Trelawney (1781 ship)

Trelawney or Trelawny was a ship launched at Bristol in 1781. Initially she was a West Indiaman. In 1791 she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then made one voyage as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was sold to Liverpool and then made two more voyages as an enslaving ship. She was damaged outbound on a fourth enslaving voyage and then disappears from online records.

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

History
Great Britain
NameTrelawney
Owner
  • 1781:Robert, John, and Peter Gordon[1]
  • 1791:James Rogers & Co.
  • 1793: James Jones and William Bush
  • 1798: John Michael Wagner, George Browne, Morris Lewin Mozley, Thomas Moore, Abraham Joseph, and Michael Cullen
  • 1800: William & Henry Byrom, and John Smith
Launched1781, Bristol[2][1]
FateDamaged 1803 and probably condemned thereafter
General characteristics
Tons burthen295,[3] or 319,[3] or 333,[4][1] or 350[2] (bm)
Complement
  • 1782: 50
  • 1798: 20[4]
  • 1800: 25[4]
Armament
  • 1782: 20 × 9-pounder guns + 6 swivel guns
  • 1798: 20 × 9&12-pounder cannons[4]
  • 1800: 20 × 9&12-pounder cannons[4]
  • 1801: 18 × 9-pounder guns + 4 × 12-pounder carronades

Career

Trelawny first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1781.[2]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1781 J.Neilson P.Gordon Bristol–Jamaica LR
1782 J.Neilson
William Sherry		 P.Gordon Bristol–Jamaica LR

Captain William Sherry acquired a letter of marque on 11 September 1782.

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1786 E.Power P.Gordon Bristol–Jamaica LR
1791 E.Power
Thomas King		 P.Gordon
J.Rogers & Co.		 Bristol–Jamaica
Bristol Africa		 LR

1st enslaving voyage (1791–1792): Michael Crangle was initially listed as her captain.[lower-alpha 1] Trelawney, sailed from Bristol on 28 July 1791, bound for West Africa. Trelawney, King, master acquired captives at Bonny and arrived at Montego Bay, Jamaica on 28 April 1792. She had embarked 333 slaves and she arrived with 313, for a 6% loss rate. She had left Bristol with 35 crew members and had arrived at Jamaica with 30. She discharged eight crew while at Montego Bay, and enlisted three shortly before sailing. She sailed for England on 20 May and arrived back at Bristol on 21 July with 25 crew members.[3][6]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1793 Thomas King
R.Hilman		 J.Rogers & Co.
J.Jones		 Bristol–Africa LR

Whaling voyage (1793–1796): Captain Robert Hillman (or Hilman) sailed from Bristol in 1793, bound for Peru.[7] Trelawney was recorded as visiting Saint Helena in 1794.[8] In July 1795 Trelawney was at Valparaiso, and on the coast of Peru on December 1795 with 170 tons of sperm oil. She arrived back at Bristol on 16 December 1796.[7][9][lower-alpha 2]

Trelawney disappeared from Lloyd's Register between 1798 and 1800, with her data to 1798 not having been changed from that of 1793. She may have been sold and have assumed another name as she does not appear in Lloyd's List's ship arrival and departure data for 1797 and 1798, though there is no obvious candidate in Lloyd's Register for 1798. At some point she apparently was sold to Liverpool.

2nd enslaving voyage (1799–1800): Captain James Lake acquired a letter of marque on 23 October 1798.[4] He sailed from Liverpool on 29 October; he started acquiring captives in June 1799 at Malembo.

In the morning of 2 August the 85 captives aboard Trelawney rose up against their captors. They wounded two sailors; the rest escaped in the boats and made their way to another ship, Lord Nelson, which was anchored nearby. Lake and his crew left Trelawney in the rebels' hands. Captain Kendall of Lord Nelson started firing on Trelawney and sent his men to retake her. The men from Lord Nelson succeeded in subduing the uprising. Kendall then went aboard Trelawney, forcing Lake and his crew to come with him. In 1802 Kendall sued Trelawney's owners for salvage. The judge of the High Court of Admiralty awarded the plaintiff 10% of the estimated value of Trelawney, her cargo, and freight, approximately £10,000, plus the salvor's expenses. The award was less than would be awarded by application of the Prize Act, as the judge ruled that under the circumstances the two vessels had a duty of mutual assistance.[10]

Trelawney arrived at Kingston, Jamaica on 21 February 1800 with 190 captives. She left for England on 29 May.[11] Lake died on 31 May.[12] Trelawney, late Lake, arrived back at Liverpool on 15 July. Captain John Towns Powell had replaced Lake. She had left Liverpool with 41 crew members and had suffered 10 crew deaths on her voyage.[11]

The Trelawney of this article returned to Lloyd's Register in the issue for 1800. She also appeared in the Register of Shipping (RS), which first published in 1800.

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1800 J.Smith T.Smith Liverpool–Africa LR
1800 J.Lake T.Parr & Co. Liverpool–Africa RS

3rd enslaving voyage (1800–1801): Captain Thomas Smith acquired a letter of marque on 28 August 1800. He sailed from Liverpool on 6 October 1800. He acquired captives at Calabar. Trelawney, Smith, master, arrived at Kingston, Jamaica on 27 April 1801 with 318 captives. She had left Liverpool with 46 crew members and he arrived with 40.[13] Smith died on 19 June 1801.[14][lower-alpha 3]

Trelawney sailed from Kingston on 25 June and arrived back at Liverpool on 10 September, under the command of Captain Eglinton Richardson.[lower-alpha 4] She had suffered eight crew member deaths since first leaving Liverpool.[13]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1802 T.Smith
A.Roberts		 Smith & Co. Liverpool–Africa LR

4th enslaving voyage (1802): Captain Andrew Roberts sailed from Liverpool on 17 June 1802.[17] Trelawney capsized in the River Mersey at Liverpool on 20 June as she was coming out of the dock. She was bound for an African port.[18] Lloyd's List reported that the Trelawney that had got onshore at Liverpool had been gotten off and put into dock.[19]

Fate

By one account, Trelawney, Moon, master, was wrecked in December 1806 on the Ness Sands, in the Bristol Channel, with the loss of her captain. She was on a voyage from Bristol to Jamaica.[20] A falling mast killed the captain; eleven crew members drowned.[1]

However, this appears to have been Trelawney. The Trelawney of the present article is no longer in Lloyd's Register or the Register of Shipping for 1804.

Notes
  1. Crangle died on 29 January 1793 of a fever while on the coast of Africa as captain of Favourite.[5]
  2. Robert Hillman (1747-1824), of Nantucket, was reportedly captain of Hannah when she smuggled tea from London to Martha's Vineyard after the passage of the Stamp Act 1765.[8]
  3. Smith had himself been enslaved. His vessel, Solicitor General, had been wrecked on the Barbary Coast on 11 August 1795; the locals had then taken him and his crew as slaves. They were only freed around July 1797.[15]
  4. Richardson died on 11 May 1803 while captain of the enslaving ship Ann.[16]

Citations
  1. Farr (1950), p. 252.
  2. LR (1781), Seq.No.T373.
  3. Richardson (1996), p. 200.
  4. "Letter of Marque, p.90 – Retrieved 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  5. Behrendt (1990), p. 135.
  6. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Trelawney voyage #18124.
  7. British southern whale fishery database – Voyages: Trelawney.
  8. 4.7 The Whaling Hillmans of New England; accessed 30 July 2022.
  9. Clayton (2014), p. 235.
  10. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined, 1798-1850, in the High Court of Admiralty (1853), Volume 2, pp.223–228.
  11. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Trelawney voyage #83836.
  12. Behrendt (1990), p. 136.
  13. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Trelawney voyage #83837.
  14. Behrendt (1990), p. 137.
  15. Schwarz (2008), p. 45 &47.
  16. Behrendt (1990), p. 138.
  17. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Trelawney voyage #83838.
  18. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (4267): 78 v. 25 June 1802. hdl:2027/hvd.32044105233084.
  19. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4274. 20 July 1802. hdl:2027/hvd.32044105233084.
  20. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4109. 16 December 1806. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735022.

References
  • Behrendt, Stephen D. (1990). The Captains in the British Slave Trade from 1785 to 1807. Vol. 140. Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. pp. 79–140.
  • Clayton, J.M. (2014). Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775-1815: An alphabetical list of ships. Jane M. Clayton. ISBN 978-1-908616-52-4.
  • Farr, Grahame E., ed. (1950). Records of Bristol Ships, 1800-1838 (vessels over 150 tons). Vol. 15. Bristol Record Society.
  • Richardson, David, ed. (1996). Bristol, Africa, and the Eighteenth-Century Slave Trade to America, Vo. 4 The Final Years, 1770-1807. Bristol Record Society, c/o Department of Historical Studies, Univ. of Bristol. ISBN 0-901538-17-5.
  • Schwarz, Suzanne (2008). Slave Captain: The Career of James Irving in the Liverpool Slave Trade. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 9781846310676.
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