| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Betsey |
| Builder | Poole |
| Launched | 1801 |
| Fate | Wrecked February 1807 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 276 [1] (bm) |
| Complement | 35 |
| Armament | 18 × 6-pounder gns |
Betsey was launched at Pool in 1801. She made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. French privateers captured her on the second voyage but the British Royal Navy recaptured her. Afterwards she was briefly a West Indiaman. She was wrecked in February 1807.
1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1802–1803): Captain John McLean (or McLain) sailed from London on 24 February 1802. [2] In 1802, 155 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 30 of these vessels sailed from London. [3]
Betsey arrived at Kingston, Jamaica on 27 September 1802 with 273 captives. She arrived back at London on 3 February 1803. [2]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1804 | McLean | R.Miles Lumley | London–Africa | LR |
2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1804): Captain James MacDonald acquired a letter of marque on 5 July 1804. Ten days later he sailed for the Gold Coast, probably from London. [4] In 1804, 147 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 18 of these vessels sailed from London. [3]
On 22 February 1805, Betsey, M'Donald, master, was off Surinam when the French privateer Eagle captured her. HMS Beaulieu recaptured Betsey. [5]
By another account, Betsey joined up with Somerset, Neil, master, and Jason, Martin, master, on 20 February some 40 miles off the Surinam river. [lower-alpha 1] Somerset and Jason had sailed together from Madeira for mutual protection. Shortly after they came together, two French privateers came up, Fillebustiere, of fourteen 6 and 9-pounder guns and 100 men, and Aigle, of sixteen 9 and 12-pounder guns and 160 men. After an action of about an hour and a half, Betsey struck to Fillebustiere and Jason and Somerset struck to Aigle. Aigle then started to escort the prizes to Guadaloupe. While they were on their way, they encountered Beaulieu, which recaptured Betsey and Somerset and took them into Barbados, where the arrived on 3 March. [7] Readily accessible records make no mention of the disposition of the captives on Betsey
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1805 | M'Donald W.Auld | Lumley Dennison | London–Africa | LR |
| 1806 | W.Auld J.Fleck | Denniston | London–Africa | LR |
| 1807 | J.Fleck | Denniston | Greenock–St Lucia | LR |
Betsy, Fleck, master, was reported in February 1807 to have wrecked near Londonderry while on a voyage from the West Indies to the Clyde. [8]
Elizabeth was launched at Bermuda in 1786 or 1790. She first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR), in 1802. She then made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During the second of these voyages a French privateer captured her. After the end of British participation in the trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved people, she spent a little over a year as a hired armed tender under contract to the British Royal Navy. She returned to mercantile service trading with Madeira or Africa, until another French privateer captured her in early 1810.
Allison was launched in France in 1776, almost certainly under another name. The British captured her in 1795. Between 1796 and 1799 she made two whaling voyages to the British southern whale fishery. Then between 1799 and 1807 she made three voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Between the first and the second a French privateer captured her, but British letters of marque recaptured her. The British slave trade was abolished in 1807 and thereafter Allison traded primarily as a coaster. After about 1840 she began to trade to America and Africa. She was lost c.1846.
Otter was launched at Liverpool in 1797, initially as a West Indiaman. She made seven voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During her career she captured one merchantman and recaptured another. She was lost in 1807 on her way back to Britain from her seventh enslaving voyage.
Byam was a snow launched at Oban, or possibly Padstow, in 1800. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French captured and burnt her in late 1807 or early 1808 as she was about to deliver the captives from her fifth voyage.
Minerva was built in the Americas in 1791 and taken in prize from the Spanish. She made six voyages from London as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She is last listed in 1813 but with data stale since her last voyage transporting enslaved people in 1807.
Ariadne was built in 1795 at Newbury, Massachusetts, probably under another name. She in 1801 became a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made two voyages transporting enslaved people before a French, and later a Dutch privateer, captured her in 1804 while she was acquiring captives on her third voyage. However, a Liverpool-based vessel recaptured her. Then in 1806, a French privateer captured her and took her into Guadeloupe while Ariadne was on her fourth voyage transporting captives.
Horatio was launched in 1800 at Liverpool. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During two of these voyages 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' privateer captured her, but she returned to British hands. Between 1801 and 1808 she made four voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Afterwards, 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 from London as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was damaged and condemned at Jamaica in 1807 after having landed the captives from her fifth voyage.
Roe was launched in France in 1792, almost certainly under another name. The British captured her and between 1801 and 1808 she became a Liverpool based slave ship, making four voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. 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.
William Heathcote was launched in Liverpool in 1800. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Next, a French privateer captured her in a single-ship action, and the British Royal Navy recaptured her. She became a West Indiaman before she made an enslaving voyage, one of the last such legal voyages. zAfter British partiipation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade ended, she became a West Indiaman again; she sailed to Brazil and as a transport. She was wrecked in July 1816.
Westmoreland was launched on the Thames in 1791. She made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Between these voyages she cruized as a privateer for some months. She then traded between Britain and the Mediterranean. She was last listed in 1814.
Harriot was launched in Spain in 1794, almost surely under another name, and taken in prize in 1797. She made two voyages as a London-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Under new ownership, she then made three voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. A privateer captured her as she was returning from her third whale-hunting voyage but the British Royal Navy recaptured her. After her recapture she became a merchantman. The Spanish seized her in the Pacific; she was condemned at Lima, Peru in March-April 1809, as a smuggler.
Harriot was launched in Liverpool in 1786. For many years she was a West Indiaman, sailing between Liverpool and Barbados. In 1796 a French frigate captured her, but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. At the beginning of her of her first slave trading voyage a French privateer captured her, and again the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She made five slave trading voyages in all. Thereafter she traded with South America. She was last listed in 1814 with stale data.
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 in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made seven voyages transporting enslaved people. 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.
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 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.
Elizabeth was launched at Liverpool in 1798. She made five complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Spanish privateers captured her in 1805 while she was on her sixth voyage after she had embarked enslave people and took her into Montevideo.
William was launched in Spain in 1788, almost certainly under another name. She was taken in prize in 1797. William sailed as a West Indiaman until 1800 when new owners started to sail her as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made four complete voyages as a slave ship. A report of her fourth voyage provides insight into the decision making over the planning of the voyage. Spanish privateers captured her in 1805 on her fifth slave voyage.
Laurel's origins are ambiguous. She first appeared in online British sources in 1802. She made three voyages from Liverpool to Africa. On the first she apparently was on a trading voyage. The second was a complete voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During this voyage she was involved in two sanguinary engagements with French vessels, the second of which resulted in the death of her master. She set out in 1805 on a second voyage to transport enslaved people, but a French squadron captured her before she had embarked any captives.