Nancy (1774 EIC ship)

Last updated

The Nancy Packet, by James Gillray ANMM 00036378.jpg
The Nancy wrecking off Rosvear Island. Ann Cargill and some of the crew coming to grief.
History
Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg United Kingdom
NameNancy
OwnerBritish East India Company
Builder Bombay Dockyard [1]
Launched21 September 1774 [2]
Acquired1778
FateWrecked February 1784
General characteristics
Tons burthen150, or 240 [2] (bm)
Sail planPossibly schooner, or ship
Complement36 (at loss)

Nancy was a schooner or ship launched at Bombay. In 1778 the British East India Company (EIC) government at Bengal acquired her to use as a warship at Calcutta. The EIC Board of Governors in London vetoed the idea and Nancy became an express packet ship. She made two voyages from Bengal to Ireland between 1782 and 1784, and was wrecked on the second of these.

Contents

Career

Warren Hastings, Governor-General of Bengal wanted to create a small navy at Calcutta like the EIC's Bombay Marine, in order to combat pirates and French privateers. He acquired four vessels, the smallest of which was Nancy. Captain Heffernan was appointed her captain. Reportedly, Heffernan retired and sailed to Cork in 1781. [3]

When the Board of Governors of the EIC in London vetoed the project the EIC decided to use Nancy as an express packet. [3] She sailed from Bengal on 1 March 1782 under the command of Captain George Hifferman, and arrived at Cork on 15 July 1782. [4] Records in the British Library state that Captain John Haldane left India on 1 April 1782, and left Cork on 19 January 1783. [5] Hardy's information agrees that Nancy left Cork on 19 January 1783 bound for Bengal and under the command of Captain Haldane. [lower-alpha 1]

Loss

Nancy was lost off the Isles of Scilly on 9 February 1784, [2] or 24 February. [4]

Nancy struck the Gilstone in the Western Rocks and sank in deeper water near Rosevear Ledges. When she sank, she was carrying actress Ann Cargill and her young child; Cargill was Haldane's lover or wife. Some of the crew and passengers took to a small boat that was dashed on Rosevear killing all aboard. In total 36 crew, 12 passengers, and 1 prisoner drowned. [6] [7] [8]

Post-script

In 2008 the Islands Maritime Archaeological Group (IMAG) fortuitously found what they believe is the wreck site, east of the Rosevear Ledges.

Notes

  1. ↑ Haldane had been captain of Fairford, which had burnt in Bombay harbour on 15 June 1783.

Citations

  1. ↑ Wadia (1986), p. 332.
  2. 1 2 3 Hackman (2001), p. 239.
  3. 1 2 Hickey (1782), pp. 166–171.
  4. 1 2 Hardy (1811), p. 219.
  5. ↑ British Library: Nancy (1).
  6. ↑ de Bruxelles, Simon (18 September 2008). "Divers close in on lost fortune of Ann Cargill, a scandalous star". The Times . London. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
  7. ↑ McFarland (1927).
  8. ↑ "Diving on Scilly". Carmen Stevens. Retrieved 12 June 2012.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Cargill</span> British opera singer

Ann Cargill was a British opera diva and celebrated beauty whose life and death were a sensation in London at the close of the 18th century.

<i>Antelope</i> (1781 EIC packet ship)

Antelope was a packet ship built for the British East India Company (EIC) in 1781. She made one voyage for the company that ended when she was wrecked on 10 August 1783 off Ulong, near Koror Island in Palau. This resulted in the first sustained European contact with those islands.

Barwell was a merchantman launched in 1782. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then left the EIC's service but continued to sail. She made one voyage transporting convicts in 1797 from England to Australia. She was last listed in 1807.

Numerous ships with the name Phoenix, for the constellation or the mythical bird, have sailed for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1680 and 1821:

Hastings was a brig that the Bombay Dockyard launched in 1785 or 1787 for the Bengal Pilot Service. In 1818, the EIC sold her to local buyers. Alternatively, in May 1818 she was converted to a buoy vessel; in 1819 she appeared as a buoy vessel on a list of pilot vessels at Calcutta with J.F. Twisden, master. She was sold on 11 October 1820. A fire destroyed her on the night of 17 April 1823, while she was at Pulau Pasang, off Padang.

<i>HCS Coote</i> (1827)

HCS Coote was a sloop-of-war that served the British East India Company (EIC) during the 19th century. The Bombay Dockyard launched Coote in 1827. Though the EIC built Coote, her size and armament were equivalent to the retired Cruizer-class brig-sloops.

Royal Charlotte was launched by Bombay Dockyard in 1774 as a country ship. She made one voyage for the British East India Company in 1796 when she sailed from Calcutta to Britain. There she took on British registry. She sailed back to Calcutta where a lightning bolt ignited her magazine, destroying her in 1797.

<i>Northumberland</i> (1780 EIC ship)

Northumberland was launched in 1780 to serve as a regular ship of the British East India Company (EIC). She made six voyages for the EIC between 1780 and 1797. She was sold in 1797 for breaking up.

Earl Talbot was launched as an East Indiaman in 1778. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1779 and 1793. She was sold for breaking up in 1793.

Syren was a snow that the Bombay Dockyard built in 1770 for the EIC. The EIC used her as a packet ship. She made two voyages to England for the EIC before it sold her in 1778.

Huddart was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman. She made eight voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1803 and 1818. In 1810-1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. In 1818 new owners deployed her in sailing to Canada. She was wrecked there in 1821.

Britannia was launched by the Bombay Dockyard in 1772, and was rebuilt in 1778. The British East India Company (EIC) apparently acquired her in 1775. Between 1779 she made eleven complete voyages as an East Indiaman for the EIC. She also participated in three naval campaigns, during the first of which she was deployed as a cruiser off Sumatra. There she engaged and captured a French ship. In the other two she served as a transport. She set out for her twelfth EIC voyage but was lost in 1805 during the third naval campaign.

Sir William Pulteney was launched in 1803 at Calcutta as a country ship She sailed to England on a voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) and her owner sold her there. The EIC then engaged her as an "extra ship" for six voyages as an East Indiaman to India and back. She was sold in 1817.

Calcutta was launched in 1798 as an East Indiaman. She made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and disappeared while homeward bound from Bengal on her fifth voyage.

Diligent, was the Bengal Pilot Service schooner Tannah, that the Bombay Dockyard had launched in 1775 for the Bengal Pilot Service of the British East India Company (EIC). The French Navy captured her in 1781. She then became a 10-gun corvette of the French Navy, but sank in 1782.

Trial was launched at Calcutta as a packet for the British East India Company. She made two voyages to England. In 1782 she narrowly escaped being seized by mutineers. After her return to Calcutta in 1786 she became a pilot schooner for the Bengal Pilot Service. A French privateer captured her in 1797.

Fairford was built by John Barnard at Barnard's Wharf in Rotherhithe and launched in January 1782. Captain John Haldane sailed from Gravesend on 2 May, bound for India. He stopped at Portsmouth where he waited for thee months. Fairford left Portsmouth on 11 September 1782 in company with General Goddard, General Coote, and several other East Indiamen. Fairford reached Bombay. She was loading cargo for England when she caught fire there on 15 June 1783. She was entirely consumed, but her crew was saved.

Cumbrian was launched in 1803 at Bombay, possibly at the Bombay Dockyard. She was a "country ship", generally trading east of the Cape of Good Hope. She also made three voyages for the British East India Company. She was sold in 1835.

Warren Hastings was launched in 1781 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made six voyages for the EIC before being sold in 1797 for breaking up.

James Sibbald was launched at Bombay in 1803. She was a "country ship", a British vessel that traded only east of the Cape of Good Hope. A French privateer captured her in late 1804, but she quickly returned to British ownership in Bombay in a process that is currently obscure. She made several voyages for the British East India Company (EIC).

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.