Captain Jean vibert
The story of Captain John Vibert and his exploits on the ship the Marquis of Townsend are worthy of note and the information I have been able to acquire is detailed below. John is the only renowned privateer ( really a legitamized pirate !) Vibert I can locate and was recorded as being captain of the vessel from 1803 to 1806. A list of the Jersey born individuals who worked on the various ships can be found at the records of the Jersey Merchant Seamen Benefit Society
The other ships he is recorded as captaining were, The Cornwall in 1786, The Dumaresq in 1790, The Grog from 1814 to 1817 , and The Brutus in 1826.
The Marquis of Townsend was a 71 ton Lugger which was used as a privateer vessel from 1799 to 1806. The term captain of a privateer was more eloquently phrased at the time as “ship’s commander of the revolutionary war”.
The importance of this ship to privateering at the time was clearly demonstrated by the number of vessels captured which are detailed below. In 1803 it took 3 vessels, which was a third of all vessels captured in that year.
1799-1800
The “Flora Peggy Vine”, an English ship
The “Jonge Holfchen”, a Dutch ship of 170 tons with galliot rig, carrying corn
The “L’Esperance”, a French brig of 150 tons, carrying oil, wine, and iron
The “Nos San De Las”, a Spanish ship of 180 tons, carrying earthenware
The ” Nos San De Los Sandilos”, a Spanish ship of 70 tons carrying oak timbers
The “St. Mathiue”, a French brig of 90 tons, carrying timber and tar
An unnamed Spanish ship carrying maize
An unnamed Spanish ship carring coal
1801
An unspecified ship of 127 tons
The “Los Dos Amigos”, a Spanish ship of 84 tons, subsequently renamed the “Union”
A Spanish ship of 53 tons, later renamed the “Betsy”
1803-1806
The “Renai Marie” a French ship of 8 tons
The “Marie Francois”, a 42 ton French ship, later renamed the “Papillion”
The “Kersai Marie”, a 61 ton French ship, later renamed the “Sydney”
The privateering days of the Vessel were regrettably cut short in 1806 when the ship was recaptured , it having originally been a prize itself. It’s owners at that time, Messrs Remon, Pipon, and Hammond must have despaired.
The majority of the above information has been gleaned from the various maritime books by the late Jean Jean of Jersey.