Career
Morley appears in Lloyd's Register in 1812 with Morgan, master, Morley, owner, and trade London–Jamaica. [2]
Government transport
On 28 April 1812 John Morley chartered Morley to the Transport Board. The Transport Board then ordered Morley to sail to the East Indies.
On 1 February 1813 the American ship Rambler arrived at the Cape of Good Hope. She had been sailing from Manila when "The Transport Morley, Brown, Master" had captured her. [4] The Vice admiralty court condemned her as a lawful prize to the Crown, but not Morley as Morley had not acquired a letter of marque. Morley's owners applied for an award. The Treasury agreed, and issued a warrant for £4738 to the Transportation Board on behalf of the owners. The Transportation Board advised the owners that it was keeping the money as Morley had been under contract to it. The owners appealed. [5] It is not clear what the final decision was.
On 19 March 1815 the American letter-of-marque Rambler captured "the Morley transport", which was coming from Algoa Bay. The Americans plundered Morley and then gave her up. [6] Rambler, which had been coming from China, returned to Boston, having captured several British ships. [Note 1]
Morley then returned to trading as a West Indiaman to Jamaica.
Convict transport
Between 1816 and 1830 Morley made six voyages transporting convicts to Australia.
Convict voyage #1 (1816-1817): Captain Robert R. Brown sailed from England on 18 December 1816. Morley sailed via the Cape and arrived at Port Jackson on 16 April 1817. The surgeon on board was Robert Espie. The entire voyage took only 113 days, which set a new record.Morley transported 175 male convicts, with no deaths. She returned to England via Batavia.
Convict voyage #2 (1818): Captain Brown sailed from The Downs on 18 July 1818. Morley arrived at Port Jackson on 7 November. She had embarked 164 male convicts, with one death en route. She sailed for England in December 1818.
In 1820 T. Ward acquired Morley.
Convict voyage #3 (1820): Captain Brown sailed from London on 22 May 1820. She arrived at Hobart 99 days later, which established a record that would stand until 1837. She delivered one set of convicts to Hobart and then sailed with the remainder to Port Jackson, where she arrived on 30 September, for a total transit time of 113 days. She had embarked 121 female convicts and she landed 50 at Hobart and 71 at Port Jackson, with no deaths en route.
Convict voyage #4 (1822-1823): Captain George Holliday (or Halliday) sailed from The Downs on 25 September 1822 for Hobart. Morley arrived there on 11 January 1823. She had embarked 172 male convicts and she landed 170, having suffered two deaths en route.
On her return from Australia Morley traded between London and Calcutta under a license from the EIC. [17] At some point prior to her next voyage transporting convicts Morley underwent extensive repairs that increased her burthen from 480 to 492 tons.
Convict voyage #5 (1827-1828): Captain Henry Williams sailed Dublin on 3 November 1828. Morley stopped at Teneriffe and then arrived at Port Jackson on 3 March 1828. She had embarked 195 male convicts and she landed 193, having suffered three convict deaths en route.
Unfortunately, on this voyage she introduced whooping cough to Australia. The children of the guards developed the illness and when Morley arrived there was contact with the shore before the authorities were advised and she was put into quarantine. By then it was too late and the disease spread widely in the colony with the result that several children died, including one of the sons of the governor, Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Darling.
Convict voyage #6 (1829-1830): Captain William Harrison sailed from The Downs on 10 August 1829 on a voyage under the auspices of the EIC. Morley arrived at Port Jackson on 3 December. She had embarked 200 convicts, all of whom survived the journey.
From Australia she sailed to China, arriving at Whampoa on 17 March 1830. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 31 March, reached Saint Helena on 17 July, and arrived back at The Downs on 16 September. [3]
Later career
Lloyd's Register for 1831 shows Morley's master changing from Harrison to J. Douglas. Her owner is still Ward & Co., and her trade is London–New South Wales. The 1832 volume of Lloyd's Register shows J. Douglas as master and owner, and her trade as London–Madras.
On 9 April 1832 Morley rescued the crew of the brig Zillah. Zillah, Martin, master was on a voyage from Dundee, Forfarshire to Saint Domingue when she struck a sunken rock off the Formigas, Western Islands. She was in a sinking states with seven feet of water in her hold when her crew abandoned her the next day. They saw her sink some hours after they had left her. Morley rescued Zyllah's crew and brought them to England. [23]
Lloyd's Register for 1836 shows Morley's master as Douglas, changing to Evans, her owner as Heath & Co., and trade London–Bombay.
Canada was a merchant ship launched at Shields in 1800. She made five trips transporting convicts to Australia. On two of those trips she was also under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). When she was not transporting convicts Canada traded with the West Indies, and with Canada until c.1832.
Guildford was a two-decker merchant ship launched in 1810. She transported convicts to New South Wales. Of her eight voyages delivering convicts, for three she was under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). She underwent major repairs in 1819, her hull was sheathed in copper in 1822; in 1825 she received new wales, top sides and deck, the copper was repaired and other repairs. Guildford was lost without a trace in 1831.
Brothers was built in Whitby, England in 1815. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC), and two transporting convicts to Australia. Afterwards she traded across the Atlantic, primarily to Quebec, and was last listed in 1837.
Countess of Harcourt was a two-decker, teak merchant ship launched at Prince of Wales's Island in 1811, and sold in Great Britain in 1814. An American privateer captured her in 1814, but the British recaptured her in 1815. Later, she made five trips transporting convicts to Australia. Between the third and fourth of these, she undertook a voyage to China and Nova Scotia while under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). She was wrecked in late 1830.
Clyde was a merchant ship built at Greenock, Scotland in 1820. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then made three voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. She was last listed in 1845.
City of Edinburgh was a merchant ship built at Bengal in 1813. She transferred to British registry and sailed between Britain and India. She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland to Australia. Later, she made a whaling voyage to New Zealand. She was wrecked in 1840.
Castle Forbes was a merchant ship built by Robert Gibbon & Sons at Aberdeen, Scotland in 1818. She made several voyages to India, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland to Australia. She sustained damage in 1826 on a voyage to India and was condemned at the Cape of Good Hope. However, she was repaired. She was last listed in 1832, and in 1838 in Lloyd's Register (LR).
England was built at Chepstow, Wales in 1813. She made three voyages transporting convicts from England to Australia. On the first she was under charter to the British East India Company (EIC) and, after delivering her convicts, sailed to Canton where she picked up a cargo for the EIC. She foundered in 1843 in the Channel while on a voyage to Sierra Leone.
Phoenix was a merchant vessel launched in 1810 The British East India Company (EIC) chartered her to make one voyage to Madras and Bengal between 1820 and 1821. She then made one voyage transporting convicts to Tasmania in 1822, and two to New South Wales, one in 1826 and one in 1828. She was wrecked in 1829.
Eliza was a merchant ship built in British India, probably in 1804. Between 1819 and 1831 she made five voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. In between, she also made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). Her crew abandoned her at sea in 1836 as she was leaking uncontrollably.
Isabella was a merchant ship built on the Thames, England, and launched in 1818. She made six voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. In between, she made one round trip to China for the British East India Company (EIC). From her launch to 1834 she traded with India and the Far East under a license from the EIC. From 1848 on served in the North America trade. She is last listed in 1850.
York was a sailing ship built in 1819 at Southwick. She made one voyage to Bombay for the British East India Company (EIC) in 1820. She made three voyages transporting convicts to Australia between 1829 and 1832. She was condemned and sold for breaking up in 1833 at Mauritius.
Hindostan was launched at Whitby in 1819. She made one voyage, in 1821, transporting convicts to New South Wales. Later, she made two voyages transporting convicts to Van Diemen's Land, one with female convicts (1839), and one with male convicts (1840–1841). When not transporting convicts Hindostan was a general trader, sailing across the Atlantic, to India, and perhaps elsewhere as well. She was lost in 1841.
Minerva was launched at Lancaster, Lancashire, in 1805. Following trading with Central and South America, she made two voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC) between 1811 and 1814. She also made four voyages transporting convicts to Australia between 1818 and 1824, one to Van Diemen's Land and three voyages to New South Wales. She was broken up in 1826.
Maria was launched in 1798 at Gainsborough, upstream from Hull. She spent the first half of her career or so as a West Indiaman. She then made two voyages to Australia transporting convicts. On the first of these voyages she transported women convicts to Port Jackson; on the second she transported men to Hobart. On her second voyage she returned via Bombay. She is last listed in 1833.
Malabar was launched at Shields in 1804. She sailed primarily as a London-based transport. After the British East India Company (EIC) in 1814 lost its monopoly on the trade with India, Malabar made several voyages to India under a licence from the EIC. Then in 1819 she made a voyage transporting convicts to Port Jackson, Australia, followed by one in 1821 where she transported convicts to Van Diemen's Land. She is last listed in 1824.
Susan was launched at Calcutta in 1813. She initially traded in the East Indies as a country ship, and with Britain under license from the British East India Company (EIC). Between 1829 and 1831 she made two voyages for the EIC. Then between 1834 and 1836 she made four voyages transporting convicts, two to New South Wales, and two to Tasmania. She foundered in 1846 as she was sailing between London and the Cape of Good Hope.
Mary was launched in 1811 at Ipswich. She immediately made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC), to New South Wales (NSW), and Bengal. She continued to trade with Australia and then made five voyages transporting convicts there: two to New South Wales, two to Van Diemen's Land, and one in which she carried convicts to both. She was last listed in 1841.
Princess Charlotte was a ship launched in Sunderland in 1813. She immediately started trading with the Indian Ocean and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She made one voyage for the EIC, and she made two voyages transporting convicts to Australia, one to Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land, and one to Port Jackson, New South Wales. She foundered in 1828 in the Bay of Bengal.
Lord Lyndoch was launched in 1814 at Calcutta. After she sailed to England she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). Between 1831 and 1841 she made five voyages transporting convicts to Australia, three to Hobart and two to Sydney. She became a transport and suffered a maritime incident in 1844. She was last listed in 1847.
United Kingdom