The last journey of the San Cayetano (1745): privateering and male migration during the war of Jenkins’ Ear

Resumo

The San Cayetano was one among hundreds of privateering vessels sailing European coasts in 1745. Its last journey was a succession of problems and desertions until it was captured by a British ship near Portugal. Neither the sailors nor the captain of the San Cayetano influenced the politics of the time or were at the centre of any remarkable military action. However, their journey serves as an interesting window into mid-Eighteenth Century Spain. The last journey of the San Cayetano offers a story of war, diplomacy and imprisonment, but also many interesting insights about migration and working conditions in the naval industry.

The San Cayetano shows how, facing a context of economic uncertainty caused by war, two Spanish merchants from Cadiz decided to invest in the profitable privateering business, i.e., attacking and capturing ships to sell them, along with their cargo, with royal sanction. At the same time, the sailors of the San Cayetano provide some clues as to the life conditions in times of war (since they worked without a fixed wage, only with the promise of loot) and exemplarize some of the migratory patterns in Early Modern Spain. The diverse origins of the crew remind us that before Industrialization, internal migrations in the Iberian Peninsula were already a constant.

The article is divided into five parts. In the first part, sources, Prize Papers, the methodology and microhistory will be presented. Then, the ship and its crew will be situated within its historic context: the war of Jenkins’ Ear between Britain and Spain. After that, the owners of the San Cayetano will be portrayed and a possible explanation for the ship suggested. Next, the last journey of the ship will be reconstructed thanks to the documents seized by the British when it was captured. Finally, in order to go beyond the anecdotal, the crew of the San Cayetano will be linked to demographic models of migration in Eighteenth-century Spain. The ultimate aim of this article is thus to advocate microhistory as a useful methodology and illustrate the potential of the Prize Papers as a historical source.