| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Elizabeth |
| Launched | 1798, Liverpool |
| Captured | 1805 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 285, [1] or 289, or 310 [2] (bm) |
| Complement | |
| Armament | |
Nelly was launched at Liverpool in 1798. She initially sailed as a West Indiaman. From 1803 she made two complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Spanish privateers captured her in 1805 while she was on her third voyage after she had embarked captives.
Nelly first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1799. [1] Captain Seacom Ellison acquired a letter of marque on 20 March 1799. [2]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1799 | S.Ellison | Harper & Co | Liverpool–Martinique | LR |
| 1800 | S.Ellison C.Lawson | Harper & Co | Liverpool–Martinique | LR |
1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1800–1801): Captain Caesar Lawson acquired a letter of marque on 26 May 1800. [2] He sailed on 24 June. [3] In 1800, 133 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for the trade in enslaved people; 120 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [4]
Lawson acquired captives at Bonny and arrived at Dominica on 24 November with 289. Nelly sailed from Dominica on 7 February 1801 and arrived back at Liverpool on 21 March. She had left Liverpool with 41 crew members and had suffered six crew deaths on her voyage. [3]
2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1802–1803): Captain John Lawson sailed from Liverpool on 14 January 1802. [5] When he sailed the Peace of Amiens was about to take effect and so he did not acquire a letter of marque. In 1802, 155 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for the trade in enslaved people; 122 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [4]
Lawson acquired captives at Badagry, stopped at São Tomé, and arrived at Demerara on 9 October with 283 captives. Nelly sailed from Demerara on 3 December and arrived back at Liverpool on 12 February 1802. She had left Liverpool with 30 crew members and had suffered six crew deaths on her voyage. [5] [lower-alpha 1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1804 | C.Dawson | Harper & Co. | Cork | LR |
| 1805 | C.Dawson J.Seldon | Harper & Co. Hinde & Co. | Cork Liverpool–Africa | LR |
3rd voyage transporting enslaved people (1805–loss): Captain James Seldon acquired a letter of marque on 14 March 1805. [2] He sailed on 28 April 1805. [7] Seldon acquired slaves at Ambriz. [7]
In December 1805, Lloyd's List reported that Elizabeth, Hensley, master, and Nelly, Selden, master, had been captured at Angola. [8] They were among the seven vessels off the Congo River that had fallen prey to a privateer. [lower-alpha 2] The privateer was described as being of 22 guns and 350 men. Nelly's captor sent her to the River Plate. [9]
A second report named the captors as L'Orient, of 14 guns, and Dromedario, of 22 guns. The captured vessels arrived in the River Plate before 12 November. [10] Nelly arrived at Montevideo with 19 enslaved people; she had only embarked 20 before the Spanish captured her. She had left Liverpool with 50 crew members and arrived at Montevideo with 51, although she had suffered 10 crew member deaths on her voyage.
Spanish records report that in June 1805, Viceroy Sobremonte, of Argentina, issued two letters of marque, one for Dolores (24 guns), Currand, master, and Berro y Errasquin, owner, and one for Dromedario (20 guns), Hippolito Mordel, master, and Canuerso y Masini, owner. The two sailed for the African coast, looking to capture enslaving ships. In three months of cruising Dolores captured three ships and one brig, carrying a total 600 enslaved people. Dromedario captured five ships, carrying a total of 500 enslaved people. [11]
In 1805, 30 British slave ships were lost. Thirteen were lost on the coast of Africa. [12] During the period 1793 to 1807, war, rather than maritime hazards or slave resistance, was the greatest cause of vessel losses among British slave vessels. [13]
Plover was launched at Liverpool in 1788. Her whereabouts between 1798 and 1802 are currently obscure. She became a Liverpool-based slave ship in 1802. She made three voyages in the triangular trade, carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West indies. The French Navy captured her in 1806 as she was starting her fourth voyage to acquire captives. The French Navy may have commissioned her as a corvette, but if so her service was brief.
Lord Nelson was launched in 1798 at Liverpool and subsequently made five voyages carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her first voyage she helped suppress a revolt on another vessel by that vessel's captives. This gave rise to an interesting case in salvage money. A French naval squadron captured Lord Nelson off Sierra Leone on her sixth voyage, before she had embarked any captives.
Otter was launched at Liverpool in 1797, initially as a West Indiaman. She made seven voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During her career she captured one merchantman and recaptured another. She was lost in 1807 on her way back to Britain from her seventh enslaving voyage.
Sarah was launched at Liverpool in 1797. She then made six voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies. A French privateer captured Sarah in 1804 in a single-ship action on her seventh voyage after Sarah had gathered her slaves but before she could deliver them to the West Indies.
Sarah was launched in Spain in 1791, presumably under another name. The British captured her c.1798. She made five voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people before a Spanish privateer captured her in 1805 on her sixth voyage. On her fifth voyage Sarah had captured two French slave ships at Loango.
Byam was a snow launched at Oban, or possibly Padstow, in 1800. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French captured and burnt her in late 1807 or early 1808 as she was about to deliver the captives from her fifth voyage.
Hannah was built in Liverpool in 1795. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade of enslaved people. She was lost in 1801 as she was returning home after having delivered her captives on her fourth voyage.
Ariadne was built in 1795 at Newbury, Massachusetts, probably under another name. She in 1801 became a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made two voyages transporting enslaved people before a French, and later a Dutch privateer, captured her in 1804 while she was acquiring captives on her third voyage. However, a Liverpool-based vessel recaptured her. Then in 1806, a French privateer captured her and took her into Guadeloupe while Ariadne was on her fourth voyage transporting captives.
Horatio was launched in 1800 at Liverpool. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During two of these voyages 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 Philadelphia in 1779. She did not appear in British registers until 1800. She then made five voyages from London as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was damaged and condemned at Jamaica in 1807 after having landed the captives from her fifth voyage.
Angola was launched in 1799 at Lancaster. She became a Liverpool-based slave ship that had made four voyages in the triangular trade, carrying captives from West Africa to the West Indies. The French captured her in 1804 on her fifth voyage. Her captors renamed her Tigre, but the Royal Navy recaptured her late in 1804.
Ellis was a French prize, captured in 1797, possibly built that year also. Liverpool merchants purchased her. She made five complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the British West Indies. She was lost at sea on 23 April 1806 on her sixth voyage before she could take on any captives.
Hector was launched at Bristol in 1781 as a West Indiaman. A new owner in 1802 sailed Hector as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete voyage transporting enslaved people before a French privateer captured her on her second such voyage after Hector had disembarked her captives.
Beaver was launched in 1796 at Liverpool. She made seven complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. She was captured and retaken once, in 1804, and captured a second time in 1807, during her eighth voyage.
Active was built in Chester in 1781. Initially, she traded with the Baltic and North America. From 1798 she made four complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. A privateer captured her on 1 September 1805 during her fifth slave voyage, after she had embarked her slaves, and took her into the River Plate.
Louisa was launched in France in 1794, probably under another name. She was taken in prize and between 1798 and 1804 she made five complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Her fourth voyage gave rise to an influential, and exaggerated, estimate of the profitability of trading in enslaved people. She was lost in 1804 on the coast of Africa on her sixth voyage.
Elizabeth was launched at Liverpool in 1798. She made five complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Spanish privateers captured her in 1805 while she was on her sixth voyage after she had embarked enslaved people and took her into Montevideo.
Rebecca was launched at Charleston in 1802, possibly under another name. She first appeared in online British sources in 1805. In 1805, Rebecca began a voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people but fell prey to Spanish privateers after she had embarked captives.
William was launched in Spain in 1788, almost certainly under another name. She was taken in prize in 1797. William sailed as a West Indiaman until 1800 when new owners started to sail her as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made four complete voyages as a slave ship. A report of her fourth voyage provides insight into the decision making over the planning of the voyage. Spanish privateers captured her in 1805 on her fifth slave voyage.
Laurel's origins are ambiguous. She first appeared in online British sources in 1802. She made three voyages from Liverpool to Africa. On the first she apparently was on a trading voyage. The second was a complete voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During this voyage she was involved in two sanguinary engagements with French vessels, the second of which resulted in the death of her master. She set out in 1805 on a second voyage to transport enslaved people, but a French squadron captured her before she had embarked any captives.