| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Parr |
| Owner | Thomas Parr [1] |
| Builder | John Wright, Liverpool [2] |
| Launched | 1797 |
| Fate | Burnt 1798 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ship |
| Tons burthen | 450, [3] or 566 [4] [1] (bm) |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Complement | 80, [4] or 97 [1] |
| Armament | 32 × 18-pounder guns [4] |
Parr was launched in 1797 at Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was lost in 1798 in an explosion on her first voyage.
Parr was built in Liverpool and named for owners Thomas and John Parr, members of an eminent local slave-trading family. She was built to accommodate seven hundred slaves. [5] Parr was not only the largest Liverpool slaver, but at 566 tons (bm), the largest vessel in the entire British trans-Atlantic slave trade. [2]
Lloyd's Register for 1797 had a Parr, 450 tons (bm), of Liverpool, Christian, master. [3]
Captain David Christian acquired a letter of marque on 5 December 1797, [4] and sailed for the Bight of Biafra and Gulf of Guinea Islands on 5 February 1798; he gathered his slaves at Bonny Island. [1]
Lloyd's List reported that Parr, Christian, master, caught fire and blew up in 1798, off the coast of Africa as she was sailing from there for the West Indies. Twenty-nine of her crew and some 200–300 slaves were saved. [6] [7] Christian died in the explosion. [8] (Two or three years earlier he had been master of Othello when she too had caught fire while gathering slaves.) Other records indicate that Parr had a crew of 97 men and had embarked some 200 slaves. [1] The surviving slaves were shipped on other vessels. [1]
In 1798, 25 British slave ships were lost. Twelve of the losses occurred on the coast of Africa. [9]
Citations
References
| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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Alexander, was built in France in 1791, possibly under a different name. She was taken as a prize and her new owners renamed her Alexander. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC), and then became a slave ship, making four voyages between 1798 and 1807. After 1807 she sailed between Liverpool and Demerara. She is last listed in 1811.
John Bull was a French prize captured in 1798 that was lost on a slave trading voyage in 1802.
Tarleton was launched in 1796 at Liverpool for Tarleton & Co., a Liverpool firm that had been in the slave trade for three generations. She made two full voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people before she was wrecked on a third voyage in late 1798. On her first voyage she repelled two attacks by French privateers in single-ship actions. Unusually, but not uniquely, slaves helped work her guns.
Albion was launched at Liverpool in 1783. She made two voyages as a slave ship before she was sold to a Bristol merchant. She then made two more voyages as slave ship. In 1793 as she was on the homeward-bound leg of her fourth voyage a vessel ran into her and Albion's crew abandoned her. She then drifted to Salem, Massachusetts, where she was recovered. She was sold in Boston.
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 before a Spanish privateer captured her in 1805. On her fourth voyage Sarah had captured two French slave ships at Loango.
African Queen was built at Folkestone in 1780, though almost surely under a different name. She became a slave ship in 1792 and made two complete slave voyages. On her first slave voyage she suffered a high mortality, both among her slaves and her captains and crew. A privateer captured her in 1795 as she was on her way to Jamaica with slaves while on her third slave trading voyage.
Windsor Castle was launched at Whitby in 1783. Initially she was primarily a West Indiaman. Then from 1797 she made five voyages as a slave ship and foundered off Bermuda in 1803 after having disembarked her slaves.
Jane was launched at Liverpool in 1805 as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. An explosion, the result of a slave rebellion, destroyed her in 1806.
Quaker was launched at Tynemouth in 1793 as a West Indiaman. The French captured her in 1795 but in a process that is currently obscure she returned to British ownership. In 1797 she became a slave ship, sailing out of Liverpool. On her first slave voyage the French captured after she had gathered her slaves, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her. She resumed her voyage but before she could deliver her slaves the French captured her again. She returned to British ownership in 1805, but wrecked in December 1806.
Dispatch was built in Bermuda in 1784 and came to England possibly as early as 1786. In 1792 she made a voyage as a slave ship carrying slaves from Africa to the West Indies in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was then briefly a privateer before returning to the slave trade. The French captured her in 1795 while she was on her third slave trading voyage.
Roebuck was an American merchantmen built in New England in 1794. In 1795 she made one voyage as a slave ship, sailing to Liverpool, then to Sierra Leone and finally Havana. Afterwards, she returned to the United States.
Duchess of York was a Spanish prize that started on a voyage as a slave ship. She was cut off on the coast of Africa in 1807 on her first slave trading voyage.
John was launched in France in 1793, almost certainly under another name, and was taken in prize. She started trading as a West Indiaman, but then became a slave ship, making six complete voyages. She was lost in late 1806 on her seventh voyage. The slaves she was carrying were landed safely.
Ann was a slave ship that sailed from Liverpool in 1807 in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. Her origins are currently obscure. Ann, William Brown, master sailed from England on 4 May 1807.
Trelawney or Trelawny was a ship launched at Bristol in 1781. Initially she was a West Indiaman. In 1791 she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then made one voyage as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was sold to Liverpool and then made two voyages as a slave ship. She was damaged outbound on a fourth slave trading voyage and then disappears from online records.
Lune was launched in 1794 at New Brunswick, possibly under another name. She first appeared in British records in 1798. She made one complete voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. A French privateer captured her in 1800 early in her second voyage before she reached Africa.
Diligence or Diligent was launched in Spain in 1795 and came into British ownership as a French prize acquired in 1800. She became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made three complete voyages as a slave ship. During her third voyage she captured three French vessels. She was wrecked in 1804 on her fourth journey before she had embarked any slaves.
Dart was launched at Plymouth in 1787. Dart initially traded with Newfoundland and then the Mediterranean. From 1797 she made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was condemned at Barbados in 1802 as she was returning to London after having delivered slaves to Demerara.
Saint Ann was launched at Liverpool in 1797. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She foundered or was shipwrecked or destroyed in 1798 after she had delivered her slaves but before she could return to Liverpool.
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. She was lost in 1804 on the coast of Africa on her sixth voyage.
