Career
Bristol-based Archibald Robe and Co. purchased the French prize in 1803 and named her Cornwall1s. [5] She entered Lloyd's Register in 1804 with J. Baker, master, and Robe & Co., owners. Her trade was Bristol-Surinam. [8] James Baker received a letter of marque for the snow Cornwallis on 22 December 1803. [4]
Baker was her master for 1804-5, and then Alleyne replaced him. One source states that in 1806 Robe & Co. sold Cornwallis to Smith & Co., after she had made three voyages to the West Indies for Robe & Co. [5] However, the first indicator of a change of owner and master occurs in the 1809 volume of the Register of Shipping. [9] The new master was J. Thomas, and the new owner Smith & Co. Her trade became London-Cadiz. [10] On 21 November 1809 James Thomas received a letter of marque. [4]
The 1811 Register of Shipping shows Cornwallis's master changing to W. Daldy and her owner to I. Williams. Her trade changed to London-Gibraltar. [7] In 1814, her burthen changes from 186 to 177 tons. Thereafter her burthen is 177 or 179 tons, depending on the year. She is no longer armed after mid-1816.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade |
|---|
| 1812 | W. Dalby | J.Williams | London-Havana |
| 1813 | W. Dalby | J.Williams | London-Mogador
London-Demerara |
| 1814 | W. Dalby
Brown | J.Williams | London-Demerara
London-Antwerp |
| 1815 | H. Brown | J.Williams | London-Antwerp |
| 1816 | Huntley | J.Williams | London-Cape of Good Hope |
| 1818 | Huntley | Williams | London-Cape of Good Hope |
| 1819 | Huntley | Williams | London-Cape of Good Hope |
| 1820 | Short | J. Williams | London-Cape of Good Hope |
| 1821 | Bourke | Williams | London-Cape of Good Hope |
| 1822 | Bourke
Henderson | Williams | London-Cape of Good Hope |
| 1823 | Henderson | Williams | London-Cape of Good Hope |
| 1824 | Henderson | Williams | London-Cape of Good Hope |
| 1825 | Henderson | Williams | London-Cape of Good Hope |
| 1826 | Henderson | Williams | London-Singapore |
|
On 26 October 1825, Cornwallis sailed for Singapore. [1] Cornwallis left Singapore on 7 May 1826 and was off Hastings by 2 October. [11]
In 1826 Henderson purchased Cornwallis. She then underwent a thorough repair. A list of ships trading to India and eastward of the Cape of Good Hope showed Cornwallis, Edmond Henderson, master, and G.E. Henderson, owner, scheduled to sail from London Docks on 3 December 1828 for the Cape. [3]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Notes |
|---|
| 1827 | Henderson | Henderson | London |
| 1828 | Henderson | Henderson | London |
| 1829 | Henderson | Henderson | London-Cape of Good Hope |
|
The last listing for Cornwallis in the Register of Shipping is in 1833. It shows Henderson, master, and Henderson, owner. For her trade it simply lists "London". [2] The entry in the 1834 volume of Lloyd's Register simply lists Henderson as master and trade as London. This is the last listing for Cornwallis.
Active was the French ship Alsace that the Royal Navy captured in 1803. William Bennett purchased her and named her Active, in place of a previous Active that had been lost in January 1803. She then made one whaling voyage for him. Bennett sold her to Robins & Co., and she sailed between London and Buenos Aires. She then sailed on a second sealing voyage. She was lost in 1810.
Mohawk was a ship launched at Beverly, Massachusetts in 1781. She became a privateer, making two voyages. In 1782 the Royal Navy captured her and briefly took her into service under her existing name before selling her in 1783. She then became a merchantman until some investors in Bristol bought her in 1796 and turned her into a privateer again. In 1799 she became a letter of marque, but the French Navy captured her in 1801. She then served in the French Navy, capturing a British privateer in 1805, and was sold in 1814.
Fame was launched at Bristol in 1801 and repaired and measured in 1802 by Perry, on the Thames. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). On her third voyage a French frigate captured her. She apparently returned to British hands and was last listed in 1811.
Orpheus was launched at Chester in 1794. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She also served briefly as a transport in two military campaigns, and traded with the West and East Indies. She was last listed in 1838 but may well have been sold for breaking up in 1828.
Kingsmill was a French vessel launched in 1793 under a different name, captured in 1798, and sold to British owners who renamed her. She then became a slave ship, making three voyages from Africa to the West Indies. A French privateer captured her in 1804, but she returned to her owners in 1804. In 1807 she became a West Indiaman. In 1814 she became the first ship to trade with India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC) after the EIC lost its monopoly on British trade with India. She was badly damaged in 1821 and subsequently disappears from the registers.
Earl St Vincent was launched in 1798 at Gatcombe, on the Severn. She initially traded between Bristol and Jamaica. She then made one voyage as an "extra ship", i.e., under charter, for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she again traded with the West Indies until she was captured in 1806.
Elizabeth was launched at Bristol in 1809. She was originally a West Indiaman, but she wrecked in October 1819 at Table Bay while sailing from Bombay to London.
Crescent was launched at Rotherhithe in 1790. She initially traded with the Levant, particularly Smyrna. After the outbreak of war with France she may have tried her hand as a privateer. In 1796–1798 she made a voyage to the East Indies, almost surely on behalf of the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. In 1802-1804 she made one voyage as a slave ship carrying slaves from West Africa to Jamaica. In 1805 she became a whaler. She was lost in 1807 off Patagonia while homeward bound from her first whaling voyage.
Eliza was built in Spain in 1794 under another name and taken as a prize circa 1800. She then made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she made one voyage to Timor as a whaler. She next became a West Indiaman. In 1810 she apparently was sold to Portuguese interests and who continued to sail her under the name Courier de Londres. She is last listed in 1814.
HMS Cormorant was probably launched in 1803 at Howden Pans as the merchant ship Blenheim. The Admiralty purchased her in June and the Royal Navy took her into service to use her as a convoy escort. Then in 1809 it converted her into a storeship. After the Admiralty sold her in 1817, she resumed the Blenheim name and returned to mercantile service as a West Indiaman. She disappeared after 10 November 1821 and was presumed to have foundered.
Auspicious was built in 1797. The British East India Company (EIC), chartered her for a voyage to Bengal and back. At Calcutta a fire almost destroyed her. She was rebuilt there some years later. She served as a transport vessel in the British government's expedition to the Red Sea in 1801. She then sailed to England, again under charter to the EIC. In 1811 she sailed to Bengal to remain. She was sold in 1821 either to Malabars or Arabs.
Andersons was launched at Poole in 1798. She then made seven voyages as a slave ship. After the end of the British slave trade in 1807 her owners sold her to new owners who employed her as a West Indiaman. By 1810 she was registered in Whitby. She then served as a general merchant vessel until she was wrecked in 1823.
Kingston was launched at Bristol in 1780 as a West Indiaman. From 1798 she made ten voyages as a whaler. She then briefly sailed between England and Quebec, and is last listed in 1819.
John was launched in the Netherlands in 1785, probably under another name. The British captured her in 1797. The new owners gave her the name John, and she became a merchantman. Between 1800 and 1804 she made three voyages as a slave ship. She then became a trader and transport again until a French privateer captured and burnt her in 1809.
Paragon was launched at Lancaster in 1801, or 1800. She traded across the Atlantic with the West Indies, South America, and North America. She captured one French vessel, and was herself captured, but swiftly recaptured by the Royal Navy. She was last listed in 1830, but with stale data from 1825.
Caerwent was built at Rotherhithe and launched in 1799. She was a West Indiaman that the French captured in 1803 and the British Royal Navy recaptured shortly thereafter. She made one voyage as a whaler, but then returned to the West Indies trade. She was lost at Jackmel, Hayti, in May 1810.
Gallant Schemer was launched in 1799 at Falmouth. A French privateer captured her in 1805, but she was back in British hands by 1808. She then traded with South America and the Mediterranean. A French privateer captured her in 1813.
Brook Watson was launched in 1796, probably in Holland but possibly in Denmark. She became a prize in 1801 and by 1802 was a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. She made two whaling voyages between 1802 and 1806. She then became a West Indiaman and was last listed in 1809 or 1810.
Bellona was launched at Lancaster in 1799. She was a West Indiaman that made one voyage as a whaler. She disappeared in 1809 as she was returning to England from Jamaica.
Malvina was launched in 1796 in the United States. She first appeared in British on-line sources in 1800 as a West Indiaman. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons between May 1803 and late 1804, when she was captured.
France
United Kingdom