Elliott (or Elliot) was launched at Liverpool in 1783. She made ten voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade, carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies. Next, she made one voyage as a whaler. She then became a merchantman, sailing between England and South America. In November 1807 French privateers captured her.
Elliott first appears in Lloyd's Register in 1783 with "Clemensn", master, F. Ingram, owner, and trade Liverpool–Africa.[1]
1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1783–1785): Captain John Cleminson sailed from Liverpool on 17 September 1783, bound for the Bight of Benin. He acquired captives at Whydah and arrived at Kingston, Jamaica, on 27 August 1784, with 730. Elliot left Jamaica on 1 November 1784 and arrived at Liverpool on 11 January 1785. Elliott had left Liverpool with a crew of 57 men and had suffered 22 crew deaths.[2]
2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1785–1786): Cleminson sailed Elliott from Liverpool on 29 June 1785 for the Bight of Benin with a crew of 66. He acquired captives primarily at Lagos/Onim, and also at Anomabu and elsewhere in the region before arriving at Kingston on 29 March 1786 with 898 captives. She left Kingston on 2 June and arrived back at Liverpool on 26 July.[10]
3rd voyage transporting enslaved people (1786–1788):Elliott had three masters on her third slaving voyage — John Reid, William Smith, and James Mathias.[11][d] She sailed from Liverpool on 20 September 1786, bound for the Bight of Benin.[11] Towards the end of 1786 she was at Cape Coast Castle on her way to "Lagoe".[12] She acquired captives at Whydah, Lagos/Onim, and elsewhere in the region, and arrived at Kingston on 18 January 1788 with 520. She landed 373. She left Kingston on 15 April, and arrived back at Liverpool on 25 June. She had started with a crew of 59 men, and had 30 crew deaths on the voyage.[11]
Missing information (1788–1792):Elliott appears in Lloyd's Register for 1789 with Reed, master, F. Ingram, owner, and trade Liverpool–Africa.[13] There is no record of a slave trading voyage for Elliott during this period, though apparently William Clarkson became her master on 12 May 1791.[7] She left Lloyd's Register in 1791, returning in the issue for 1792 with Sherwood, master, Dawkins, owner, and trade again Liverpool–Africa.[14]
4th voyage transporting enslaved people (1792–1793): Captain William Sherwood sailed from Liverpool 8 August 1792, bound for West Central Africa and St. Helena. He started purchasing slaves at the Congo River on 22 October. He also purchased slaves at Malemba (or Malembo), in the Kakongo kingdom, about 50 nautical miles north of the Congo River. Elliott left Africa 16 April 1793, and arrived at Kingston on 30 May 1793. She had embarked 475 slaves and she landed 472, for a loss rate of 0.6%.[3] The firm offered for sale in June 1793, “470 choice young Negroes upon the ship Elliott from Melinba Coast of Angola. Cargo all inoculated for the small–pox prior to leaving the coast and only has buried five during the voyage”.[15]
Elliot arrived back at Liverpool on 20 September. She had an initial crew of 44 men, of whom 13 died on the voyage.[3][e]
5th voyage transporting enslaved people (1794–1795):War with France had commenced in 1793 and Sherwood acquired a letter of marque on 13 January 1794.[8] He sailed from Liverpool on 27 February, bound for West Central Africa and St. Helena. He started purchasing slaves at Malemba on 23 June. Elliott left Africa on 28 October and arrived at Kingston on 20 December. She had embarked 505 slaves, and landed 500, for a loss rate of 1%. Elliott left Kingston on 26 February 1795, and arrived back at Liverpool on 20 April. She had an initial crew of 64 men, and suffered nine crew deaths on her voyage.[9]
6th voyage transporting enslaved people (1795–1796): Sherwood sailed from Liverpool on 12 July 1795.[17] In 1795, 79 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 59 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool.[18]
Elliot arrived at Havana in February 1796 with 497 captives. She arrived back at Liverpool on 9 May. Elliott had sailed with a crew of 49 men and had suffered two crew deaths on her voyage.[17]
7th voyage transporting enslaved people (1796–1797): Captain David Christian acquired a letter of marque on 29 July 1796.[8] He had previously been captain of Othello, which had burnt at Bonny Island late in 1795 or early in 1796. Christian sailed from Liverpool 12 August 1796 bound for the Bight of Biafra.[4] In 1796, 103 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 94 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool.[18]
Elliot acquired captives at Bonny and arrived at Kingston on 25 February 1797. She had embarked 495 slaves and he landed 473, for a loss rate of 4.4%. She left Kingston on 4 April 1797, and arrived back at Liverpool on 26 May. Elliott had one crew member die out of an initial crew of 57 men.[4] Christian received a bounty of £100 for low slave mortality on the voyage.[19] Christian assumed command of Parr and died in 1798 when she caught fire after leaving Bonny in 1798.[20]
8th voyage transporting enslaved people (1798–1799): Captain John Parkinson acquired a letter of marque on 21 March 1798.[8] He sailed from Liverpool on 2 May, bound for West Central Africa and St. Helena.[5] In 1798, 160 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 149 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. This was the highest number in the period 1795–1804.[18]
Elliot delivered 503 captives at Martinique on 2 January 1799. She left Martinique 24 January, and arrived back at Liverpool on 21 March. Elliott had an initial crew of 62 men, and lost seven.[5]
9th voyage transporting enslaved people (1800–1802): Captain Timothy Boardman acquired a letter of marque on 7 June 1800.[8] He sailed on 8 August 1800.[21]
It is not clear where Elliot acquired captives, or exactly where in the British Caribbean she delivered them. She left her delivery port on 2 February 1802 and arrived at Liverpool on 21 April. Elliot had an initial crew of 50 men, and had 18 crew deaths.[21]
10th voyage transporting enslaved people (1802–1804):Elliott had two masters on this voyage, A. Lawson and John Livingston. She sailed from Liverpool on 20 July 1802, bound for the Bight of Biafra.[22] (Because she sailed during the Peace of Amiens, her captain did not acquire a letter of marque.) In 1802, 155 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 122 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool.[18]
Elliot purchased captives at Bonny and arrived at Havana in March 1803. She arrived back at Liverpool on 12 July.[22]
Whaler
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source & notes
1804
Shuttleworth
R.Bent
London–South Seas
LR; almost rebuilt 1800, & new deck and thorough repair 1803
Captain John Shuttleworth acquired a letter of marque on 29 September 1803. Shortly thereafter he sailed Elliot for Timor.[23] Between 10 and 15 August 1804 she was among a number of whalers from London that were well at Timor, including Perseverance, Iris, Eliza, and others.[24] Between 12 and 29 January 1806 she was at St Helena, having come from the South Seas. She returned to England on 22 March 1806.[23] She was mentioned in the Protection Lists in 1803 and 1806.[25]
Merchantman and capture
Captain Charles London acquired a letter of marque on 7 May 1807.[8]Lloyd's Register for 1807 shows Elliot with London, master, Loudensk, owner, and trade London–Buenos Aires.[26]
On 5 November 1807 three French privateers captured Elliot and Juno at 19°4′N61°30′W / 19.067°N 61.500°W / 19.067; -61.500 (about 120 miles NNE of Anguilla) as they were sailing from Demerara, Elliot back to London and Juno to Liverpool. Elliott, of 16 guns and 18 men, and Juno, 10 guns and 27 men, resisted for an hour and a half before they struck. Elliot had one man killed, and two wounded, one of whom, the mate, later died of his wounds. The three French privateers were Jalouse, of seven guns and 80 men, Fripon, of five guns and 80 men, and Becune, of three guns and 45 men. The privateers took their prizes into Guadeloupe.[27][f]
The Essequebo and Demerary Royal Gazette reported on 31 December 1807 that a cartel had arrived from Guadaloupe with some passengers who had been captured on Elliot, Capt. London, and Juno, Capt. M'Murray. It noted that the two ships had sailed in company from Demerara about 15 October.[30]
Lloyd's Register for 1809 has the notation "captured" under Elliott's name.[31]
Notes
↑ David, Tuohy, John Clemison, Christopher Butler, Francis Ingram, Thomas Parke, Benjamin A. Heywood, and William Denison.[2]
↑ The crew numbers come from the declaration for the letter of marque.[8] Information from the database on slave voyages or other sources is often quite different.
↑ The data below on Elliott's armament come from the declarations for the letters of marque.[8] Data from Lloyd's Register is frequently different. In particular, the 12-pounder cannons are mostly carronades, not guns. For instance, in 1804 Elliott carried two 12-pounder guns and fourteen 12-pounder carronades.[6]
↑ Another source gives the name of her master as John Read, with James Mathews replacing Read at Jamaica on 15 April 1788.[7]
↑ After the passage of Dolben's Act, masters received a bonus of £100 for a mortality rate of under 2%; the ship's surgeon received £50. For a mortality rate between two and three per cent, the bonus was halved. There was no bonus if mortality exceeded 3%.[16] Estimated figures come from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database and are based on overall data from the database. It is perhaps striking that the unestimated data for the number of slaves embarked generally occurred for voyages with mortality rates that qualified for bonuses.
↑ Fripon was probably Friponne, a 5-gun schooner commissioned in November 1806 in Guadeloupe.[28]Bécune was a privateer commissioned in February 1807 at Saint-Pierre de la Martinique under Jérôme Boubée. Her first cruise occurred in February–March; a second occurred in July–August. She was recommissioned at Saint-Martin in early 1808. Her next cruise ended when HMSFerret captured her.[29]
Brooks was a British slave ship launched at Liverpool in 1781. She became infamous after prints of her were published in 1788. Between 1782 and 1804, she made 11 voyages from Liverpool in the triangular slave trade in enslaved people. During this period she spent some years as a West Indiaman. She also recaptured a British merchantman and captured a French merchantman. Brooks's last voyage shipping enslaved people was to Montevideo in the South Atlantic where she was condemned as unseaworthy in November 1804.
Will was a ship launched at Liverpool in 1797 for Aspinal & Co., who were one of Liverpool's leading slave-trading companies. She made numerous voyages between West Africa and the Caribbean in the triangular trade in enslaved people, during which she several times successfully repelled attacks by French privateers. Will apparently foundered in a squall in July 1806, shortly before the passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807 abolished the slave trade for British subjects.
Iris was launched at Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. In all she made eight voyages (1783-1800) transporting captives from West Africa to the Caribbean. She also made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) to Bengal and back (1795-1796). She was condemned in Jamaica in December 1800 as unseaworthy.
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.
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.
Minerva was launched in 1795 at Lancaster as a West Indiaman. In 1801 she was captured but immediately recaptured. Between 1802 and 1808 she made five voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was last listed in 1816.
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.
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.
Nile was launched at Nantes in 1795 and was captured or purchased from the French in 1802. She then made four voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Between her first and second voyages transporting enslaved people she cruised for less than year as a privateer. With the abolition in 1807 of the slave trade, Nile became a regular merchantman, but now trading with Africa. She was sold in Barbados in 1811.
Alexander was launched in France or Spain in 1797, probably under another name, and taken in prize circa 1799, when she was lengthened and raised. She was registered at Liverpool in 1801 and proceeded to make six voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then sailed to Brazil and the West Indies and was last listed in 1809.
Agreeable was launched in 1786 in Liverpool, possibly under another name. Between 1798 and 1802 she made three voyages as a slave ship. A French privateer captured her in 1803 as she was sailing from Africa to the West Indies on her fourth slave trading voyage.
Betsey was launched in 1790 at Liverpool as a slave ship. She made six complete voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her second such voyage she, together with 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 captives. A French privateer captured her in 1799 after she had delivered her captives on her seventh voyage.
Expedition was launched in 1763, almost certainly under another name. She entered the registers as Expedition in 1795. Between 1799 and 1807 she made seven voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was condemned as unseaworthy at Antigua in early 1808, after having earlier disembarked at Jamaica the captives from her seventh voyage.
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.
Molly was launched at Liverpool in 1778 as a slave ship. Between 1778 and 1807 she made 18 complete voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. During this period she also suffered one major maritime incident and captured two ships. After the end of Britain's involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Molly became a merchantman trading with the West Indies, Africa, Brazil, Nova Scotia, and Africa again. She was last listed in 1832, giving her a 54-year career.
Ann was launched at Chester in 1792 as a West Indiaman. From 1796 she made nine complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She participated in several single ship actions. On her first voyage she repelled an attack by a French privateer. On her second a privateer captured her but she was recaptured. On her ninth voyage a French privateer again captured her, but this time her captor plundered and then released her. She sank on 24 May 1810 in the Old Dock at Liverpool, but was salvaged.
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.
Clayton, Jane M (2014). Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775–1815: An alphabetical list of ships. Berforts Group. ISBN9781908616524.
Demerliac, Alain (2003). La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1800 A 1815 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN2-903179-30-1.
Howley, Frank (2008). Slavers, Traders and Privateers: Liverpool, the African Trade and Revolution, 1773-1808. Countyvise. ISBN9781901231984.
St Clair, William (2007). The Door of No Return: Cape Coast Castle and the Atlantic slave trade. BlueBridge. Re; Elliott (1783 s), p21
Williams, Gomer (1897). History of the Liverpool Privateers and Letters of Marque: With an Account of the Liverpool Slave Trade. W. Heinemann.
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