History | |
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Name | Black Joke |
Owner | George Austin, John Tomlinson, & John Knight |
Launched | 1720, [1] or 1743 [2] |
General characteristics | |
Tons burthen | 30, or 40 [2] (bm) |
Black Joke was a ship built in 1720 or 1743. She appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in the issue for 1764. [2] Between 1764 and 1767 she made three complete voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people.
Year | Master | Owner | Trade |
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1764 | Tobias Pollard | Knight & Co. | Gambia & Africa |
1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1764): Captain Joseph Pollard sailed from Liverpool on 5 March 1764, bound for the Gambia. Black Joke arrived in Dominica later that year with 90 captives. [3]
2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1765–1766): Captain Pollard sailed from Liverpool on 18 February 1765, bound for the Gambia. Black Joke arrived in South Carolina on 1 June with 90 captives. She arrived back at Liverpool on 16 January 1766. She had left Liverpool with 15 crew members and she had suffered eight crew deaths on her voyage. [4]
In 1765, Black Joke's master, possibly Thomas Marshall, flogged a 9-month-old baby. The baby was fretful and refused to eat. Captain Marshall then forced the baby's mother to throw her child overboard. [5]
3rd voyage transporting enslaved people (1766–1767): Captain Thomas Marshall sailed from Liverpool on 11 April 1766, and started acquiring captives at the Gambia in May. Black Joke arrived at Barbados on 8 October 1767 with 61 captives. She arrived back at Liverpool on 12 January 1767. [6]
Lord Ligonier was an 18th-century British slave ship built in New England that unloaded enslaved Africans in Annapolis, Maryland in 1767. The ship was made famous by Alex Haley's novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family, in which it brought his ancestor, Kunta Kinte, from The Gambia to the colonial United States.
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.
Hannah was built in Liverpool in 1795. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade of enslaved people. She was lost in 1801 as she was returning home after having delivered her captives on her fourth voyage.
Hannah was built at Liverpool in 1797. She made three voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then made one voyage as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. Next, she became a West Indiaman and was lost in 1811.
Windsor Castle was launched at Whitby in 1783. Initially she was primarily a West Indiaman. Then from 1797 she made five voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She foundered off Bermuda in 1803 after having disembarked her captives.
Angola was launched in 1799 at Lancaster. She became a Liverpool-based slave ship that had made four voyages in the triangular trade, carrying captives from West Africa to the West Indies. The French captured her in 1804 on her fifth voyage. Her captors renamed her Tigre, but the Royal Navy recaptured her late in 1804.
Goodrich was a schooner launched in Liverpool in 1799. Between 1799 and 1807, she made seven voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, two of them while being owned by Americans. After the Slave Trade Act 1807 ended the British slave trade she became a merchantman sailing from Guernsey. A French privateer captured her in July 1808.
Goodrich was a brig launched in Bermuda in 1793. She made three voyages between 1795 and 1799as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then became a general merchantman and was wrecked in 1808.
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.
Mentor was the former HMS Wasp. The British Royal Navy sold Wasp in 1781 and she became the mercantile Polly, which traded with Africa. In 1784 Polly became the slave ship Mentor. Mentor made eight full voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She carried captives from The Gambia to the West Indies. French privateers captured her in late 1795 as she was on her way from West Africa to the West Indies on her ninth voyage.
Amacree or Amachree, was launched in 1788 in Liverpool. She made ten voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade, carrying enslaved people from West Africa and primarily to Dominica. On her fourth such voyage, she and five other slave ships bombarded Calabar for more than three hours to force the local native traders to lower the prices they were charging for slaves. The last press mention of Amacree occurred in 1801.
Little Joe was launched in 1784 in Liverpool as a slave ship. She made six complete voyages from Liverpool in the Atlantic triangular slave trade in enslaved people. On her seventh voyage a French privateer captured her, but a British letter of marque recaptured her. She did not return to the slave trade and was last listed in 1795.
Liverpool Hero was built in France in 1777, probably as Jeune Emilia. She was taken in prize in 1780. In 1781 she entered into the triangular trade in enslaved people. From 1781 she made six complete voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship. On her fourth enslaving voyage she suffered an exceptionally high mortality rate among the captives she had embarked. Her third voyage had been marred by high mortality, but on the fourth 330 captives, 59% of the number she had embarked, died. She was lost in 1794 off the coast of Africa on her seventh voyage, probably with her crew and captives.
Princess Amelia was launched in 1798 at Liverpool. She made eight complete voyages as a Liverpool-based 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, that was lost in 1810.
Young Hero was launched at Liverpool in 1785. She made six complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her first and second voyages she sailed under an asiento, that permitted her owners to bring and sell captives in Spanish territories. She was seized and condemned in 1794 after having landed the captives from her seventh voyage.
Diligence or Diligent was launched in Spain in 1795 and came into British ownership as a French prize acquired in 1800. She became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made three complete voyages transporting captives. During her third voyage she captured three French vessels. She was wrecked in 1804 on her fourth journey before she had embarked any slaves.
Dart was launched at Plymouth in 1787. Dart initially traded with Newfoundland and then the Mediterranean. From 1797 she made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was condemned at Barbados in 1802 as she was returning to London after having delivered captives to Demerara.
True Briton was launched at Liverpool in 1775. She made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During the second of these voyages there was an unsuccessful insurrection by the captives she was carrying. Then in 1777–1778 she made another enslaving voyage, this time under the name John. On her return to Liverpool, she became the privateer Bellona, and succeeded in taking several prizes. Bellona then made three enslaving voyages. In 1786 her ownership changed, and so did her name. She became Lord Stanley, and under that name proceeded to make 11 more enslaving voyages. In 1794, at Havana, a deadly fever spread through the vessel, apparently after she had landed her captives. On her last voyage the captain acted with such brutality towards a black crew member that the man, who providentially survived, sued the captain when the vessel arrived at Liverpool and won substantial damages.
Aeolus was built in Liverpool. Between 1787 and 1806 she made 13 voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On one voyage she repelled an attack by a French privateer in a single ship action. She was last listed in 1808.
Doe was built in 1780, in the Thirteen Colonies, possibly under another name. She was taken in prize. Between 1783 and 1786 Doe made three complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. New owners in 1787 renamed Doe to Ellen. Ellen was registered in Liverpool in 1787. Between 1789 and 1792, she made two complete enslaving voyages. A French privateer captured her in 1793 as she was on her way to the West Indies having embarked captives in Africa on her sixth slaving voyage.