William and Ann (1781 ship)
William and Ann was launched in 1781 at Whitby. From her launch until 1805 she alternated between being a transport and trading with the Baltic. In 1805 she became a whaler in the northern whale fishery . She wrecked in ice in 1830 in the Greenland fisheries on her 24th whaling voyage.
| History | |
|---|---|
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| Owner | 1781: Will and Francis Skinner, and William Reynolds |
| Builder | Whitby |
| Launched | 1781 |
| Fate | Wrecked 1830 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tons burthen | 341, or 344, or 400 (bm) |
| Length | 101 ft (31 m) |
| Beam | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
| Armament |
|
Career
William and Ann first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1781.[2] When she was launched Great Britain was still at war and her initial service was as a transport. After the war ended in 1783, William and Ann started trading with the Baltic. Thereafter, she interspersed trading with the Baltic and service as a transport.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1781 | W.Bridekirk | W.Skinner | Whitby | LR |
| 1782 | W.Bridekirk | W.Skinner | London transport | LR |
| 1784 | W.Bridekirk | W.Skinner | London transport London–Petersburg |
LR |
| 1789 | W.Bridekirk | W.Skinner W.Sims |
London–Baltic | LR |
| 1790 | W.Bridekirk | W.Skinner St.Barbe |
London–Baltic | LR; damage repaired 1789 |
| 1791 | W.Bridekirk | W.Skinner | Cork transport | LR; damage repaired 1789 |
| 1792 | W.Bridekirk | W.Skinner | London–Petersburg | LR; damage repaired 1789 |
| 1793 | W.Bridekirk | W.Skinner | London–Petersburg Cork transport |
LR; damage repaired 1789 |
| 1797 | W.Bridekirk | W.Skinner | Cork transport London–Riga |
LR; damage repaired 1789 & repairs 1797 |
| 1799 | W.Bridekirk | W.Skinner | Riga–Portsmouth London transport |
LR; damage repaired 1789 & repairs 1797 |
| 1800 | W.Bridekirk | W.Skinner | London transport Liverpool–Rostock |
LR; damage repaired 1789 & repairs 1797 |
| 1805 | W.Bridekirk | Skinner, Jr. | Cork | LR; damage repaired 1789 & repairs 1797 |
LR carried William and Ann until 1810 with data unchanged from the 1805 volume. However, William and Ann had become a whaler, something that the Register of Shipping (RS) had recorded.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1806 | Johnson | Skinner | Whitby–Davis Strait | RS; repairs 1797, good repairs 1802, and small repairs 1804 and 1805 |
Some data exists on William and Ann's catches in the Northern Whale Fishery.
| Year | Master | Where | "Fish" (Whales) |
Tuns blubber | Tuns whale oil | Seals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1805 | Johnston | Davis Strait | 8 | 111 | 0 | |
| 1806 | 7 | 141 | 11 | |||
| 1807 | Johnston | Davis Strait | 6 | 100.75 | 0 | |
| 1808 | 25 | 313.5 | 1 | |||
In 1809 William and Ann traded between London and Whitby rather than engaging in whaling.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1810 | Stephens | Skinner | Whitby–London | RS; good repairs 1802, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807, & 1888 |
| Year | Master | Where | "Fish" (Whales) |
Tuns blubber | Tuns whale oil | Seals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1810 | Stephens | Greenland | 11 | 184.5 | 42 | |
| 1811 | 19 | 192 | 122 | |||
On 27 February 1812, William and Ann, Davidson, master, was leaving Leith for Davis Strait when she grounded at the end of the pier.[3]
| Year | Master | Where | "Fish" (Whales) |
Tuns blubber | Tuns whale oil | Seals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1812 | 16 | 221 | 166 | |||
| 1813 | 9 | 139.5 | 0 | |||
| 1814 | Stephenson | Greenland | 31 or 32 | 250 | 180 or 190 | 157 |
| 1815 | Stephenson | Greenland | 4 | 91 | 67 | 171 |
| 1816 | Stephenson | Greenland | 3 | 68 | 49 | 22 |
| 1817 | Stephens | Greenland | 22 | 200 | 1535 | |
| 1818 | Stephens | Greenland | 8 | 115 | 89 | 1 |
| 1819 | Terry | Greenland | 1 | 14 | ||
| 1820 | Terry | Greenland | 12 | 189.5 | 136 | 7 |
| 1821 | Terry | Greenland | 9 | 72 | ||
| 1822 | Terry | 6 | 81 | |||
| 1823 | Terry | 25 | 204 | |||
| 1824 | Terry | 13 | 150 | |||
| 1825 | Terry | 3 | 46 | |||
| 1826 | Terry | 23 | ||||
| 1827 | Terry | 6 | 70 | |||
| 1828 | Terry | 13 | 149 | |||
| 1829 | Terry | 10 | 115 | |||
Fate
The 1830 season was a disastrous one for the Northern Whale Fishery. Seven Scottish and five English ships were lost between 10 June and 10 September when beset by ice.[4] William and Ann, of Whitby, Terry, master, was one of the vessels lost.[5] She was one of the vessels that ice crushed on 26 June.[6]
Captain Terry transferred to Eagle, along with the carpenter and 12 seamen.[6]
Citation
- Weatherill (1908), p. 87.
- LR (1781), Seq.No.W374.
- "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4644. 3 March 1812. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735025.
- Sanger (2012), p. 196.
- "Disastrous Intelligence From the Greenland Fisheries". Sheffield Independent. Vol. 11, no. 565. 16 October 1830. p. 2.
- Lubbock (1937), p. 279.
References
- Lubbock, Basil (1937). Arctic Whalers. Glasgow: Brown, Son & Ferguson.
- Sanger, Chesley W. (2012). "The Rise of Scotland to a Position of Dominance in British Northern Whaling,1802-1840". International Journal of Maritime History. 24 (1): 173–202. doi:10.1177/084387141202400108. S2CID 154897734.
- Weatherill, Richard (1908). The ancient port of Whitby and its shipping. Whitby: Horne and Son.