IOR/L/PS/10/571

Correspondence and other papers relating to the Prize Court proceedings of the SS Albistan and SS Avristan. Most of the papers relate to the case of the Albistan, which sailed from Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] in Mesopotamia [Iraq] in October 1914 (prior to war being declared between Britain and the Ottoman Empire), arriving in London in December 1914. In January 1915 the Albistan’s cargo, consisting of goods shipped from Baghdad, was seized by the Admiralty as enemy property. The file comprises correspondence between government officials, including the Foreign Office and HM’s Procurator General (Prize Department) at the Treasury, and some of the key claimants and their legal representatives in the case. These include the firms M Samuel & Company and Frederick Huth & Company, both of which were represented by Waltons & Company. The file includes details of the proceedings, as reported in Lloyd’s List on 27 February 1917 (ff 160-161), and a copy of the judgement made at the High Court of Justice, Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division, dated 17 May 1918 (ff 51-54).

The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.