Harriot (or Harriet) was launched in America in 1803, possibly under another name. In 1806 she made a voyage as a slave ship. In 1807 she started a second such voyage, one of the last legal such voyages, but a French privateer captured her before she could deliver to the British West Indies the slaves she had acquired.
1st slave voyage (1806–1807): Captain John Woolrich sailed from Liverpool on 20 February 1806, bound for Lagos Onim. After having acquired her slaves, Harriot stopped in at Prince's Island. She arrived at Demerara on 3 October 1806 with 240 slaves.[2] The 240 slaves were offered for sale on 11 October. Captain P. Stuart replaced Woolrich at some point, and she arrived at Demerara under Stuart's command.[3]Harriot cleared outbound on 12 December and sailed from Demerara on 20 December under the command of Captain Peter Stewart.[4] She arrived back at Liverpool on 16 February 1807. She had left Liverpool with 34 crew members and she suffered nine crew deaths on her voyage.[2]
The Act for the abolition of the slave trade had passed Parliament in March 1807 and took effect on 1 May 1807. However, apparently Harriot had received clearance to sail before the deadline. Thus, when she sailed on 9 July, she did so legally. (The last vessel to sail legally was Kitty's Amelia, which sailed on 27 July, having received clearance to sail on 28 April.)
2nd slave voyage (1807–capture): Captain James Irwin sailed from Liverpool on 9 July 1807, bound for Loango.[5] In February 1808 or so, the privateer Général Ernouf captured Harriot, as Harriet was sailing from Africa to the West Indies, and possibly sent her into Cayenne.[6]
The LR volume for 1809 carried the annotation "captured" beneath her name.[7]
USS Herald was a full-rigged ship of about 270 tons burthen built at Newburyport, Massachusetts, possibly in 1797. The US Navy purchased her from Edward Davis on 15 June 1798, and sold her in 1801. She became the French 20-gun privateer corvette Africaine. In 1804 a British privateer seized her on 4 May 1804 off the coast, near Charleston, South Carolina. The seizure gave rise to a case in the U.S. courts that defined the limits of U.S. territorial waters. The U.S. courts ruled that the privateer had seized Africaine outside U.S. jurisdiction. Africaine then became a Liverpool-based slave ship that made two voyages carrying slaves from West Africa to the West Indies. After the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 she became a West Indiaman that two French privateers captured in late 1807 or early 1808.
Several vessels have been named Harriet, or Harriot:
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, during the second of which a French privateer captured her. Next, 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.
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. She was last listed in 1816.
Horatio was launched in 1800 at Liverpool. She made four voyages as a slave ship, during two of which 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.
Aurora was launched at Chester in 1793 as a West Indiaman. During her career first the French (twice) and then the United States captured her, but she returned to British hands. Between 1801 and 1808 she made four voyages as a slave ship. She continued to trade widely until 1831.
Vanguard was launched in Liverpool in 1799. She made four voyages as a slave ship. After the outlawing of the British slave trade she became a West Indiaman. A French privateer captured her in March 1809.
Goodrich was a schooner launched in Liverpool in 1799. She made seven voyages as a slave ship between 1799 and 1807, two of them while being owned by Americans. After the Slave Trade Act 1807 ended the British slave trade she became a merchantman. A French privateer captured her in June or July 1808.
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. She then sailed to Brazil and the West Indies and was last listed in 1809.
Alexander was launched in 1801 in the United States, possibly under another name. She became a slave ship, sailing from Liverpool. A French privateer captured her after she had landed her slaves at Berbice. Alexander returned to British ownership and became a West Indiaman, and then a transport. She was last listed in 1816 but may have been sold or broken up in 1815.
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.
William Heathcote was launched in Liverpool in 1800. She made one voyage voyage as a slave ship before a French privateer captured her in a single-ship action, and the British Royal Navy recaptured her. She became a West Indiaman before she made another slave trading voyage, one of the last such legal voyages. She then became a West Indiaman again, and sailed to Brazil and as a transport. She was wrecked in July 1816.
Harriot was launched at Broadstairs in 1803. She made four voyages as a Guineaman between 1804 and 1807. Following the prohibition in 1807 on British vessels participating in the trans-Atlantic slave trade Harriet became a West Indiaman. A French privateer captured Harriet as Harriet was returning to England from Port au Prince in April 1809.
Harriot was launched in Spain in 1794, almost surely under another name, and taken in prize in 1797. She made two voyages as a London-based slave ship. Under new ownership, she then made three voyages as a whaler. A privateer captured her as she was returning from her third whale-hunting voyage but the British Royal Navy recaptured her. After her recapture she became a merchantman. She was captured and condemned at Lima, Peru in late 1809.
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.
Backhouse was launched in 1798 at Dartmouth. In all, she made four voyages as a slave ship. Between the second and the third, and after the fourth, she was a West Indiaman. A French privateer captured her early in 1810 as she was returning to Britain from Brazil.
James was launched in Spain in 1802, almost certainly under another name. She was captured in 1804 and became a slave ship. She made one complete slave trading voyage and was condemned after delivering her slaves on her second slave trading voyage.
Princess Royal was launched in New York in 1799 or 1800, almost certainly under another name. She first appeared in British records in 1802. between 1803 and 1808 she made four voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship. After the end of British participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade she became a merchantman. She was last listed in 1816.
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