, the crew and the multiethnic group of 100 colonists - 32 of whom were Acadians - were allowed to begin a month-and-one-half trek by land to Natchitoches, the historic outpost in the northwest of the present state of Louisiana. The families arrived at Natchitoches on October 24, 1769. At Natchitoches, O'Reilly permitted settlement by the Neutral families headed by Olivier Benoit, Louis Latier, Etienne Rivet, Honore Trahan, Antoine Belar [Bel'hisle?], Jean Vincnet Le Jeune, and Pierre Prinne.  Most of these colonists would later be found in Opelousas and St. Martinville, while the Germans were soon after transported to lands at Fort St. Gabriel.

O'Reilly remarked to his superior, Julian de Arriaga, that the whole affair benefitted the colony very little:

"The English families have returned to Pensacola... I have given the Germans and Acadians lands, tools for their fields, and two hundred and sixty-seven pesos fuertes in money.  The settlement of these poor families is very costly to the exchequer." 

For additional info, see Carl A. Brasseaux and Richard Chandler, "The Britain Incident, 1769-1770: Anglo-Hispanic Tensions in the Western Gulf," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 87 (April 1984).

Note 1:

The letter from O'Reilly to Arriaga is in AGI, Aud. SD, 80-1-9. The primary secondary source is:

Annual Report of the American Historical  Association 1945 in Four Volumes

Vol. II Spain in the Mississippi Valley 1765-1794

Edited by Lawrence Kinnaird

Part I The Revolutionary Period, 1765-1783, pages 135-142

Note 2:

See names below of the English passengers provided by Judy Riffel

German Families

Dr. Glenn Conrad wrote an an article about the Germans on the Ship Britannia and others that appeared in Les Voyageurs, Vol. III, No. 4, December 1982, pp. 85-88. This article corrected information that had been published by J. Hanno Deiler in "The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana and The Creoles of German Descent" - See German Settlers in Louisiana [Note: the article also contains additional information about the time at Espiritu Santo Bay and the overland trek]

The list of names is contained on pages 140-142 of Annual Report of the American Historical Association 1945, in Four Volumes, Volume II: Spain in the Mississippi Valley,  1765-1794, Part I, The Revolutionary Period, 1765-1781 edited by Lawrence Kinnaird.  [Notes added by host].

Name and age

Nicolas Marcoff - 62  [Marhober - became Malborough, Malbrough, Malbrou] [6th Great-Grandfather of Stanley LeBlanc]
Channe, his wife - 45 [Note: Christine Ory]
Jean George, their son - 19
Marie,  their daughter - 15
Marie Madeleine (relation not given) - 12
Joseph Marcoff, their son - 10 [5th Great-Grandfather of Stanley LeBlanc]
Francois Marcoff, their son - 8
Jean Augustin Marcoff (5 months)

Nicolas Orre - 66 [Ory]
Christine, his wife - 40
Mathieu Orre, their son - 20
Margarite Orre, their daughter - 18
Jean, their Son - 12
Lois, their daughter - 7
Valentin, orphan - 13
Barbe Lois, daughter - 11
Elisabeth, their daughter - 8
Eve, their daughter - 4

Jose Basbler - 50
Susanne, his wife - 30
Joseph Basbler, their son - 10
Michel, their son - 8
Andre', their son - 6
Jeane, their daughter - 4
Anne Marie, their daughter - 2

Adam La Maur [Taileur, Taylor] - 50
Catherine, his wife - 32
Jacob La Maur, their son - 12
Anne Marie, their daughter - 10
Elisabet, their daughter - 8
Marie Anne, their daughter - 5
Catherine, their daughter - 2

Jacob Miller - 30
Anne Marie, his wife- 30
Barbe, their daughter - 6
Catherine, their daughter - 4
Anne Marie, their daughter - 3
Jacob, their son - 2

Andre Reser - 39
Marie, his wife - 37
Jean, their son - 10
Henry, their son - 8
Jean Pierre, their son - 6
Catherine, their daughter - 2
Rose, their daughter (8 months)

Filippe Pigleal - 30
Marie Magdalene - 24

Catharine Asuber, widow - 40
Michel Chevalier, her son - 21
Catherine, her daughter - 16
Magdalene, her daughter - 14

Bachelors, established

Andre Meche - 25
Daniel Muin - 30
Henry Thomas - 26
Cristian Pringle - 24
Jean Legneur - 23
Antoine Murguier - 30

Acadian Families

Olivier Benoit - 40
Marie Bruset, his wife - 46
Charles, their son - 15
Marie Rose, their daughter - 8
Magdalene, their daughter - 6

Louis Lasté - 39
Anne, his wife - 38
Marie - 15
Marie Rose, orphan and Benoit - 13 [Note: Marie Rose was the daughter of Jean Benoist, dec. and Marie Anne [Marianne] Trean [Trahan] She married, at age 14,  Romain Delafosse at Natchitoches on December 26, 1769.  Romain's parents were Pierre Delafosse and Jeanne Gillemenne]
Marguerite - 9
Antoine, their son - 7
Paul, their son - 6
Ysabelle, their daughter - 4

Etienne Ruvel, widower - 46
Etienne, his son - 21
Francois - 18
Pierre - 16
Ochodol - 14

Honore Trahun [Trahan] - 45
Marie Corprun [Corporon], his wife - 50
Pierre, their son - 18
Joseph Le Jeune, orphan - 13

Note: Honore's parents were Etienne Trahan and Francoise Roy.  This information is derived from the marriage record of Marie Corporon [DGFA, p. 415]

Note: Joseph Le Jeune [Lejeune] was the son of Jean-Baptiste Lejeune and Marguerite Trahan [the sister of Honore].  He is the younger brother of Jean Bicente, Blaise, Marguerite and Nanette Lejeune shown below.

Antoine Belar [Belair, Bellard]- 36
Marie, his wife - 22 [daughter of Honore and Marie Corperon]
Etienne Simon Belar, their son - 2

Jean Bicente Le Jeune - 20 [parents were Jean-Baptiste & Marguerite Trahan]
Blaise, his brother - 18
Margarite, their sister - 17
Nanette, their sister, remained at the Coquiats - 13 [Note: The Coquiats was the Spanish Post in Texas at Orcoquizas or Orcoquisac named after the Indian Tribe.  See Handbook of Texas Online article at  http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/EE/hve49.html

Pierre Prinne [Primeau, Primo] - 25
Susanne Plant [Plante], his wife - 20

Bachelor, not established

Jaques Ruseau - 28

NATCHITOCHES, October 27, 1769
Sealed BORME

This is a true copy of the original statement in the chief auditing office of Louisiana, to which I certify as the one temporarily exercising the functions of auditor thereof.

NEW ORLEANS, December 14, 1769
(signed) IGNACIO RAMON DE EZPELETA

Note - That by virtue of the decree of the Most Excellent Senor Don Alexandro O'Reilly of November 16, 1769, there have been given to the sixteen families shown in the foregoing statement sixteen large axes, sixteen hatchets, sixteen spades, sixteen iron pots, six drawing knives, and two hundred and sixty-seven pesos in money at the rate of three pesos to each person.  And each one of the eight German families, in consideration of the fact that they are to settle at he fort of Iberville, have been given, in addition to the foregoing, one gun, twelve gun-flints, and three pounds of gun powder.

NEW ORLEANS, date as above.
(Signed) IGNACIO RAMON DE EZPELETA

Note: The following note re the 'Britishers' was provided by Judy Riffel:

Your list does not include the "Britishers." You'll notice that Conrad's article indicates there were 12 of them.

If you'll look in the correspondence published in Kinnaird's book (page 137), nine of them are identified by name. They are John Steel, Francis Loundiz, Joseph Mattingly, Philip Ford, Leonard Mattingly, Neal Kerigan, Joseph Hamilton, Charles Stuard, and Joseph Mattingly, Jr. Joseph Hamilton is my ancestor. The other three unidentified Britishers are apparently Joseph Hamilton's wife and children. They eventually settled at Iberville as well. I've yet to find out if any of the other "Britishers" remained in Louisiana. I've never run across any of them.

Judy

[Note: These were the Captain, officers and seamen. Joseph Hamilton remained in Louisiana - the other were sent to Pensacola - SLB]

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