History | |
---|---|
Great Britain | |
Name | Amity Hall |
Owner | G. Tarbutt |
Builder | River Thames |
Launched | 1789 |
Fate | Wrecked 1794 |
General characteristics | |
Tons burthen | 316 [1] (bm) |
Propulsion | Sail |
Amity Hall was a ship launched on the River Thames in 1789. She was a West Indiaman of little note until 1793 when she struck the slave ship Albion, leading Albion's crew to abandon her. This gave rise to an important court case in which the judge ruled that Amity Hall's owners were responsible for her captain's actions and so liable for the loss of Albion. Amity Hall herself was wrecked the next year.
Amity Hall first appears in Lloyd's Register in 1789 with G. Young, master, G. Tarbutt, owner, and trade London–Jamaica. [1] Amity Hall was probably named for Amity Hall plantation, an important sugar estate in Vere Parish, Jamaica. The ship herself was at least the second vessel by that name that Tarbutt had owned. Young had been captain of the previous Amity Hall when she was lost in 1788.
Amity Hall made three voyages to London. The dates of her arrival in London are: [2]
Master | Arrival at London | Cleared London | Source |
---|---|---|---|
G. Young | 30 June 1790 | 26 July 1790 | Reports..., p.409. |
G. Young | 13 July 1791 | 3 August 1791 | Reports..., p.411. |
G. Young | 28 July 1792 | 23 August 1792 | Reports..., p.413. |
In 1793 Amity Hall's master was still G. Young and her owner was still G. Tarbutt. [3]
On 26 June 1793 Amity Hall sailed from Bluefields, Jamaica, with the Jamaica fleet returning to England and under escort by the frigate HMS Proserpine, the sloops Fly and Serpent, and the troop transport Europa. Another vessel in the convoy was Albion, Mentor, master, which was on the return leg to England from bringing slaves to Jamaica from Africa, and which was now carrying 600 hogsheads of sugar. On 4 July a gale forced Amity Hall away from the fleet, but she sighted it on 5 July. [4]
As Amity Hall was rejoining the fleet on 6 July she collided with Albion. [4] The collision took place off Cape San Antonio, Cuba. [5] [6] [7] Amity Hall rescued Albion's master and crew, who abandoned Albion. [lower-alpha 1]
Amity Hall arrived at London on 12 August and cleared on 10 October. [8]
Albion's owners sued the owners of Amity Hall, arguing that the accident was the consequence of Amity Hall not following the sailing instructions for the fleet that Commodore Alms, of Proserpine, had issued. The Court found for Albion's owners. [4] The case still appeared in a book of ruling cases over 100 years later. [9]
The Royal Gazette, Kingston Jamaica, mentioned on 19 July 1794 that Amity Hall, Blackburn, had a few days earlier drifted on to rocks when the wind failed as she was sailing out of Manchioneal harbour. The newspaper reported that it was feared that Amity Hall and her cargo would be lost. Lloyd's List later reported that she had been lost on 10 July. [10]
Surprize was a three-deck merchant vessel launched in 1780 that made five voyages as a packet ship under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). The fourth of which was subsequent to her participating in the notorious Second Fleet transporting convicts to Port Jackson (EIC). Her fifth voyage for the EIC was subsequent to her second voyage transporting convicts to Australia. In 1799 a French frigate captured her in the Bay of Bengal.
HMS Squirrel was a Royal Navy sixth rate post ship, built in 1755. She served during the French and Indian War, most notably at Louisbourg and Quebec, and the American Revolution, during which she captured two French privateers. The Royal Navy sold her in 1783. J. Montgomery purchased her and she became the Greenland whaler Union. Then in 1790–91 she became a slaver, making five slave-trading voyages. Between 1796 and 1802 she made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then traded between London and Liverpool. She was last listed in 1804.
HMS Proserpine was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1777 was wrecked in February 1799.
Kitty was a merchantman built at Sunderland in 1787. In 1790 she carried slaves from the Gold Coast to Jamaica. Then in 1791 she transported convicts and goods from England to Australia. She was last listed in 1805.
Boddington, sometimes referred to as Boddingtons, was a merchant ship launched in 1781 on the River Thames. For the first decade of her career she sailed as a West Indiaman. She made one voyage in 1792 transporting convicts from Ireland to Australia. For her return trip she also made one voyage for the East India Company from Asia to Britain. She wrecked in 1805 on the Thames River.
Albion was a full-rigged whaler built at Deptford, England, and launched in 1798. She made five whaling voyages to the seas around New South Wales and New Zealand. The government chartered her in 1803 to transport stores and cattle, to Risdon Cove on the River Derwent, Tasmania.
Perseus was a sailing ship built in 1799 at Stockton-on-Tees, England. She made one voyage transporting convicts to New South Wales, returning to England via Canton. In 1803-1804 she served as an "armed defense ship". Thereafter she served as a transport. She is last listed in 1844.
London Packet was a merchant vessel launched on the Thames in 1791. She served the Royal Navy as a Hired armed ship from 31 March 1793 to at least 30 September 1800, and despite some records, apparently for a year or more beyond that. She then returned to sailing as a merchant man until an American privateer captured her in May 1814.
Tobago was a ship launched in 1790. She came into British hands in 1793 and was probably a prize taken immediately after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in early 1793. She traded with Tobago for several years before new owners purchased her for whaling. She made two whaling voyages to the East Coast of Africa before her owners sold her to new owners. She then made two voyages as a slave ship. She was abandoned or condemned in 1802.
Golden Grove was launched at Teighmouth in 1786 as a West Indiaman, and apparently immediately sailed to the West Indies. She first entered Lloyd's Registry in 1793 with Tobagonian ownership. She then became a London-based West Indiaman. A Spanish privateer captured her in 1805, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her within months. She then returned to the West Indian trade. After 1810 she apparently started sailing between London and Dublin. In 1817 she grounded but was gotten off. She apparently was lost c.1821.
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.
Albion was launched at Liverpool in 1783. She made two voyages as a slave ship before she was sold to a Bristol merchant. She then made two more voyages as slave ship. In 1793 as she was on the homeward-bound leg of her fourth voyage a vessel ran into her and Albion's crew abandoned her. She then drifted to Salem, Massachusetts, where she was recovered. She was sold in Boston.
Duckenfield was launched in 1792 on the Thames. She was primarily a West Indiaman but between 1803 and 1805 she served the Royal Navy as an armed defense ship. She was last listed in 1819.
HMS Inspector was launched in 1801 at Mistley as the mercantile Amity. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1803 and laid her up in 1808 before selling her in 1810. She then returned to mercantile service. Between 1818 and 1825 she made four voyages as a whaler. She returned to mercantile service and was last listed in 1833 as being at Falmouth.
Lord Forbes was launched at Chester in 1803 as a West Indiaman. She soon became an "armed defense ship", but by 1805 had returned to being a West Indiaman. She made two voyages as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). She continued trading with India until 1817 when she sustained damage on her way to Bengal. There she was surveyed, condemned and sold.
Cambridge was launched at Whitby in 1797. She traded with New York, and then with Jamaica. In 1805 a French privateer captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her shortly thereafter and she returned to her trade as a West Indiaman. In 1810 she sustained damage while sailing from Jamaica to Liverpool and was condemned at Havana.
Hercules was launched at the Province of Georgia in 1777. She appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1782 as a West Indiaman. From 1786 she made three voyages as a slave ship. She was lost as she was returning to England after having delivered her slaves at Jamaica.
Ceres was launched at Kolkata in August 1793 as Lutchmy and renamed in 1794. She sailed to England in 1798 and became a West Indiaman. She was condemned at Barbados in 1806. New owners returned her to service, first as a West Indiaman and then as an East Indiaman. She was damaged at Mauritius in 1818 and although she was listed until 1824, it is not clear that she sailed again after the damage she sustained in Mauritius.
Duchess of Portland was launched at Bristol in 1783. She was primarily a West Indiaman but made one voyage as a slave ship and two as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. The US Navy captured her in 1812 and burnt her.
Rosina was launched at Hull in 1803. She almost immediately became a hired armed ship for the British Royal Navy for about a year. After she returned to her owners she became a West Indiaman and then a transport. She was last listed in 1818.