Onslow (1795 ship)

Onslow was a Spanish vessel launched in 1789 that was taken in prize in 1795. She became a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete slave trading voyage before a French privateer captured her in 1797 as she was just on her way to embark slaves for a second voyage.

For other ships with the same name, see Onslow (ship).

History
Great Britain
NameOnslow
Launched1789, spain
Acquired1795 by purchase of a prize
CapturedMay 1797
General characteristics
Tons burthen166 (bm)
Complement19–22

Career

Onslow first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1795.[1]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1795 Cartmell Butler & Co. Liverpool−Africa LR

Slave voyage (1795–1796): Captain William Cartmell sailed from Liverpool on 9 November 1795, bound for the Bight of Benin. Onslow started trading on 22 January 1796, first at Porto-Novo, and then at Whydah. She left Africa on 26 May, bound for the West Indies. She stopped at Prince's Island, and arrived at Barbados on 5 August. She had embarked with 274 slaves and arrived with 274, but finally landed 271, for a 1% mortality rate. She sailed for Liverpool on 20 August and arrived there on 8 October. She had left Liverpool with 19 crew members and had suffered one crew death on her voyage.[2]

After the passage of the Slave Trade Act 1788, masters received a bonus of £100 for a mortality rate of under 2%; the ship's surgeon received £50. For a mortality rate between two and three per cent, the bonus was halved. There was no bonus if mortality exceeded 3%.[3]

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1797 Cartmell
J.Bailiff		 Butler & Co. Liverpool−Africa LR; lengthened and raised 1795

Fate

Captain James Bailiff sailed from Liverpool on 7 May 1797, bound for West Africa.[4] Lloyd's List reported on 26 May that a French privateer of 14 guns had captured Onslow, Giles, master, as she was sailing from Liverpool to Africa.[5][lower-alpha 1]

In 1797, 40 British slave ships were lost, 11 of them on the way to Africa. This was the second worst year for losses after the 50 losses in 1795.[7] War, not maritime hazards nor slave resistance, was the greatest cause of vessel losses among British slave vessels.[8]

Notes
  1. Captain James Bailiff went on to make two more voyages as a captain of slave ships.[6] On the second of these he was again captured.

Citations
  1. LR (1795), Seq.No.O78.
  2. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Onslow voyage #82966.
  3. Howley (2008), p. 151.
  4. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Onslow voyage #82967.
  5. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 2927. 26 May 1797. hdl:2027/mdp.39015073721238.
  6. Behrendt (1990), p. 126.
  7. Inikori (1996), p. 62.
  8. Inikori (1996), p. 58.

References
  • Behrendt, Stephen D. (1990). "The Captains in the British slave trade from 1785 to 1807" (PDF). Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. 140.
  • Howley, Frank (2008). Slavers, Traders and Privateers: Liverpool, the African Trade and Revolution, 1773-1808. Countyvise. ISBN 9781901231984.
  • Inikori, Joseph (1996). "Measuring the unmeasured hazards of the Atlantic slave trade: Documents relating to the British trade". Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer. 83 (312): 53–92.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.