History | |
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Name | Albion |
Namesake | Albion— an archaic name for Great Britain |
Owner |
|
Builder | George Hilhouse & Sons |
Launched | 14 April 1813, Bristol |
Fate | Last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1851 |
General characteristics | |
Tons burthen | 425, [1] 435, [2] 479, [3] or 480, [4] or 48462⁄94, [5] [6] or 486, or 488, or 500 [7] (sources differ) (bm) |
Length | 125 ft 6 in (38.3 m), [6] or 123 ft 11 in (37.8 m) [3] |
Beam | 29 ft 3 in (8.9 m) |
Propulsion | Sail |
Complement | 35 & 44 [4] |
Albion was a sailing ship of two decks and three masts, built at Bristol, England, and launched in 1813. She made three voyages transporting convicts to Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales. She also traded with Jamaica, India, and Quebec. For two of the voyages to India she was an "extra" ship (i.e. under charter) to the British East India Company (EIC).
Initially, Albion traded with Jamaica under the command of Captain William Buckham. [2]
In 1813 the British East India Company (EIC) had lost its monopoly on the trade between India and Britain. British ships were then free to sail to India or the Indian Ocean under a licence from the EIC. [8] Her owners applied for a licence on 22 September 1815 and received it the next day. [5]
Then on 3 November 1815, Albion, Fisher, master, sailed to India, [1] or more precisely, Madras and Bengal, under a license from the EIC. [7]
Between August 1817 and 20 October 1818 Albion, Buckham, master, sailed from Bristol to Calcutta and back. This the first voyage to Calcutta from Bristol by any vessel. Her return leg took 167 days, including six days at Cape Town. [6]
In 1820 Samuel Grainger (or Granger) purchased Albion. On 16 February 1821 he chartered her to the EIC at a rate of £8 11s per ton for 479 tons for one voyage to Bengal and back. [9] Under the command of Captain Charles Weller she left the City Canal on 17 April 1821. She spent 20 days in the Downs before sailing for Madras and Bengal. She reached Madras on 16 September and arrived at Calcutta on 11 November. Homeward-bound, she was at Kedgeree on 14 January 1822 and at Madras on 3 February. She reached St Helena on 1 July and arrived at Blackwall on 1 September. [4]
On her first convict voyage, under the command of William Rayner Best, she departed Spithead, England on 20 May 1823 and arrived at Hobart Town on 21 October 1823. [10] She transported 202 male convicts, but off-loaded two convicts at Cape of Good Hope; no convicts died on the voyage. [11] One of her convicts was the serial killer, cannibal, and bushranger Thomas Jeffries. Albion left Hobart Town and arrived at Sydney in December 1823. Albion was blown ashore at Port Louis, Mauritius, on 23 February 1824 with the loss of her masts, but she was able to heave off. [12] [13] [14]
At some point Charles Weller purchased Albion. Her third voyage to India, and second for the EIC, took place between 8 June 1825 and 23 June 1826. [6] Charles Weller chartered her to the EIC on 30 March 1825 at a rate of £12 19s per ton for 479 tons for a voyage to Bengal and back. [15] Captain Charles Weller sailed from West India Dock on 2 May 1825, bound for Bengal. She was at the Down on 8 June, and reached Calcutta on 21 October. Homeward-bound, she was at Kedgeree on 24 December and Madras on 11 January 1826. She reached St Helena on 8 April and arrived at East India Dock on 23 June. [4]
Albion departed Plymouth, England on her second convict voyage, under the command of James Ralph on 4 October 1826, and arrived in Sydney on 14 February 1827. [16] She carried 192 male convicts; no convicts died on the voyage. [17] She left Sydney on 3 June 1826 for Batavia. [18]
On her third convict voyage, Albion was again under the command of James Ralph. She departed Sheerness, England on 1 June 1828 and arrived in Sydney on 3 November 1828. [19] She transported 192 male convicts to Sydney; four convicts died during the voyage. [20] She left Sydney on 1 January 1829 for London via Madras. [21]
In 1832 Brass & Co., London, purchased Albion and placed her on a regular run to Quebec and the United States. [3]
Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source and notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1832 | T.Brown G.Thomas | Brass & Co. | Cork–Quebec | LR; some repairs1825, 1828, & 1831, and new wales and large repair 1831 |
1839 | G.Thomas Johnson | Brass & Co. Lidgett | Bristol–America London–Quebec | LR; damages repaired 1836 |
Albion ran ashore at Great Yarmouth on 24 January 1840 while on a voyage from Quebec City to Great Yarmouth. She was gotten off on the next day and brought into the roads. [22]
In 1840 John Lidgett & Co., London, purchased Albion for general trade. [3]
Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source and notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1840 | Smith | Lidgett & co | London–Quebec London | LR; damages repaired 1836 & 1840, & some repairs 1841 |
1845 | Murwick | Lidgett & co. | London–Cape of Good Hope London–Quebec | LR; damages repaired 1840 & small repairs 1841 |
1850 | Lidgett & Co. | London | Lloyd's Register; small repairs in 1841 & 1849 | |
1851 | Lidgett & Co. | Lloyd's Register | ||
Albion was last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1851. [6]
Bengal Merchant was a sailing ship built of teak in Bengal and launched there on 26 May 1812. Between 1812 and 1829, Bengal Merchant was in private trade as a licensed ship. She served the East India Company (EIC) in 1813 and from 1830 till 1834. She also twice transported convicts from Britain to Australia before she was hulked in 1856.
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.
Henry Porcher was launched in 1817 at Bristol, England. Between 1818 and 1831 she made three voyages to India for the British East India Company (EIC). On the second she first transported convicts to Sydney, New South Wales. Between these voyages for the EIC Henry Porcher traded privately to India as a licensed ship. She made two further voyages as a convict transport, one to Sydney in 1834–35, and one to Hobart in 1836. She grounded in 1858 and was broken up in 1860.
Asia was a merchant ship launched at Calcutta in 1815 for Charles Hackett. She made four voyages transporting convicts from Great Britain to Australia, and between 1826 and 1830, two voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). She was hulked or broken up c.1860.
Royal George was a 486-ton merchant ship built at Hull, England in 1820. Between 1823-4, she undertook one voyage for the British East India Company. Later, she made two voyages transporting convicts from England to Australia.
Castle Forbes was a merchant ship built by Robert Gibbon & Sons at Aberdeen, Scotland in 1818. She was the first vessel built at Aberdeen for the trade with India. She then made several voyages to India, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland to Australia. She sustained damage in 1826 on a voyage to India and was condemned at the Cape of Good Hope. However, she was repaired. She was last listed in 1832, and in 1838 in Lloyd's Register (LR).
Elizabeth was a merchant ship built at Chepstow, Wales in 1809. She made three voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. Elizabeth is no longer listed after 1832 and may have been lost in 1831.
Ann and Amelia was launched in 1816 at Chittagong. She was sold at Calcutta in August 1823 for a "Free Trader". She transported convicts from Britain to Port Jackson, New South Wales, in 1825. She then made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) and was lost in gale on the coast of France in 1835 as she was finishing her third voyage.
Ocean was launched in 1802 at Quebec. She made five voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC) between 1804 and 1814. Her owners then sold her and she continued to sail between Britain and India under a license issued by the EIC. In 1815–1816 she made one voyage transporting convicts to Australia. She was last listed in 1825.
Woodford was launched at Bristol in 1819. She made one voyage as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). She also made two voyages transporting convicts from England to Van Diemen's Land. She sank in February 1829 off Madagascar.
Larkins made ten voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), all as an "extra ship", i.e. under contract. On two of these voyages she first transported convicts to Australia. She also made one convict voyage independently of the EIC. She traded extensively between England and India or China, and in this twice suffered serious but not fatal maritime mishaps. In 1853 she became a coal hulk at Albany, Western Australia, and remained there until she was broken up in 1876.
Susan was launched at Calcutta in 1813. She initially traded in the East Indies as a country ship, and with Britain under license from the British East India Company (EIC). Between 1829 and 1831 she made two voyages for the EIC. Then between 1834 and 1836 she made four voyages transporting convicts, two to New South Wales, and two to Tasmania. She foundered in 1846 as she was sailing between London and the Cape of Good Hope.
Barrosa was launched in 1811 at Cossipore. She sailed to England and then made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC); during this period she also made one voyage carrying immigrants to South Africa. After the EIC gave up its maritime activities in 1833-1834, Barossa became a transport. She made three voyages transporting convicts to Australia. She was lost in 1847, without loss of life, while transporting contract labourers from Madras to Jamaica.
Coromandel was launched on the Thames in 1820. Notable voyages include two for the British East India Company, and one transporting convicts to Tasmania. For the first 15 years of her career she primarily sailed to India. Thereafter, she primarily sailed to Australia and New Zealand. She was broken up in 1857.
Lady Kennaway was launched in Calcutta in 1816. In 1819 and thereafter she sailed between England and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). In 1823 she was sold in London. She made three voyages under charter to the EIC. In 1835 and again in 1851 she made voyages transporting convicts to Tasmania. On one voyage some of the convicts were young men for the Pankhurst apprentice scheme. In between, in 1836, she transported convicts to New South Wales. She made five voyages carrying immigrants to Australia, including young Irish women for the Earl Grey Irish Famine Orphan scheme. In 1847 her crew abandoned her in the Bay of Biscay although she seemed to have sustained little damage; she was salvaged and returned to service. She was finally wrecked on 25 November 1857 at South Africa.
Cornwall was launched at Calcutta in 1810. She participated as a transport in two military campaigns more than 40 years apart. In between, she made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), carried assisted immigrants from England to Sydney, and transported convicts to Tasmania. She was wrecked at Mauritius in July 1858.
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.
Woodman was launched at Gainsborough in 1808. She traded with northern Spain and then became a West Indiaman, and later a government transport. From 1816 on she made several voyages to India and South East Asia, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). She also made two voyages transporting convicts, one to New South Wales (NSW) in 1823 and one to Van Diemen's Land in 1825. She was lost in 1836.
Layton was launched in 1814 at Lancaster, possibly as a West Indiaman. She twice sailed to India under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC), once as a troopship. The EIC later chartered Layton three times for single voyages to India and Java. She made four voyages transporting convicts to Australia. She also made two voyages carrying emigrants from the United Kingdom to New South Wales. She was lost in 1847.
William Miles was launched at Bristol in 1808 as a West Indiaman. For 20 years she was the largest vessel built in the port. In 1817 a new owner started sailing her to India, sailing under a licence from the East India Company (EIC). In 1828 she made a voyage transporting convicts to Van Diemen's Land. Thereafter she traded with Sierra Leone, Louisiana, and possibly other ports as well. She was broken up in 1846.
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