| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Abeona |
| Namesake | Abeona |
| Builder | Newcastle-upon-Tyne [1] |
| Launched | 22 March 1811 [1] |
| Fate | 1820; fire at sea |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 32375⁄94, [1] or 331 [2] (bm) |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Crew | 21 (at loss) |
| Armament | 12 × 12-pounder carronades (1812) [2] |
Abeona was launched at Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1811. A fire at sea destroyed her in November 1820, killing many passengers and crew.
Abeona appears in the 1812 Register of Shipping with Swan, master, T. Heron, owner, and trade Newcastle. [2] In 1815 her master was Weynton, her owners J&T Dawson, and her trade London transport.
The Register of Shipping for 1820 (published in 1819), showed Abeona with Pritchard, master, Dawson & Co., owner, and trade London−Onega (possibly Onega, Russia). Lloyd's List reported on 23 June 1820 that Abeona, Prichard, master, had run aground at Quebec in May as she was sailing to London, but was got off without damage. The same issue had a report from Quebec dated 18 May that the transport Abeona had suffered some damage and would have to be hauled up for repairs. [3]
The Register of Shipping for 1821 carried the same information as the 1820 volume as to master and owner, but Abeona's trade now was London transport.
The British government chartered Abeona to carry settlers to South Africa under the auspices of the government's 1820 Settlers scheme. [4]
She gathered some 14 passengers in London and then sailed from there to Greenock. At Greenock on 7 October 1820 she took on 126 more. On 13 October she sailed from Greenock, bound for South Africa. [5]
On 25 November she caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean ( 4°30′N25°30′W / 4.500°N 25.500°W ). (The cause was the negligence of the mate, who took a naked candle into the storeroom. [6] He died when he refused to leave the ship while there were still passengers aboard. [7] ) A number of the crew and passengers succeeded in getting into three boats. By chance the Portuguese ship Condessa da Ponte, Captain Joaquim Almeida, which was sailing from Bahia, came upon them the next day. She landed the survivors at Lisbon on 20 December 1820. She rescued 49 survivors, including Lieut. Mudge (the agent), Captain Pritchard, the ship's surgeon, 21 men, four women, 16 boys, and five girls. The report from Lisbon stated that 112 crew and passengers had died. [8] [5]
The brig Royal Charlotte, Hobson, master, bound for Greenock, stopped at Lisbon and took on board 16 of the 26 survivors who had boarded at Greenock. Ten male orphans remained in Lisbon under the care of the British Consul and the British Factory there. Royal Charlotte arrived at Greenock on 13 January 1822. [5]
A letter from Greenock dated 15 January said "Arrived here yesterday, the Royal Charlotte, Hobson, from Lisbon, in 17 days, having on board the surgeon, second mate, carpenter, one seaman, and three boys; and also 22 emigrants, part of those saved by the boats from the wreck of the Abeona transport, Capt. PRITCHARD." [9] [lower-alpha 1]
In early 1821 HMS Sappho sailed to Cape Town via Lisbon. In Lisbon she took on six survivors from Abeona and carried them to South Africa. [11]
Abeona was one of 18 vessels that sailed in that year with settlers for South Africa under the scheme, and the only one to suffer misfortune; another seven vessels brought settlers under private arrangements. [12]
Notes
Citations
References
| Shipwrecks |
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|---|---|
| Other incidents |
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Ocean was built in 1808 at Whitby, England, that once carried settlers to South Africa and twice transported convicts to Australia.
Atlas was a 501-ton sailing ship that was built at Whitby and launched in 1811. In 1814 she successfully defended herself in a single-ship action with an American privateer. In 1816 she transported convicts to New South Wales, and afterwards disappeared off the coast of India in 1817.
Asia was a merchant barque built at Whitby in 1813. She made one voyage to India for the British East India Company (EIC) in 1820–21, and one voyage to Van Diemen's Land in 1827–28. Asia then traded to the Mediterranean, but mostly to Quebec. She was last listed in 1850.
David Clark was launched in 1816 and may have been broken up at Batavia in 1854. She sailed one of the last voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). In 1839 she carried mainly Scots assisted migrants to Australia, and was the first immigrant ship to sail from the Great Britain directly to Port Phillip. In 1842 she transported more than 300 convicts to Hobart. She was last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1854.
Clyde was a merchant ship built at Greenock, Scotland in 1820. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then made three voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. She was last listed in 1845.
Phoenix was a merchant vessel launched in 1810 The British East India Company (EIC) chartered her to make one voyage to Madras and Bengal between 1820 and 1821. She then made one voyage transporting convicts to Tasmania in 1822, and two to New South Wales, one in 1826 and one in 1828. She was wrecked in 1829.
Grenada was a merchant ship built at Kingston upon Hull, England in 1810. She made four voyages transporting convicts from England to Australia. In 1827, while returning to England from Australia via Batavia, she arrived at Mauritius in a damaged state and was condemned.
Hindostan was launched at Whitby in 1819. She made one voyage, in 1821, transporting convicts to New South Wales. Later, she made two voyages transporting convicts to Van Diemen's Land, one with female convicts (1839), and one with male convicts (1840–1841). When not transporting convicts Hindostan was a general trader, sailing across the Atlantic, to India, and perhaps elsewhere as well. She was lost in 1841.
Agamemnon was launched at Sunderland in 1811. She traded with India and made one voyage in 1820 transporting convicts to New South Wales. She was wrecked in 1826.
Peggy was built at Calcutta in 1793 and initially sailed in the Indian coastal and Far East trade. In 1801 she assumed British registry and her name was changed to Juliana. Her owners sold her to the Transport Board but in 1804 the government resold her and she was sailing as a West Indiaman between London and Antigua. She then made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and one voyage to Hobart, Van Dieman's Land, transporting convicts. On her return from this voyage she wrecked in 1821 on the English coast.
Grant was launched at Whitby in 1798, or possibly 1799. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1800 and 1802. Thereafter she sailed as a West Indiaman or a London-based transport. She was last heard from in 1820; Spanish authorities may have seized her off Peru.
Kennersley Castle, was a merchantman launched in 1811. She made several voyages transporting British troops. She also twice transported emigrants from Britain, once to South Africa and then once, most notably because of the subsequent notoriety of her destination, to the at best misguided and at worst fraudulent colony of Poyais. She was wrecked in 1833 and her remains were burned in 1834.
Bulmer was launched in 1809 at Newcastle. She traded generally and served as a transport carrying troops. Then from 1815 on she traded with India. Damage in a storm as she was homeward bound from Bengal resulted in her being condemned in 1821 and sold for breaking up.
Earl of Buckinghamshire was built at Montreal in 1814. She sailed to Britain and made two voyages to India. She then started trading between Liverpool and North America. In 1821 she carried some 600 settlers from Greenock to Quebec. Her crew abandoned her in the North Atlantic in October 1822 and she was wrecked in November when she drifted ashore at Galway Bay, Ireland.
Skelton was launched in 1818 at Whitby. She made one notable voyage in 1820 to Australia, notable because her captain later published a detailed account with extensive economic, commercial, and other observational information about the Cape of Good Hope, Hobart Town, Port Jackson, and Rio de Janeiro. She later became a West Indiaman and was wrecked in 1828.
Jane was launched in 1813 at Fort Gloucester. She transferred her registry to Britain and sailed between Britain and India or Batavia. She was last mentioned in 1820, though the registers continued to carry her until 1826.
Brilliant was launched at Aberdeen in 1814. She initially traded with the Caribbean and South America. She made one voyage in 1820 carrying settlers to South Africa. She later traded across the North Atlantic, carrying emigrants from Scotland to Quebec and bringing back lumber. She was last listed in 1849.
Zoroaster was launched at Hull in 1818. From the start she was an East Indiaman, sailing between England and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). Her crew mutinied and scuttled her in 1836.
Stentor was a British transport and merchant vessel launched in 1814 at Sunderland. In 1820 she transported settlers to South Africa. She made several journeys to India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). As a transport she carried troops and supplies to such destinations as Sierra Leone, Fernando Po, Ceylon, and the West Indies. She was wrecked in November 1846.
Belle Alliance was launched at Chittagong in 1817. She moved her registry to England. In 1820 she carried settlers to South Africa. She then traded with India initially under a license from the British East India Company, which trade continued after the company's demise. In 1847 she carried emigrants to Adelaide, South Australia. She was last listed in 1854.
