Career
Brilliant first appeared in the supplementary pages in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1812. [1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|
| 1812 | Davenport | Mawman. | London–Gibraltar | LR |
| 1814 | Davenport
Colson | Mawman. | London–Lisbon | LR |
|
In December 1814 Lloyd's List reported that the frigate HMS Hyperion had found Brilliant, Davenport, master, which had been sailing from Maranham to Liverpool, abandoned at sea with her masts and sails alongside. [2]
Between 5 and 22 December 1813, the French frigates Circé, capitaine de vaisseau Collinet, and Pallas, capitaine de vaisseau Caillabet, captured 10 British merchantmen. The French burnt eight, that is, all but Brilliant, Davenport, master, and Duck, Silly, master. They removed Brilliant's crew and abandoned her at sea; Hyperion brought her into Plymouth. The French put all their prisoners on Duck and released her. She arrived at the Isle of Scilly on 4 January 1814. [3]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|
| 1816 | Colson | Mawman. | London–"Const." | LR |
| 1818 | Colson | Mawman. | Liverpool–Brazils
London–St Lucie | LR; thorough repair 1817 |
| 1819 | Colson
Clark | Mawman | London–Berbice | LR; thorough repair 1817 |
| 1824 | Clark
Major | Mawman | London–Seville | LR; thorough repair 1817 |
| 1833 | T.Major | Mawman | London–St Lucie | LR; thorough repair 1825 |
| 1834 | A.Hopton
Youens | Wooster | London–Newcastle | LR; lengthened |
| 1839 | Robinson | Aisbit & Co. | London–Newcastle | LR; lengthened, & large repair 1837 |
| 1840 | Robinson | Aisbit & Co. | London–Newcastle | LR; lengthened, & large repair 1837 |
|
After her ownership changed from Wooster to Aisbit, Brilliant's homeport became Shields.
Sir John Sherbrooke was a successful and famous Nova Scotian privateer brig during the War of 1812, the largest privateer from Atlantic Canada during the war. In addition to preying on American merchant ships, she also defended Nova Scotian waters during the war. After her conversion to a merchantman she fell prey to an American privateer in 1814. She was burnt to prevent her reuse.
William and Ann was built at a King's Yard in 1759, under another name. From 1786 until 1791 she was a whaler in the Northern Whale Fishery. In 1791 she transported convicts to New South Wales and then began whale hunting around New Zealand; she returned to England in 1793. Circa 1801 she again became a Northern Whale Fishery whaler, sailing from Leith. She continued whaling until 1839. She then began trading widely, to Bahia, Bombay, Archangel, Spain, Honduras, and the Mediterranean. She was last listed in 1857, having been in service for over 90 years.
Fortune, also known as La Fortune, was a sailing ship built in Spain. She was taken in prize in 1804. New owners renamed her and she entered British registers in 1805–6. She twice transported convicts from Britain to New South Wales. She was lost c. 1814 on her way to China from Australia.
Swiftsure was built in 1811 in France as Inconstant. In 1813 British owners purchased her and renamed her. An American privateer captured her in 1814 but she was quickly recaptured. Swiftsure was wrecked off the coast of Queensland in 1831.
HMS Atalante was an 18-cannon sloop-of-war launched in 1808 in Bermuda. She was wrecked on 10 November 1813 because of fog off Halifax, Nova Scotia.
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.
Bellona was a three-decker merchantman launched at Calcutta in 1796. In 1799 she sailed to Great Britain and was admitted to the Registry of Great Britain in 1800. A French frigate captured her in 1801.
Several vessels have been named Brilliant:
Benson was launched in 1794 in Liverpool as a West Indiaman. She sailed under a letter of marque and in December 1798 engaged in a notable single-ship action in which she repelled an attack by a French naval corvette of superior force. Benson was wrecked on 23 March 1811.
Clarendon was built in 1807 at Whitehaven. Between 1808 or so and 1813 she sailed as a West Indiaman between London and Jamaica. In 1814 she sailed for Batavia under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). The privateer Young Wasp captured Clarendon off the Cape of Good Hope, on 6 January 1815, and she arrived at Baltimore on 15 April.
Duck was launched in Boston in 1804, presumably under another name. She was taken in prize in 1812 and became a British merchantman. She spent much of her career sailing between Britain and Newfoundland. In 1813 French frigates captured her, but released her. She was wrecked on 15 October 1829.
Tamerlane was launched in New Brunswick in 1824. She transferred her registry to Liverpool. She sailed between Scotland and Canada and then in 1828 sailed to India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). After two voyages to India she returned to trading in the Western hemisphere. Her crew abandoned her in the Channel on 26 February 1848.
Tartar was launched in France in 1802, or Spain in 1805, almost certainly under another name. In 1806 she sailed under the flag of the United Kingdom on a voyage as a slave ship from Liverpool. On her return she started trading between Liverpool and Brazil and Africa. A French frigate captured her in 1813, but then released her. She was wrecked early in 1815.
Tartar was launched in France in 1807, almost surely under another name. She was captured circa 1811 and traded to Brazil, first from Liverpool and then from Falmouth, Cornwall. She disappeared without a trace in January 1814.
Harriet was launched at Pictou, Nova Scotia, in 1798. She was the first large ship built in Nova Scotia and was sold in London. She traded widely from London, primarily to North America. She foundered on 3 November 1818.
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. 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.
Harriot was launched in 1784 on the Thames as a West Indiaman. Her owners may have intended to send her to the South Seas as a whaler in 1786, but there is no evidence that she actually made such a voyage. A new owner renamed her Dominica Packet around 1787. She then spent her career primarily sailing between Britain and the West Indies. During her career she captured a Dutch and a Spanish merchantman. A Baltimore privateer captured Dominica Packet in 1813, but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She foundered circa January 1821.
Agreeable was launched at Bermuda in 1786, probably under a different name. French owners acquired her at some point and sailed her as Agréable. In 1793 the British captured her. Subsequently, she made six voyages as a slave ship between 1793 and 1808, alternating between slave trading and sailing as a regular West Indiaman. French privateers captured her between the second and third, and the third and fourth, but each time the British Royal Navy recaptured her. In the case of the second capture she was in French hands long enough for them to send her out as a privateer. She herself captured an American vessel in 1808 as she was returning to Liverpool from her last slave voyage. After the end of British participation in the slave trade Agreeable traded more widely, particularly to South America. She was condemned at Buenos Aires in 1814 after running aground in the River Plate. She was repaired and continue to sail to Brazil until she returned to Liverpool in June 1819.
Star was built in Calcutta in 1800. Between 1803 and 1811 she made three seal hunting voyages. From 1812 she sailed as a merchantman until she was wrecked on 18 December 1829 on a voyage to Jamaica.
Albion Packet was a schooner launched at Berwick by Gowan. She sailed primarily along Britain's coasts, and later to the Baltic. She disappeared from the registers between 1816 and 1822, when she reappeared as Albion. Circa 1827 she became Albion Packet again. She underwent two maritime mishaps, one in August 1802 and one circa December 1827, before being wrecked on 17n November 1832 near Orford High Light.
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