Career
Bedford first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1803. [2]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|
| 1803 | Lane | Ramsden | London–Africa | LR |
|
1st slave voyage (1803–1804): Captain William Beamish Lane (or Lain) sailed from London on 4 May 1803. By 19 June Bedford was at Cape Coast Castle. Captain Lane acquired a letter of marque on 29 September. [3] Bedford gathered slaves at the Congo River and then sailed for the West Indies. [1] She stopped at Barbados and then sailed for Demerara. While she was still to windward of Barbados, three privateers chased her. In an engagement that lasted half-an-hour she repelled one that carried eight guns, though she herself carried only four 5-pounder guns. [4] From Demerara she arrived with 221 slaves at Kingston, Jamaica on 28 November 1804. She sailed from Kingston on 30 April and arrived back at London on 26 May. [1]
2nd slave voyage (1804–1805): Captain Lane acquired a letter of marque on 21 August 1804. [3] He sailed from London on 2 September. Bedford acquired her slaves in West Africa. She stopped at Surinam and arrived at Kingston on 6 May 1804 with 224 slaves. She arrived back in London on 6 December 1805. She may have suffered a slave insurrection either in Africa or during her voyage to the West Indies. [5] On her return Lane reported that he had seen two French privateers capture Jack Park.
3rd slave voyage (1806–1808): Captain Gilbert Wenman acquired a letter of marque on 25 June 1806. [3] He sailed from London on 7 July. Bedford began acquiring slaves at Cape Coast Castle on 4 December. She arrived at Jamaica on 30 April 1807 with 233 slaves. She sailed from 4 October and arrived back at London 6 January 1806. [6]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|
| 1808 | G.Winman
Demyss | Ramsden
Lumley | Liverpool–Africa | LR |
|
| 1809 | Demyss | Lamplogh | London–Cadiz | Register of Shipping (RS); large repair 1808 |
| 1814 | Demyss | Lumley | Liverpool–Africa | LR damages repaired 1808 |
|
Esther was launched in 1783 and entered British hands as a French prize of 1793. She took part in a notable single-ship action in 1794 in which she repelled a French privateer. Between 1801 and 1805 she made four slave trading voyages. A French privateer captured her in a sanguinary single-ship action in 1805.
Minerva was launched in 1795 at Lancaster as a West Indiaman. In 1801 she was captured but immediately recaptured. Between 1802 and 1808 she made five voyages as a slave ship. She was last listed in 1816.
Ariadne was built in 1795 at Newbury, Massachusetts. She became a Liverpool-based slave ship in 1801. A French or Dutch privateer captured her in 1804, but a Liverpool-based vessel had recaptured her. Then in 1806 a French privateer captured her and took her into Guadeloupe.
Horatio was launched in 1800 at Liverpool. She made four voyages as a slave ship, during two of which she was captured and recaptured. Shortly before the British slave trade ended she left the slave trade and sailed between Britain and South America and as a West Indiaman. She was wrecked in 1817.
Aurora was launched at Chester in 1793 as a West Indiaman. During her career first the French (twice) and then the United States captured her, but she returned to British hands. Between 1801 and 1808 she made four voyages as a slave ship. She continued to trade widely until 1831.
Aurora was launched at Philadelphia in 1779. She did not appear in British registers until 1800. She then made five voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was damaged and condemned at Jamaica in 1807 after having landed her slaves from her fifth voyage.
Vanguard was launched in Liverpool in 1799. She made four voyages as a slave ship. After the outlawing of the British slave trade she became a West Indiaman. A French privateer captured her in March 1809.
Roe was launched in France in 1792, almost certainly under another name. The British captured her and between 1801 and 1808 she became a slave ship, making four voyages out of Liverpool. After the end of the British slave trade Roe traded with Brazil. The Americans captured her in 1812 but she was quickly recaptured. She was wrecked in November 1814.
Bolton was launched at Liverpool in 1792. She then made 10 voyages as a slave ship. During her career she repelled one attack by a French privateer, was captured on a later voyage by another before being recaptured by the Royal Navy, and then was captured on her tenth voyage by yet another privateer after Bolton had gathered her slaves but before she was able to deliver them to the West Indies.
Alexander was launched in France or Spain in 1797, probably under another name, and taken in prize circa 1799, when she was lengthened and raised. She was registered at Liverpool in 1801 and proceeded to make six voyages as a slave ship. She then sailed to Brazil and the West Indies and was last listed in 1809.
Westmoreland was launched in Yarmouth in 1783. Between 1800 and 1804 she made two voyages as a slave ship. A French privateer captured her during her second voyage but the Royal Navy recaptured her and she completed her voyage. The registers continued to carry her for a few years but with stale data; she actually made a voyage in 1805 to Demerara. On her way a privateer captured her.
Harriot was launched at Broadstairs in 1803. She made four voyages as a Guineaman between 1804 and 1807. Following the prohibition in 1807 on British vessels participating in the trans-Atlantic slave trade Harriet became a West Indiaman. A French privateer captured Harriet as Harriet was returning to England from Port au Prince in April 1809.
Thames was launched at Southampton in 1790. Until 1798 she sailed across the Atlantic, trading primarily with The Bahamas. She then became a slave ship, making seven slave trading voyages. After the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807, Thames returned to trading with the West Indies. A French privateer captured Thames on 17 July 1811 and burnt her.
John was launched in France in 1793, almost certainly under another name, and was taken in prize. She started trading as a West Indiaman, but then became a slave ship, making six complete voyages. She was lost in late 1806 on her seventh voyage. The slaves she was carrying were landed safely.
Columbus was launched at Southampton in 1793. At first she was a West Indiaman. Then from 1799 on she made six complete voyages as a slave ship, and was condemned at Barbados in 1807 after she had delivered her slaves on her seventh voyage.
Thetis was launched in 1801 at Lancaster as a West Indiaman. Between 1806 and 1808 she made two complete voyages as a slave ship. With the end of the slave trade, thetis returned to trading, first with the West Indies and then with Bahia. She was wrecked in December 1815 near Sunderland.
Beaver was launched in 1796 at Liverpool. She made seven complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. She was captured and retaken once, in 1804, and captured a second time in 1807, during her eighth voyage.
Active was built in Bristol in 1799. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons, and then two voyages trading between Bristol and Africa. A French privateer captured her but a Guernsey privateer recaptured her. She then became a West Indiaman. On 16 and 17 July 1808 she repelled a Spanish and a French privateer in two separate single-ship actions. In 1809 she underwent a maritime mishap. She was last listed in 1819.
Active was built in Chester in 1781. Initially, she traded with the Baltic and North America. From 1798 she made four complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. A privateer captured her on 1 September 1805 during her fifth slave voyage, after she had embarked her slaves, and took her into the River Plate.
Princess Amelia was launched in 1798 at Liverpool. She made eight complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. After the end of British participation in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, she became a merchantman. She was probably the Princess Amelia, from Liverpool, lost in 1810.
United Kingdom