Career
One source reported that Ganges was captured in 1809, and then at some point was lost at sea. A more contemporary source reported that the French privateer Courier had captured her, by inference in the first half of 1807. It further reported that in September 1808 the boats of HMS Ceylon had recaptured Ganges after a chase of three days. Her captors sent Ganges into Calcutta. [7]
In 1809 Ganges, of 412 tons (bm), D. Chauvet, master, and Hugh A. Reid, owner, was registered at Calcutta.
Ganges first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1810 with Patterson, master, H.Fleming, owner, and trade London–Jamaica. LR gave her burthen as 449 tons. [5] The Register of Shipping (RS) also showed her burthen as 449 tons, but in 1815 it amended the entry for Ganges to show 401 tons. [4]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|
| 1811 | Paterson
A.Grant | Fleming | London–Jamaica | LR |
| 1812 | A.Grant
T.Nichols | H. Fleming | London–Martinique
Malta | LR |
|
On 27 June 1812 Ganges was admitted to the registry of Great Britain.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|
| 1815 | Beer
C.Swann | Fleming | London–West Indies | LR |
| 1815 | T.Nichols
C.Swann | Fleming | London–Malta
London–Jamaica | RS |
| 1820 | Merriman
A.Chivers | Fleming | London–India | LR |
|
In August 1815 Ganges, Swann, master, put into Havana to reprovision and get water. She was on her way from Jamaica to London. [9]
On 18 October 187, Ganges, Merriman, master, broke from her iron cable at Simon's Bay in a severe gale. [10]
The ship Vittoria was condemned and sold on 6 October for breaking up. Her cargo was transferred to Ganges, Chivers, master. [11] Ganges sailed from Bengal on 14 November, the Cape of Good Hope on 14 February 1821, and St Helena on 1 March. She was off Plymouth by 21 April. [12]
On 1 June 1825 Ganges, Lloyd, master, arrived in the Ganges River from Madras and London and proceeded to ground near Fultah. It was expected that some of her cargo would have to be unloaded before she could be gotten off. Still, on 3 June she arrived off Calcutta and it appeared that she had not sustained any serious injury. [13]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|
| 1825 | Lloyd | Chivers & Co. | London–Madras | LR |
| 1830 | Lloyd
Ardlie | Lloyd
Ardlie | London–Calcutta
Bombay | RS; small repairs 1829 |
|
In their 1830 issues, both LR and the RS changed their numbers for Ganges's burthen. The RS reported her burthen at 418 tons, and LR reported it as 419 tons. The 1833 issues continued to show Ardlie as owner and master.
The RS ceased publishing in 1834, and Ganges did not appear in LR for that year. However, Ardlie continued as her master. On 19 February 1834, John Martin Ardlie was carrying a detachment of the 15th Native Infantry. The officer commanding the detachment got into an altercation with Ardlie, with the two exchanging blows. The Bengal Army court martial found the Army officer, Major Francis Haleman, guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer. [14]
Ganges did not reappear in LR until the 1837 issue (published in 1836). At that time her master was Brodhurst, her owner J.Ardlie, and her trade London–Calcutta. [15]
Then, a list of vessels trading to India and east of the Cape of Good Hope (CGH; the Cape) showed Ganges with John M. Ardlie, master and owner, preparing to sail on 13 June 1837 with destination the Cape and Swan River. [16]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|
| 1840 | Ardlie
Walker | Ardlie
Mangles | London–Calcutta
London–"SRiver" (Swan River) | LR; small repairs 1837 & 1841 |
| 1845 | Walker | Mangles | London–East Indies | LR; small repairs 1841 |
|
Ganges, Captain Samuel C. Walker, sailed from London and Liverpool in 1841. She arrived at Freemantle in the Swan River Colony on 15 October. There she landed some 110–123 immigrants, including indentured labourers.
Baring was launched at Calcutta in 1805 as Alexander Brodie. Her owners sold her to Portuguese interests that named her Asia Felix. They in turn sold her to British owners in 1809. The British owners renamed her Baring. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1811 and 1812.
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.
Juliana was launched at Salkia, opposite Calcutta, in 1814. She spent almost all of her career trading between England and India. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC), in 1824–25; she ended this voyage in Quebec, becoming, with her consort, the first vessels to arrive at Quebec from China. She wrecked at Cape Town in 1839 while carrying immigrants from England to Sydney, New South Wales.
Arran was launched at Calcutta in 1799. In 1800 she sailed to Britain for the British East India Company (EIC). She then traded between England and India and around India until she was lost in June 1809 while sailing to Basra from Bengal.
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.
Margaret was launched at Calcutta in 1804 and cost 59,000 sicca rupees to build. Shortly after her launch she sailed to England for the British East India Company (EIC). Captain Benjamin Fergusson sailed from Calcutta on 3 December 1805. She was at Saugor on 14 February 1806. She reached Saint Helena on 29 April and arrived at The Downs on 24 June.
Aurora was launched in 1790 at Calcutta. The first 10 years of her career are currently obscure. In 1801 she made a voyage to England for the British East India Company (EIC), and then was briefly registered in England. She returned to India to continue to sail as a "country ship" until she was sold to Portuguese or Spanish owners in 1811. She returned to British ownership circa 1816 and made a second voyage for the EIC, this time from China to England. She returned to English registry and made one voyage to India under a license from the EIC. She then switched to sailing between Liverpool and Quebec and was lost in the Atlantic around 1822.
Lady Banks was launched in 1810 at Boston. After some voyages as a transport and West Indiaman she sailed to India under a license from the British East India Company. She was condemned at Mauritius in 1821. However, a local merchant repaired and purchased her and sailed her to China.
British Hero was launched at Jarrow in 1809. She initially was a government transport and so did not appear in Lloyd's Register (LR) or the Register of Shipping (RS) until she came into mercantile service c. 1813. She was lost in November 1816 on a voyage to India.
Stirling was built in 1812 at Montreal, Quebec. She apparently traded out of Liverpool as a West Indiaman. There is little evidence that she traded as an East Indiaman. She was last listed in 1821 and a vessel named Sterling, sailing out of Quebec, was wrecked in November 1821.
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.
East Indian was launched at Calcutta in 1815. She remained a country ship, that is, a British vessel trading east of the Cape of Good Hope, until 1819. In 1819 she apparently sailed to England and may briefly have assumed British registry. By 1824 she had returned to Calcutta registry. She was wrecked in 1826 near Saugor.
Minerva was launched in 1812 at Aberdeen. Her early career is obscure. In 1823 she visited New South Wales and was condemned at Valparaiso in 1823 on her way home. She was repaired and from about 1827 she sailed to India under a license from the British East India Company. She transferred her registry to Calcutta prior to 1829, but continued to be listed in the British registries until 1833.
Shah Ardaseer was built at Bombay, probably in 1786. English transliterations of her name show her as Shah or Shaw + Adaseer, or Ardaseer, or Ardasier, or Adasier, or Ardasheer, or Ardeseer, or Ardesir. A fire on 13 September 1809 at Bombay burnt her. She then may have been recovered, repaired, and enlarged to become the hulk HMS Arrogant, which was moved to Trincomalee in 1822 and sold there in 1842.
Ganges was launched in 1799 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) bringing rice from Bengal for the British government. She then became a West Indiaman until the French navy captured her in 1805.
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.
Marchioness Wellesley was launched at Calcutta in 1805. She initially sailed as a country ship, i.e., trading east of the Cape of Good Hope. She participated in the 1811 British military expedition to Java. In 1815 she sailed to England and then sailed between England and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She was broken up in 1821 or 1824.
Kent was launched at Chittagong in 1814. Between 1814 and 1823 Kent sailed between India and Great Britain under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). In 1823 she was sold in England. From then until she was last listed in 1831 she sailed between Liverpool and Africa.
Mediterranean was launched in 1810 in Lowestoft or Great Yarmouth. Initially she sailed to the Mediterranean. Between 1819 and 1823 she made two voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then traded with India, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). She may have shifted to India, before returning to British registry in 1835–1837 while performing a third whaling voyage. She then disappeared from online records.
