1809:2 × 12-pounder guns ("of the New Construction")
1810:8 × 6-pounder guns
Honduras Packet was launched in Spain in 1798 under another name and was renamed when the British captured her in 1800. She was a merchantman that between 1804 and 1809 made one, two, or three voyages seal hunting or whaling in the Southern Fishery. She was also the first vessel to transport Scottish emigrants to Honduras in 1822-23 under Gregor MacGregor's ill-conceived and ill-fated "Poyais scheme". She was last listed in 1828–30.
Honduras Packet entered Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1801 with J. Goodwin, master, Collingdon, owner, and trade London–Madeira. She was surveyed on 24 January.[1]
She initially sailed between London and Madeira and London and Spain.
Between 1804 and 1809 Honduras Packet made one, two,[3] or three voyages as a sealer or whaler.[7] The three voyages would have been in 1804–1805 with J. Nichols, master, and C. Hurry and Co., owner, 1805–1806 with Owen Bunker, master, and William Edwards, owner, and 1806–1808 with J. Todrig, master and T. Todrig & Co., owner.[7]
Sealing voyage (1804-1806): Captain Owen Bunker sailed Honduras Packet in 1804.[3] In 1804 he anchored at a bay on Stewart Island that became known as Port Honduras, but later Port Adventure after a later sealing ship. She explored Foveaux Strait on her way to the Antipodes Islands. On 22 July 1805 she arrived at Sydney from "Bass's Strait" with 7,000 seal skins.[6] At Sydney the partnership of Lord, Kable, & Underwood hired her. Late in December she returned to the Antipodes where she loaded a cargo of skins, and then sailed for London.[8] She returned to England on 22 May 1806.[3] By one account she was carrying 34,000 skins.[9]
Whaling voyage (1806-1809?): Captain Francis Todrig sailed Honduras Packet from England on 2 September 1806. Honduras Packet, Tedridge, master, was reported to have been well at the island of Boavista on 22 October 1806. Honduras Packet returned to England on 23 May 1809.[3]
It is not clear that this was in fact a whaling voyage. Lloyd's Register for 1808 showed Honduras Packet with trade London–Rio de Janeiro. In October 1808 the packet Honduras rescued the crew of HMSVolador, which had wrecked in the Gulf of Cora. The Register of Shipping for 1809 showed Honduras Packet with F. Todrig, master, F&J Todrig, owners, and trade London–Brazils. The supplemental pages in the issue showed her with Taylor, master, Smith & Co., owners, and trade London–Jamaica.[10]
Lloyd's Register for 1809 again showed Honduras Packet with Todrig, master and owner, and trade London–South Seas. Lloyd's Register continued to carry stale data for some time. The Register of Shipping showed that she became a West Indiaman, sailing to Jamaica, and later a general trader sailing to the Mediterranean.
Poyais:Honduras Packet sailed from London on 10 September 1822 with 70 emigrants bound for Poyais. They arrived at Black River, Honduras, in November, only to discover there was no settlement there and conditions were very different than they had been led to expect. Before they could unload all their stores, a storm came up and Honduras Packet sailed off, not to return. A second emigrant ship, Kennersley Castle, arrived in March 1823, having left Leith with some 200 emigrants in October 1822. With the coming of the rainy season insects infested the camp, diseases such as malaria and yellow fever took hold, and the emigrants sank into utter despair. Eventually, the schooner Mexican Eagle, from British Honduras, discovered the settlers in early May, and took them to Belize in three trips. Eventually, of the roughly 250 who had sailed on Honduras Packet and Kennersley Castle, at least 180 perished.
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.
The British East India Company (EIC) had Whim built for use as a fast dispatch vessel. She was sold in 1802 and became a whaler that a French privateer captured and released, and then a merchant vessel. She is no longer listed after 1822.
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 in the triangular trade in enslaved people. 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.
Eliza was a French prize that made nine voyages as a whaler between 1802 and 1822. She is last listed in 1824.
Kennersley Castle, was a merchantman launched in 1811. She made several voyages transporting British troops. She also twice transported emigrants from Britain, once to South Africa and then once, most notably because of the subsequent notoriety of her destination, to the at best misguided and at worst fraudulent colony of Poyais. She was wrecked in 1833 and her remains were burned in 1834.
Skene, was built at Leith in 1816. She made several voyages carrying emigrants from Scotland, twice to Canada and once for the Poyais scheme. She was wrecked immediately thereafter while sailing back to England from Saint Petersburg.
Wilding was launched at Liverpool in 1788 and spent much of her career as a West Indiaman, sailing between Liverpool and Jamaica. During this time, in November 1794, she participated in a single-ship action during which her opponent, a French privateer, blew up. In 1798 after a series of captures and recaptures she briefly became a transport for the French Navy, but a final recapture returned her to British hands. Later, she made one voyage to the South Pacific as a whaler, and one voyage to the Cape of Good Hope as a victualler for the 1795-1796 invasion of the Cape. She traded with the West Indies, Africa, the United States, and Russia. Her crew abandoned her in September 1824, dismasted and in a sinking state.
Kingston was launched at Bristol in 1780 as a West Indiaman. From 1798 she made ten voyages as a whaler. Somewhat unusually, on her first voyage she participated in the capture of a Spanish merchant ship. She then briefly sailed between England and Quebec, and was last listed in 1819.
HMS Inspector was launched in 1801 at Mistley as the mercantile Amity. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1803 and named her HMS Inspector. The Navy laid her up in 1808 before selling her in 1810. She then returned to mercantile service. Between 1818 and 1825 she made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She returned to mercantile service and was last listed in 1833 as being at Falmouth.
Sarah was launched at Hartlepool in 1800. Between 1807 and 1813 Sarah made two voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. On her first whaling voyage her captain claimed the Auckland Islands for Britain. As she was coming home a French privateer captured her, but a British privateer recaptured her. After her whaling voyages Sarah became a transport, a West Indiaman, and traded with North America. She was last listed in 1826.
Charlton, was built in America. She first appeared in British-origin online records in 1803. She made three complete voyages as a whaler. She was on her fourth voyage when the U.S. Navy captured her. After her captors released her she returned to England and then disappears from easily accessible online records.
Policy was launched at Dartmouth in 1801. She was a whaler that made seven whaling voyages between 1803 and 1823. On her second whaling voyage, in 1804, she was able to capture two Dutch vessels. On her fourth voyage the United States Navy captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her. She was lost at Tahiti in 1824 on her eighth whaling voyage.
Manchester Packet was built at New York in 1806. She immediately transferred to British registry and spent a number of years trading across the Atlantic. In 1814 she successfully repelled an attack by a U.S. privateer. In 1818 she returned to U.S. registry. She eventually became a whaler operating out of New London, Connecticut. In May 1828 she made the first of five whaling voyages; she was condemned in 1835 while on her sixth voyage.
Fonthill was a ship built in France in 1781 and was probably taken in prize in 1782. Fonthill sailed as a West Indiaman between 1783 and 1791, then became a whaler southern whale fishery and made four whaling voyages between 1791 and 1799. On her third voyage she took back from Cape Town a Dutch captain whose vessel had been captured bringing in arms and ammunition from Batavia to stir up unrest against the British at the Cape. After refitting, in 1800, Fonthill became a whaler in the northern whale fishery. Fonthill was last listed, with stale data, in 1810, but whose last reported whaling voyage took place in 1806.
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.
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.
Aurora was launched at Whitby in 1789. Between 1799 and 1806 she made four voyages as a whaler to the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1809 with stale data since her whaling voyages.
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.
References
Bladen, Frank Murcot, ed. (1897). Historical Records of New South Wales. Vol.5. C. Potter.
Clayton, Jane M (2014). Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775–1815: An alphabetical list of ships. Berforts Group. ISBN9781908616524.
Entwisle, Peter (2010). Behold the Moon: The European Occupation of the Dunedin District 1770-1848. Book Baby. ASINB008VVBJVY.
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