Admiral Kingsmill appeared in Lloyd's Register for 1797 as a British clinker-built and Cork-based privateer. The entry showed her master as Thornton. She had undergone repairs in 1796 and was armed with ten 6-pounder guns.[1] Captain Eleazer Thornton acquired a letter of marque for Admiral Kingsmill on 19 December 1796.[2]Lloyd's Register for 1798 described her as a tin-sheathed brig. It gave her burthen as 160 tons and her trade as Liverpool-Africa, indicating that she was probably a slave ship.
A database of slave-trading voyages showed her master as Hugh Kessick, and her owners as James Penny, James Penny, Jr., Moses Benson, and John Backhouse. She left Liverpool on 8 June 1797 and gathered her slaves from West Central Africa. Admiral Kingsmill delivered 263 slaves to Martinique on 20 March 1798.[3]
Admiral Kingsmill was last listed in Lloyd's Register and the Register of Shipping in 1800.
Alexander, was built in France in 1791, possibly under a different name. She was taken as a prize and her new owners renamed her Alexander. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC), and then became a slave ship, making four voyages between 1798 and 1807. After 1807 she sailed between Liverpool and Demerara. She is last listed in 1811.
Tarleton was launched in 1796 at Liverpool for Tarleton & Co., a Liverpool firm that had been in the slave trade for three generations. She made two full voyages as a slaver before she was wrecked on a third voyage in late 1798. On her first voyage she repelled attacks by two French privateers in single-ship actions.
Kingsmill was a French vessel launched in 1793 under a different name, captured in 1798, and sold to British owners who renamed her. She then became a slave ship, making three voyages from Africa to the West Indies. A French privateer captured her in 1804, but she returned to her owners in 1804. In 1807 she became a West Indiaman. In 1814 she became the first ship to trade with India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC) after the EIC lost its monopoly on British trade with India. She was badly damaged in 1821 and subsequently disappears from the registers.
Amazon was launched in France in 1775 under another name and taken in prize in 1780. British owners named her Amazon and she became a West Indiaman. In 1782 an American letter-of-marque, a former British Royal Navy frigate, captured her, but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She then became Dumfries. She may have been renamed again. She reappeared as Amazon in 1790, and traded between London and Smyrna. In 1798 she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1797 and 1798. She then made three voyages as a slave ship between 1800 and 1804. Her subsequent history is currently obscure.
Parr was launched in 1797 at Liverpool as a slave ship. Lloyd's Register for 1797 had a Parr, 450 tons (bm), of Liverpool, Christian, master.
Elliott was launched at Liverpool in 1783. She made ten voyages as a slave ship, carrying slaves from West Africa to the West Indies. Next, she made one voyage as a whaler. She then became a merchantman, sailing between England and South America. In November 1807 French privateers captured her.
Iris was launched at Liverpool as a slaver. In all she made eight voyages (1783-1800) carrying slaves from West Africa to the Caribbean. She also made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) to Bengal and back (1795-1796). She was condemned in Jamaica in December 1800 as unseaworthy.
Crescent was launched at Rotherhithe in 1790. She initially traded with the Levant, particularly Smyrna. After the outbreak of war with France she may have tried her hand as a privateer. In 1796–1798 she made a voyage to the East Indies, almost surely on behalf of the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. In 1802-1804 she made one voyage as a slave ship carrying slaves from West Africa to Jamaica. In 1805 she became a whaler. She was lost in 1807 off Patagonia while homeward bound from her first whaling voyage.
Eliza was launched in 1789 in New Brunswick. Between 1791 and 1800 she made six voyages as a whaler. She next made one voyage as a slave ship. She then disappears from online resources.
John and James was built in France in 1791 under another name and taken in prize in 1796. New owners renamed her and initially sailed her as a West Indiaman. She then made a voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). Next, she became a slave ship, making three voyages between West Africa and the West Indies. Finally, she became a whaler, but was lost in 1806 to a mutinous crew.
Robust was built in France in 1779. The British captured her in 1781 and she was registered at Liverpool in 1783. She first entered Lloyd's Register in 1789 as whaler in the Northern Whale Fishery. However, she left on the first of three slave trading voyages in December 1788. After her third voyage as a slaver her registry shifted to Bristol and she then made two voyages to the Southern Whale Fishery. She returned from the second voyage in 1797 and is last listed in 1798.
Allison was launched in France in 1776, almost certainly under another name. The British captured her in 1795. Between 1796 and 1799 she made two whaling voyages to the Southern Whale Fishery. Then between 1799 and 1807 she made three voyages as a slave ship. Between the first and the second a French privateer captured her, but British letters of marque recaptured her. The British slave trade was abolished in 1807 and thereafter Allison traded primarily as a coaster. After about 1840 she began to trade to America and Africa. She was lost c.1846.
Sarah was launched at Liverpool in 1797. She then made six voyages carrying slaves from West Africa to the West Indies. A French privateer captured Sarah in 1804 in a single-ship action on her seventh voyage after Sarah had gathered her slaves but before she could deliver them to the West Indies.
Hannah was built at Liverpool in 1795. She made four voyages as a slave ship and was lost in 1801 as she was returning home after having delivered her slaves on her fourth voyage.
Hannah was built at Liverpool in 1797. She made three voyages as a slave ship and one as a whaler. Next, she became a West Indiaman and was lost in 1811.
Windsor Castle was launched at Whitby in 1783. Initially she was primarily a West Indiaman. Then from 1797 she made five voyages as a slave ship and foundered off Bermuda in 1803 after having disembarked her slaves.
Defiance was launched in Hamburg in 1790, probably under another name. She started sailing as a slave ship out of London in 1795. She made three voyages as a slave ship between 1795 and 1800. She then left that trade but a French privateer captured her late in 1800.
Goodrich was a brig launched in Bermuda in 1793. She made three voyages as a slave ship between 1795 and 1799. She then became a general merchantman and was wrecked in 1808.
Caroline was a ship launched in France in 1792, possibly under another name. She was taken in prize in 1794 and sailed first as a West Indiaman, then as a whaler, and finally as a slave ship. She was lost in 1801 on her second slave-trading voyage after she had delivered her slaves to Kingston, Jamaica.
Nimble was built in Folkestone in 1781, possibly under another name. In 1786 Nimble was almost rebuilt and lengthened. Between 1786 and 1798 she made nine voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. Between 1799 and 1804 she made four voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship. She was sold in 1804 at St Thomas after she had delivered her slaves.
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