The Hudson's Bay Company ships Prince of Wales and Eddystone bartering with the Inuit off the Upper Savage Islands, Hudson Strait; by Robert Hood (1819)
Eddystone (or Eddistone) was launched at Hull in 1802. She then sailed for the North West Company. The French Navy captured her in 1806 but an armed ship of the Royal Navy recaptured her within weeks. She next sailed for the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) from 1807 to about 1824. She then traded generally until May 1843 when she was wrecked.
Eddystone first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1802 with Featherstone, master and owner, and trade Hull–Baltic.[1]
The North West Company's flag after 1801
In 1803 John Fraser, one of the founders of the North West Company, purchased her. At the time, the North West company was challenging the HBC's monopoly on the fur trade at Hudson's Bay. The North West Company sent an overland expedition to the southern end of the bay, and sent Eddyston to meet it there. The Company then established a post on Charlton Island, on James Bay.[3]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source
1803
Featherstone Richards
Feaherstone Fraser & Co.
Hull–Baltic
LR
1805
Richard Sarman
Fraser & Co.
Hull–Baltic London–Quebec
LR
The French frigates Sirène and Revanche captured Eddystone, Sarman, master, on 13 September 1806 as she was sailing from Quebec to London. The French took out her captain, crew, and furs, which were the most valuable part of her cargo. Colpoys recaptured Eddystone off Cape Finisterre and sent her into Plymouth, where she arrived in early October.[4][5]
By 1807 the North West Company had given up its operations at Charlton Island. The problem was not the HBC's opposition but rather was one of lack of trade.[3] In 1807 the HBC purchased Eddystone and appointed Captain Thomas Ramsey as her master. Thereafter, Eddystone and Prince of Wales were the main vessels supplying the HBC's posts in Hudson Bay.[6][lower-alpha 1] Captain Thomas Ramsey acquired a letter of marque on 2 May 1808.[2]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Sources & notes
1807
Sarman Ramsey
Fraser & Co. Hudson's Bay Company
London–Quebec
LR
1810
Ramsey
Hudson's Bay Company
London–Hudson Bay
LR
1815
J.Turner
Hudson's Bay Company
London–Hudson Bay
LR
In 1811 and 1813 Eddystone and Prince of Wales carried settlers to Hudson Bay. In 1815, Eddystone became trapped in the lower part of Hudson Bay and had to overwinter there.[8]
On 21 October 1817, Eddystone, Davis, master, came upon the waterlogged and abandoned Rover, of Newcastle, at 59°30′N17°30′E / 59.500°N 17.500°E / 59.500; 17.500. Eddystone could not approach because of the state of the sea. Eddystone was carrying a cargo of timber and furs.[9]
On 24 July, an iceberg struck Prince of Wales, staving in her starboard side. Eddystone and Lord Wellington narrowly escaped. Prince of Wales began to take on water at an alarming rate. To lighten her, Eddystone took on her cargo. Consequently, the damaged timers rose above the water line, making temporary repairs possible.[10]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source & notes
1824
Bell J.Dale
Hudson's Bay Company
London–Hudson's Bay
LR
1825
J.Dale
T.Benson
Dartmouth
LR; small repairs 1824
1830
H.Harrison
T.Benson
Cowes–Southampton
LR; small repairs 1825 and 1827
1835
J.Kearsley
T.Benson
"Stk."
LR; small repairs 1833 & large repairs 1835
1840
J.Kearsley Macintosh
T.Benson
Plymouth–America
LR; large repairs 1835 & 1836, small repairs 1838, & damages repaired 1839
In June 1836 Eddystone, Kearsley, master, grounded in the river at Newport, Wales, at the outset of a voyage to Savannah. It appeared her bottom might have been broken and she had to discharge and effect repairs.[11]
Fate
Eddystone was wrecked on 19 May 1843. She was driven ashore and wrecked at Point May, Newfoundland. Her crew were rescued. She was on a voyage from Liverpool, Lancashire to Quebec City.[12] Her entry in Lloyd's Register for 1843 carried the annotation "LOST".[13]
Notes
↑ Log books exist for Eddystone for the period 1807 to 1823.[7]
Boddington, sometimes referred to as Boddingtons, was a merchant ship launched in 1781 on the River Thames. For the first decade of her career she sailed as a West Indiaman. She made one voyage in 1792 transporting convicts from Ireland to Australia. For her return trip she also made one voyage for the East India Company from Asia to Britain. She wrecked in 1805 on the Thames River.
Coromandel was the French prize Modeste, captured in 1793 and refitted at Chittagong, British India. She made two voyages transporting convicts to Port Jackson, the first for the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her in 1805, but she had returned to British hands before 1809. An American privateer captured her in 1814, but this time the British Royal Navy recaptured her within days. She foundered in Indian waters on 6 February 1821.
A number of sailing ships have been named Queen Charlotte.
Charming Kitty was a ship captured from the Spanish. She first appeared in Gret Britain's Protection Lists for whalers in 1799. She conducted four whaling voyages between 1799 and 1808 before becoming a West Indiaman, trading with the Caribbean. She was wrecked in October 1813.
Young William was a ship launched in 1794 at Whitby, Yorkshire, England. She made a voyage to Botany Bay for the British East India Company (EIC), and then on her way to China discovered or rediscovered several Pacific Islands. Later, she made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was wrecked in September 1802, as she was returning from Jamaica after having delivered her captives.
Several vessels have been named Recovery:
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.
Lord Wellington was launched in 1811 at Whitby as a London-based transport. She made one voyage to India c. 1816. In 1821 she made one voyage carrying Swiss settlers to Hudson's Bay. She sank in May 1823 after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic.
Gardiner and Joseph was launched at Hull in 1802. She made seven voyages as a whaler in the northern whale fishery until she was wrecked in November 1808.
Prince George was launched in 1806 at Rotherhithe. She began her 48-year career as a West Indiaman. The French captured and released her in December 1814, to carry captured British sailors back to Britain. She then again sailed as a West Indiaman. Towards the end of the 1820s she started sailing to New South Wales. In 1834 she made a voyage under charter to the Hudson's Bay Company. Thereafter she traded between London and Quebec. In 1842 she brought 262 immigrants from England to Quebec. She was last listed in 1854.
Several ships have been named Eddystone, initially for the Eddystone Rocks:
King George was launched on the Thames in 1781. She spent about three-quarters of her career sailing for the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), and was the third vessel by her name to sail for the HBC. She then spent the last quarter of her career as a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. She foundered there without a trace in 1822.
Prince of Wales was launched in 1793 on the Thames. She spent much of her career sailing for the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). From 1845 she was a Greenland whaler, sailing out of Hull. In 1845 she was the last ship to see Sir John Franklin's expedition to the arctic. She was wrecked on 12 June 1849 in Davis Strait.
Queen Charlotte was built on the Thames in 1790. She made eight voyages for the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) before it sold her in 1800. She then traded to South America and the Mediterranean. In 1803 her crew mutinied and turned her over to the French, who promptly handed her and them back to the British authorities, despite the two countries being at war. She then spent much of her career sailing between London and the Cape of Good Hope. She was sailing for the Cape in October 1813 when a collision with another vessel resulted in Queen Charlotte being wrecked shortly thereafter.
Isabella was launched in 1825 at Shoreham. Initially, she traded with Gibraltar and Honduras. The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) purchased her in 1829 and she was wrecked in 1830 on the Columbia River bar off Clatsop County, Oregon. The site of her remains are on the National Register of Historic Places in Clatsop County, Oregon as #89001385 placed on September 21, 1989. The remains are owned by the State of Oregon, Division of State Lands after being found in 1986. She is a wooden ship with copper sheathing.
William and Ann was launched in Bermuda in 1818. In 1824 the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) purchased William and Ann. In 1825 she became the first HBC vessel to trade with the Pacific Northwest, competing directly with the Boston fur traders. She made three voyages to Fort George on the Columbia River, and was lost on 10 March 1829 on her fourth as she was arriving there.
Sea Horse was launched in 1782 at Gravesend for the Hudson's Bay Company. She then became a merchantman that a French naval squadron captured in 1795. She next became the Spanish merchantman Principe Fernando, which a Guernsey privateer recaptured in January 1800. She became a merchantman again, and then made one voyage as a whaler. She became a Government transport and it was as a transport that she was wrecked in 1816 with great loss of life.
Willerby was launched in 1799 as a West Indiaman. French privateers captured her around early 1802, but then released her. She suffered damage in a gale in 1815, but continued to trade. She sailed to New South Wales and was wrecked in early 1818.
Malta was built in 1802 at Minorca for Spanish owners, probably under another name. As Malta she enters British records in 1807. She traded with the Mediterranean and then more widely until 1818 when she was wrecked at the Cape of Good Hope (CGH).
References
Catchpole, A.J.W.; Faurer, Marcia-Anne (1986). "Ships' Log-Books, Sea Ice and the Cold Summer of 1816 in Hudson Bay and Its Approaches". Arctic. 38 (2): 121–128.
Cooper, Barry (1988). Alexander Kennedy Isbister: A Respectable Critic of the Honourable Company. McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN9780773573529.
Houston, Stuart (1994). To the Arctic by Canoe 1819-1821: The Journal and Paintings of Robert Hood, Midshipman with Franklin. McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN9780773512221.
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