| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Builder | Stockton |
| Launched | 1812 |
| Fate | Wrecked 8 May 1834 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tons burthen | 27274⁄94, or 273 (bm) |
| Length | 94 ft 0 in (28.7 m) |
| Beam | 25 ft 8 in (7.8 m) |
| Depth | 16 ft 1 in (4.9 m) |
Astrea was launched at Stockton in 1812. She served as a transport for the British government until about 1819. Thereafter she traded with the Baltic, the Caribbean, and Quebec. She was wrecked, with great loss of life, on 8 May 1834 while carrying migrants to Quebec.
Astrea first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1812. [2]
Although Astrea is listed among vessels sailing east of the Cape of Good Hope under a licence from the British East India Company, [1] there is no evidence that she ever did so. Also the same source has her being lost near the Cape of Good Hope, which is incorrect.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1812 | Grayham | Grayham | London | LR |
| 1818 | J.Wilson | Grayham | London transport London–CGH | LR |
| 1819 | J.Wilson | Grayham | London–CGH London–Jamaica | LR |
| 1821 | J.Wilson | Grayham | London–Virginia | LR |
| 1822 | J.Wilson Sanderson | Grayham | London–Petersburg | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1824 | Sanderson | T.Old | London–Petersburg London–Quebec | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1826 | Sanderson | T.Old | London–Riga | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1827 | Sanderson | T.Old | London–Bermuda | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1828 | Sanderson Head | T.Old | London–Bermuda | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1829 | Head | T.Old | London–Saint Lucia | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1830 | Head Ridley | T.Old | Belfast–Saint Lucia | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1831 | Ridley | Ridley | London–Elsinor | LR; damages repaired 1822 and small repair 1831 |
| 1832 | W.Ridley | Ridley | London–Quebec | LR; damages repaired 1822 and small repair 1831 |
| 1833 | Kidley Ridley | Ridley & Co. | London–Bermuda London–Quebec | Register of Shipping; large repair 1831 |
On 8 May 1834 Astrea, Ridley, master, was wrecked 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) east of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia. Astrea was on a voyage from Limerick to Quebec City. [3] [4]
She was carrying 13 crew members and 211 passengers, consisting on 104 adult males, mostly farmers and agricultural labourers from Limerick, Clare, and Tipperary, and their wives and children. The three survivors consisted of her surgeon, who was emigrating to Canada, and two crew members. [5]
Not all the bodies were recovered, and the people on shore were to few to bury properly all that they found. The loss of Astrea, and a few days later, of Fidelity, a few days later, resulted in 1834 in assistance being provided for ship-wrecked marinners, and the construction in 1839 of lighthouses at St. Paul's Island and Scatari. [6]
Edward Lombe was a merchantman and passenger three-masted barque built in 1828 by Thomas Brodrick, of Whitby, England.
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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.
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Several ships have borne the name Caledonia for Caledonia:
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Concord was launched at Dartmouth in 1807. From then until 1809 she traded widely. Between 1809 and 1812 two different histories emerged. The registers carried her as trading with North America. Other sources, however, have her sailing to the British Southern Whale Fishery as a sealer or whaler. She made three voyages between 1809 and 1816 in this capacity and then returned to trading. She was wrecked at the Cape of Good Hope in November 1816.
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Adriatic was built at Sunderland in 1810. She sailed to the West Indies and the Cape of Good Hope. There is no evidence that she sailed to India. She was wrecked at the Cape in 1822.
Sir Francis N. Burton was launched in 1825 at Quebec. She was wrecked on 5 December 1826 on a voyage for the British East India Company (EIC).
Security was launched at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in 1824. She sailed to England and then traded with Australia and India. She was wrecked in December 1827.
Venus was built in Mauritius in 1807. She spent most of her career sailing between London and the Cape of Good Hope (CGH). She also sailed to Mauritius, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). She wrecked in July 1826 while sailing from Sydney to Singapore.
Lady Ridley was launched in 1813 at Blyth as a West Indiaman. She transported convicts in 1821 to Van Diemen's Land. She also sailed to India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She was wrecked on 11 November 1831.
Elizabeth was launched at Hamburg in 1798. British owners purchased her in 1813 as a West Indiaman. She traded with the Mediterranean and elsewhere. She was at the Cape of Good Hope in November 1817 when a group of convicts and army deserters took possession of her. They ran her onshore a few days later, wrecking her.
Emperor Alexander was launched in 1813 at Chepstow. Relatively early in her career she made two voyages to India and the East Indies under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she became a West Indiaman, and also sailed to South America, North America, and the Baltic. She carried immigrants to Quebec and transported convicts to Tasmania. She was condemned in 1835 following damage at sea on her way to the Cape and India.
Olive Branch was launched in 1818 at Cowes. She was one of several vessels that a gale wrecked at the Cape of Good Hope, on 21 July 1822. She returned to service and on some or more of her voyages to the Cape she sailed to Mauritius under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). She burnt in November 1843 while sailing between Quebec and London.
Resource was launched in Calcutta in 1804 as a country ship; that is, she traded out of India but only east of the Cape of Good Hope. In 1807 the French captured her, but she returned to British ownership. She participated as a transport in the British invasion of Java. After 1813 she traded between Britain and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). From about the mid-1830s she traded primarily between Britain and Australia, and in 1839 she transported immigrants to South Australia. In 1843 she started sailing between Britain and Quebec until December 1846 when her crew had to abandon her at sea while on a voyage back to Britain from Quebec.
Hussaren's origins are obscure. She was taken in prize in 1805, probably as Houseren, and renamed to Hussaren in 1808. She was wrecked in 1828.