Deserters, Mutineers and Criminals: British Sailors and Problems of Port Jurisdiction in Genoa and Livorno during the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

During the eighteenth century, Livorno and Genoa were standard ports of call both for British merchant ships and for the vessels of the Royal Navy involved in maritime patrols. Many sailors moved between the two Italian ports without leaving any significant trace in the documentary records. Evidence for their existence is restricted to the mention of their names and roles within the crew or in documents issued by their captain at the port. Although it is true for many sailors that nuda nomina tenemus (we only possess their name), it is also true that when a sailor became a ‘deserter’, ‘mutineer’ or ‘criminal’, he immediately became the protagonist of documents produced by local magistrate’s clerks and by British envoys, ambassadors and consuls. By examining individual cases, we can describe these ‘forgotten lives’ to a certain extent: the shadowy figure of the sailor can begin to take on the features of a real person.