Prince George (1806 ship)

Last updated

History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NamePrince George
BuilderPeter Everitt Mestaer, King and Queen Dock, Rotherhithe
Launched2 August 1806
FateLast listed 1854
General characteristics
Tons burthen436, [1] or 4364194, [2] or 437, or 450 (bm)
Armament
  • 1806:2 × 4-pounder guns [1]
  • 1809:6 × 6-pounder guns

Prince George was launched in 1806 at Rotherhithe. She began her 48-year career as a West Indiaman. The French captured and released her in December 1814, to carry captured British sailors back to Britain. She then again sailed as a West Indiaman. Towards the end of the 1820s she started sailing to New South Wales. In 1834 she made a voyage under charter to the Hudson's Bay Company. Thereafter she traded between London and Quebec. In 1842 she brought 262 immigrants from England to Quebec. She was last listed in 1854.

Contents

Career

Prince George first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in the 1806 volume with J.Bailey, master, Frier & Co., owner, changing to Rutherford & Co., and trade London–Jamaica. [1] She appears to have replaced an earlier Prince George that Rutherford owned, [3] and that next year appears with a new master, Pizzie, and owner, Boyman & Co., though still in the London–Jamaica trade. [4]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource & notes
1810J.BaileyRutherford & Co.London–JamaicaLR
1815J.BaileyRutherford & Co.London–JamaicaLR

Between 27 and 29 December 1814, the French frigates Nymphe and Méduse captured a number of British merchant ships at 16°N39°W / 16°N 39°W / 16; -39 . [lower-alpha 1] The vessels captured were Prince George, Dalley, master, Lady Caroline Barham, Boyce, master, and Potsdam, Cummings, master all three coming from London and bound to Jamaica; Flora, Ireland, master, from London to Martinique; Brazil Packet, from Madeira to the Brazils; and Rosario and Thetis, from Cape Verde. The French burnt all the vessels they captured, except Prince George. They put their prisoners into her and sent her off as a cartel to Barbados, which she reached on 10 January 1815. [7]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource & notes
1820T.ParkerBaileyLondon–JamaicaLR; thorough repair 1820
1825T.ParkerRutherfordLondon–JamaicaLR; thorough repair 1820
1830M.AndrewsAndrewsLondon–New South WalesLR; thorough repair 1820 & damages repaired 1826
1833M.Andrews
D. Friend
Andrews
Gould & Co.
London–New South Wales; London–Quebec?Register of Shipping; repair 1820, damages repaired 1826, & small repairs
1834D.FriendGould & Co.London–Hudson's BayLR;

In 1834 the Hudson's Bay Company chartered Prince George for a voyage from London to York Factory, [8] and back to London. An article on navigation to Hudson Bay reports that Captain Grove sailed Prince George to York Factory. [lower-alpha 2] He used a chronometer to record longitude, and did not take lunar distances. Prince George arrived at York Factory on 22 August. There Grove assumed command of Prince Rupert as her captain had become incapacitated. Grove took his chronometer with him, suggesting that it was his personal property and not part of Prince George's equipment. Captain Daniel Friend replaced Grave in command of Prince George. [9]

Prince George may have made a second voyage for the HBC in 1837.

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1835D.FriendD.Gould & Co.London–Hudson's Bay
London–Virginia
LR
1837D.FriendGould & Co.London–Hudson's BayLR; small repairs 1835
1840D.FriendGould & Co.London–QuebecLR; small repairs 1835 & damages repaired 1838

On 6 April 1842 Captain Daniel Friend sailed from England, bound for Montreal and Quebec. He arrived on 20 May. Prince George was carrying 262 immigrants. Of these, 219 were paupers, most sailing under the auspices of the Poor Law Commission, and most from Kent. The remaining 43 immigrants were sailing at their own expense. Most of the immigrants were agricultural labourers, though a few had trades, or were servants. All were in good health when they arrived in Canada. Apparently each adult, on leaving Prince George, received a free passage to join their friends in nearby districts. They also received two days' provisions, and 20 shillings. [10] [11]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1845D.FriendGould & Co.London–QuebecLR; small repairs 1835, damages repaired 1842, & small repairs 1843
1850FennerGould & Co.London–QuebecLR; small repairs 1845 & 1848
YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1856J.YoungKirkLondonLR
1860J.YoungKirkLR

Fate

Prince George was last listed in 1863 with data unchanged since 1860.

Notes

  1. The news item in Lloyd's List (LL) gave the names of the frigates as Nymphe and Modeste, but there was no Modeste in service with the French Navy at that time. [5] There was a Méduse, [6] and she was operating with Nymphe.
  2. Some sources name the captain as John Costellow Grave.

Citations

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Meteor</i> (1803)

HMS Meteor was a bomb vessel of the Royal Navy. She was previously the West Indiaman Sarah Ann, launched at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1800 that the Admiralty purchased in October 1803. She conducted bombardments at Havre de Grâce, the Dardanelles, and Rosas Bay, on the Spanish coast. She was sold in 1811. she then returned to mercantile service under her original name, Sarah Ann. She continued to trade, primarily across the North Atlantic. She was last listed in 1863 with stale data.

The Nymphe was a 40-gun Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy, designed by Sané.

London Packet was a merchant vessel launched on the Thames in 1791. She served the Royal Navy as a hired armed ship from 31 March 1793, to at least 30 September 1800, and despite some records, apparently for a year or more beyond that. She then returned to sailing as a merchant man until an American privateer captured her in May 1814.

HMS Nimrod was a brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1812. She spent her war years in North American waters, where she captured one small privateer, assisted in the capture of another, and captured or destroyed some 50 American vessels. After the war she captured smugglers and assisted the civil authorities in maintaining order in Tyne. She was wrecked in 1827 and so damaged that the Navy decided she was not worth repairing. A private ship-owner purchased Nimrod and repaired her. She then went on to spend some 20 years trading between Britain and Charleston, the Mediterranean, Australia, and India. She was last listed in 1851.

HMS <i>Wanderer</i> (1806) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Wanderer was a Cormorant-class ship-sloop launched in 1806 for the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy sold her in 1817. She made one voyage between 1817 and 1820 as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then sailed between Plymouth and North America until October 1827 when her crew had to abandon her at sea because she was waterlogged.

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.

Sir James Henry Craig was launched at Quebec in 1811. She sailed to England and made three voyages as a West Indiaman. The British East India Company (EIC), in 1813 lost its monopoly on the trade between Britain and India. In 1817 she sailed for India but was condemned at Calcutta after she sustained extensive storm-damage at the start of her homeward-bound voyage.

Ceres was launched at Kolkata in August 1793 as Lutchmy and renamed in 1794. She sailed to England in 1798 and became a West Indiaman. She was condemned at Barbados in 1806. New owners returned her to service, first as a West Indiaman and then as an East Indiaman. She was damaged at Mauritius in 1818 and although she was listed until 1824, it is not clear that she sailed again after the damage she sustained in Mauritius.

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 Chester in 1793 as a West Indiaman. During her career first the French (twice) and then the United States' privateer captured her, but she returned to British hands. Between 1801 and 1808 she made four voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Afterwards, she continued to trade widely until 1831.

Glenmore was launched as a West Indiaman in 1806 at Elgin. She made one voyage to Bengal in 1813–14, then became a Greenland whaler in 1818, and made four full whaling voyages. She was lost in the White Sea in 1822.

Blenheim may have been launched in 1776 in Philadelphia as Britannia. By 1777 she was the Massachusetts-based privateer American Tartar and had taken several prizes. She had also participated in an inconclusive single-ship action with a British merchantman. The British Royal Navy captured American Tartar late in 1777 and she became HMS Hinchinbrook. The Royal Navy sold her in 1783 and she became the West Indiaman Blenheim. In 1785-86 she became a Greenland whaler and she continued in that trade until two French frigates captured and burnt her in 1806.

Duchess of Portland was launched at Bristol in 1783. She was primarily a West Indiaman. However, she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, and two as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then became a transport. The US Navy captured her in 1812. She was in ballast and her captors burnt her.

Brunswick was launched on the River Thames in 1791 as a West Indiaman. She captured one prize. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, she made two voyages carrying almost 600 migrants from Ireland to Canada, She spent most of her career trading between Britain and Quebec, though she also traded with other destinations. She was condemned at Valparaiso in 1849.

Falmouth was launched in 1806 at Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. After the British slave trade ended in 1807, she became a West Indiaman until a privateer captured her in 1812.

Several vessels have been named Prince George:

Prince George was launched in 1789 on the River Thames as a West Indiaman. She was a transport for the British 1795–1796 expedition to the Caribbean. She later traded between Scotland and Russia, and Scotland and Quebec. She was last listed in 1857, for a nominal service life of 68 years.

Adventure was a vessel built in France that the British captured c.1799. New owners immediately sailed her as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then made a voyage as West Indiaman during which a French privateer captured her, but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She made a second slave trading voyage. Thereafter she became a general trader, trading primarily with the Baltic. She was wrecked in October 1814. Although she was refloated and taken into Copenhagen, she disappeared from subsequent ship arrival and departure data.

HMS <i>Albacore</i> (1804) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Albacore was launched in 1804 in Bristol. She participated in two notable actions. The British Royal Navy sold her in 1815 and she became a merchantman, sailing out of Guernsey. She was lost on 12 October 1821 while sailing from Buenos Aires to Barbados.

HMS Richmond was a Confounder-class gunbrig, launched at Itchenor in February 1806. She captured several small privateers and merchantmen off the Iberian peninsula before the Royal Navy sold her in 1814. After the Navy sold her, she became the mercantile Ben Jonson.

References