Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum > Records

Handwritten Summons ‘In the Court of the Passage of the Seas’ Issued to Raymond Parker WARBURTON

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Neptune Rex

1916

Overview

Summon’s handwritten in pencil, single page on lined cream coloured paper. Heading ‘In the Court of the Passage of the Seas to be Holden at the Equator’. Addressed to Mr WARBURTON. Paper is folded in eighths and has the following details on other side, ‘In the Court of the Passage of the Seas to be Holden at the Equator, His Majesty’s Transport Pera A4, Summons to Mr Warburton To Show Cause, Neptune Rex

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-12-2025.2.7

Item type

Letters

Themes

War and Conflict > World War 1

Material

Writing Paper

Width

200 mm

Height or length

250 mm

Weight

2 g

Inscriptions and markings

“In the Court of the Passage of the Seas / to be Holden at the / Equator / To Mr Warburton / A person on board His Majesty’s Transport / “Pera” now upon the High Seas :- / Neptune by all the Grace and time Honoured customs / of the Seas – Sovereign Lord King - / For as much as the Commander of the aforesaid Ship “Pera” upon request being made has been unable to certify / that you have paid due to toll to this most Glorious Majesty. / You are hereby Commanded to appear on the deck for’d / of the Saloon of the aforesaid Transport “Pera” on Monday the tenth day of April in the year of our / Lord one thousand nine hundred & sixteen at the / hour of two o’clock in the afternoon and there to make / true answer to all questions put to you and to be / well and truly tried and according to the finding / of the court to receive Royal exemption or suffer / the sentence according to the Ancient Rites and / Customs of our Dominions”. Signed at bottom of page, “Neptune Rex” and “Royal Seal” encircled.
On back “In the Court of the / Passage of the Seas / to be Holden at the / Equator. / His Majesty’s Transport / “Pera” A4 / Summons to / Mr Warburton / To show cause / Neptune Rex”.

Contextual information

Raymond Parker WARBURTON was employed as an Electrical Engineer on board the Admiralty Transport Pera. HMAT A4 Pera, a transport ship owned by P&O London, was leased by the Commonwealth during the First World War. This informal summons is for Raymond WARBURTON to appear before ‘Neptune Rex’ to answer questions. This appears to be the nautical version of a ‘kangaroo court’, which is an unofficial court held to compel the person summoned to answer questions. The summons refers to ‘Neptune Rex’, which could be reference to King Neptune, the Roman mythical god of the sea. The ship ‘SS Pera’ was used to transport Australian and New Zealand troops overseas and was part of the first convoy amassed in King George Sound, Albany WA, and departed 1st November 1914. Onboard the ‘SS Pera’ on that date was 90 soldiers, 6 nurses and 391 horses. The Pera was torpedoed and sunk in Mediterranean on the 19/10/1917.

Keywords

First World War

Merchant Marine Officer

HMT Pera

Place made

Equator, High Seas

Year

1916

Primary significance criteria

Artistic or aesthetic significance

Scientific or research significance

Social or spiritual significance