SHARK EXHIBITION

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Overview of MS 165

MS 165, “Shark Papers” is a manuscript that can be found at the National Library of Jamaica (NLJ) in its Manuscripts Collection, located on the Special Collections Floor. It is simply a collection of documents that were taken from the belly of a shark that consists of various items including receipts, letters, bills, notary documents and other papers that were essential to a case that was been tried in court. It was these very documents that proved to be vital in the court case filed by Hugh Whylie, Commander of the “Sparrow”, an English ship and his crew against another vessel namely the “Nancy”, an American brig and her crew to convict Captain Thomas Briggs of smuggling and other charges.

Shark Papers

shark papers

The Story Behind the Papers

In the year 1799, the English ship Sparrow captured the American brig the Nancy in Caribbean waters. This area was forbidden to American ships, but the Nancy’s captain, Thomas Briggs, produced papers claiming she was owned by a Dutchman and that they were not doing anything illegal at the time of their capture. Suspecting that the brig was an American owned ship that was smuggling but lacking evidence, the Sparrow’s captain sent Captain Briggs and his crew to Jamaica to have his case heard by the Court of Vice-Admiralty in Kingston. At first, Briggs seemed to have the upper hand in the case. His paperwork was in order and the Sparrow’s captain had no evidence to prove his point that the brig was carrying out any illegal activity at the time of its capture or that it was owned by an American.

Then came another English ship called the Ferret. They claimed to have caught a large shark near the coast of Haiti two days after the Nancy was captured. Interestingly, in its belly were the papers of the American brig the Nancy. These papers were apparently thrown overboard by Briggs and his crew members to avoid capture by the British. These papers, referred to as the “Shark Papers” later proved to be vital in the case between the captain of the Sparrow and the Nancy. It was based on the evidence presented from the papers retrieved from the belly of the shark that they were able to incriminate Captain Thomas Briggs for smuggling and perjury.

Sources

MS 165- “Shark Papers”

The Jamaica Gleaner Pieces of the Past. Honesty is the Best Policy-The Case of the Shark Papers by Rebecca Tortello

The Tale of the ‘Nancy’ Brig, West India Reference Library, Institute of Jamaica July 28, 1958