The ship's master Robert Smallden had loaded 75 1/2 tuns (a barrel holding about 954 litres) of French wine in Rochelle for the owners William Yeamans and John Bowen. The St Peter was taken by a French privateer on the voyage back to Bristol, and the cargo lost. Robert Smallden made a sworn statement to the port authorities in Bristol on 13 December 1655, to explain what happened. This would allow the owners to claim on their insurance. A privateer was a ship or merchant with a licence from the monarch to attack enemy ships in time of war.