Africaine (1832 ship)

Last updated

The barque Africaine in the Indian Ocean, Wednesday 12 October 1836.jpg
The barque Africaine in the Indian Ocean, Wednesday 12 October 1836; watercolour by one of the passengers, John Michael Skipper in the First Fleet of South Australia
History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameAfricaine
BuilderRobert & Thomas Brown Jr., Jarrow, Newcastle upon Tyne [1]
Launched1831 [1]
FateWrecked 23 September 1843
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen316 (bm)
Length98 ft 9 in (30.1 m)
Beam27 ft 0 in (8.2 m)
Sail plan Barque

Africaine (or African, or Africanus) was a barque launched in 1831 at Jarrow on the River Tyne in England. [2] In 1836 she carried immigrants as part of the First Fleet of South Australia. She was wrecked on 23 September 1843.

Contents

Career

Africaine first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1832 as African, with Thompson, master, Fenwick, owner, and trade London–Quebec. [3]

Africaine's next voyage was to Smyrna in what is now Turkey. On 8 April 1833, as she was sailing from Liverpool to Smyrna she grounded on Cape Trafalgar for about three hours. A coaster helped her off, but in doing so carried away her stream anchor and cable. Africaine, Thompson, master, then continued on her voyage on the 9th. [4]

In 1834 and 1835, under command of John Finlay Duff, Africaine sailed via Calcutta, Mauritius, and Hobart to Sydney.

Robert Gouger and John Brown chartered Africaine in 1836 to carry goods and passengers as part of the First Fleet of South Australia. [2] She departed London Docks on 28 June 1836 and arrived at Holdfast Bay on 8 November 1836. Duff remained the captain, with his new wife on board. [5] [lower-alpha 1] Soon after unloading her passengers and cargo at Holdfast Bay, Africaine went on to Hobart Town in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) to acquire more supplies. She arrived in ballast at Launceston on 13 March 1837 from Gulf St. Vincent. [8] She then traded between Hobart and Launceston. [9]

In 1838 her owner became John Griffiths et al., of Launceston. In 1840, under the command of William Dutton, she visited the whaling grounds of New Zealand. [10] Then in November 1841 her owner became James Henty, also of Launceston. [1]

YearMasterOwnerHomeportTradeSource & notes
1840M'Taggart J.Griffiths LauncestonLondon–AustraliaLR; new keel and small repairs 1834
1843G.CoxonG.CoxonNorth ShieldsNewcastle–LondonLR; new keel and small repairs 1834, & mall repairs 1842

Fate

Africaine was wrecked in a storm on 23 September 1843 with the loss of two of her crew. She was on a voyage from Newcastle to Quebec when she wrecked off Cape St Lawrence, Cape Breton Island. [11] [5] Her entry in LR for 1843 carries the annotation "LOST". [12]

Notes

  1. The diary of one of the passengers, Mary Thomas, was later published as a book in 1915. [6] The book was edited by her grandson. [7]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 Tyne Built Ships: Africaine.
  2. 1 2 Sexton, Bob. "Africaine". Bound for South Australia. History Trust of South Australia . Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  3. LR (1832), Supple.pages "A", Seq.№A99.
  4. "SHIP NEWS". Morning Post (London, England), 25 April 25, 1833; Issue 19463.
  5. 1 2 "The Africaine". Encounter Bay Family History Group. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  6. Thomas, Mary (1915), Thomas, Evan Kyffin (ed.), The diary and letters of Mary Thomas (1836-1866): being a record of the early days of South Australia, W.K. Thomas & Co, retrieved 5 April 2020
  7. ""DIARY AND LETTERS OF MARY THOMAS."". The Journal . South Australia. 25 August 1915. p. 1 (5 P.M. EDITION). Retrieved 5 April 2020 via Trove.
  8. "SHIP NEWS". The Cornwall Chronicle . Tasmania, Australia. 18 March 1837. p. 2. Retrieved 8 April 2020 via Trove.
  9. Brummitt, Jane (7 July 1989). "JOHN FINLAY DUFF, ANNE ELIZA DUFF and their daughter JESSIE LIGHT DUFF". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 5 April 2020.[ self-published source ]
  10. Cumpston, John S. (1966). "Dutton, William (1811–1878)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . Vol. 1 (MUP ed.). National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN   1833-7538 . Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  11. "Further Wrecks of Twenty Vessels During the Late Gales". Lloyd's Weekly London Newsletter. No. 50. London. 5 November 1843.
  12. LR (1843), Seq.№A161.

Related Research Articles

Duke of York was a three-masted brig launched in 1817 at Bideford as a Falmouth packet, sailing between Falmouth, Cornwall, and Jamaica. In 1836 she brought settlers to South Australia for the South Australia Company. She was wrecked in 1837.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Thomas (newspaper proprietor)</span> Australian newspaper publisher (1781–1860)

Robert Thomas was a Welsh newspaper proprietor, printer and early settler of South Australia who was born on a farm 'Rhantregynwen', at Llanymynech, Powys, Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Thomas (poet)</span>

Mary Thomas née Harris was a diarist, poet and early settler of South Australia. She married Robert Thomas on 8 January 1818 in Southampton. They had six children, one of whom died young.

Asia was a merchant ship built by A. Hall & Company at Aberdeen in 1818. She made eight voyages between 1820 and 1836 transporting convicts from Britain to Australia. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1826 and 1827. At the same time she served in private trade to India as a licensed ship. She also carried assisted emigrants to Australia. She was last listed in 1845.

Katherine Stewart Forbes was a full-rigged ship built by William & Henry Pitcher at Northfleet dockyard in Kent, England in 1818. She was classified as "A1", a first class vessel made from first quality materials. The ship was launched for A. Chapman and Company and named by Katherine Stewart, the daughter of Charles Forbes MP in 1818, on 31 October or 5 November. She was re-rigged as a barque about 1836.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Finlay Duff</span>

John Finlay Duff was a ship's captain and businessman in the Colony of South Australia.

Camden was a merchant ship built upon the River Thames in 1799 as a West Indiaman. Between 1832 and 1833 she made two voyages transporting convicts from England to Australia. She was wrecked in 1836.

Captain Cook was a merchant ship built at Whitby, England in 1826. She made one voyage to Bombay under a license from the British East India Company (EIC) in 1828. She then made three voyages transporting convicts from Ireland and England to Australia. In August 1843 she was wrecked on her way with a cargo of coal from Shields to Aden.

King George was built on the Thames in 1783 as a West Indiaman. From 1817 she made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was condemned at Guayaquil in 1824 on her fifth.

Lotus was a ship launched at Whitby, England in 1826. She made several voyages to Australia carrying emigrants. She made one voyage transporting convicts to Van Diemen's Land. On that voyage, in 1833, she rescued 61 survivors from Hibernia, which a fire had destroyed in the South Atlantic as Hibenia was carrying immigrants to Van Diemen's Land. Lotus herself was lost in May 1844 while sailing between Bristol and Quebec.

Nimrod was launched late in 1821 at Calcutta. One report has her being sold in 1825; she did change her homeport to the United Kingdom. In 1832 her ownership and homeport changed to Sydney, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand Company ships</span>

The New Zealand Company was a 19th-century English company that played a key role in the colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principles of systematic colonisation devised by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of a new-model English society in the southern hemisphere. Under Wakefield's model, the colony would attract capitalists who would then have a ready supply of labour—migrant labourers who could not initially afford to be property owners, but who would have the expectation of one day buying land with their savings.

Admiral Cockburn was a ship launched in New York in 1808 or Philadelphia in 1809, almost certainly under a different name. The British captured the American ship in 1814 and she was sold as a prize. Corney & Co. purchased and renamed her; originally she served as a London-based transport. In 1829 she became a whaler in the southern whale fishery. She was wrecked at Muizenberg Beach, False Bay, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa in July 1839 while returning to London from her third whaling voyage.

Tam O'Shanter was a sailing ship built in 1829 in North Hylton. In 1830 she sailed to India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). Next, she was a West Indiaman, sailing to Bermuda and Jamaica. She then played a role in the founding of Adelaide in 1836. Tam O'Shanter ran aground in 1837 off Tasmania and was considered a write-off.

Adrian was launched in 1819 at Newcastle upon Tyne. She initially sailed between London and Canada but then in 1822 she started sailing east of the Cape of Good Hope under a license from the British East India Company. She made voyages to Bengal and Batavia. In between, she transported convicts to New South Wales. She foundered in 1833.

Harriet was a former vessel of the British Royal Navy, probably the Cruizer-class brig-sloop HMS Harrier. The Navy sold her in 1829 and her new owners deployed her as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. She made three complete whaling voyages and was wrecked in July 1837 during her fourth.

Lord Lyndoch was launched in 1814 at Calcutta. After she sailed to England she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). Between 1831 and 1841 she made five voyages transporting convicts to Australia, three to Hobart and two to Sydney. She became a transport and suffered a maritime incident in 1844. She was last listed in 1847.

Marquis/Marquess of Lansdown/Lansdowne was launched at Calcutta in 1824. She was initially a "country ship", trading east of the Cape of Good Hope. She then sailed to Port Jackson, but plans to establish a packet service between Australia and Calcutta, including taking tea from India to Australia under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC), did not work out. She then sailed to England and became a whaler, making four voyages to the British southern whale fishery between 1829 and 1845. She was last listed in 1847.

Doncaster was launched on the River Thames in 1825. Early in her career she carried emigrants to Australia. She made other voyages to Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales, but also traded as a West Indiaman. She was wrecked on 17 July 1836 on the coast of South Africa while sailing from Île de France (Mauritius) to London under a license from the British East India Company (EIC).

Egyptian was launched in 1825 at Shields. She began trading to India in 1827 under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). In 1830 and 1831 she brought immigrants to the Swan River Colony. In 1839 and 1840 she transported convicts from England or Ireland to Tasmania. She was wrecked on 20 October 1843 while sailing from England to Sierra Leone.