Career
Captain John Hardy Jackson received a letter of marque on 14 October 1805. [2] This authorized he and Sinclair to engage in offensive action against the French, not just defensive, should the occasion arise.
She sailed as part of convoy in 1806 under the escort of Porpoise that included the transports Elizabeth, Justina, and Alexander, and the convict transport Fortune. Sinclair was carrying stores, passengers, and some convicts.
The convoy passed Madeira on 25 February and were reported all well on 5 March. [4] Sinclair was also carrying Captain William Bligh, who was sailing to the colony to assume the governorship.
Captain Bligh and Commander Joseph Short of Porpoise disagreed continually through the voyage as each believed they were in charge of the convoy. When Bligh ordered a change of course for Sinclair, Short responded by ordering first officer John Putland to fire warning shots at Sinclair, which carried Putland's wife, Mary, and his father-in-law, Captain Bligh. In great distress, John Putland complied with the order, firing two warning shots across the bow of Sinclair. When Sinclair did not immediately return on course, Short contemplated firing on Sinclair. Fortunately, Sinclair shortly afterwards corrected her course and he did not have to order Putland to fire. When the convoy arrived in Port Jackson on 6 August 1806, Bligh assumed the governorship of the colony. [5]
Sinclair left Sydney on 12 September 1806 with a cargo of oil and 14,000 seal skins for China. [6] [7] Sinclair and Captain Jackson left Whampoa anchorage on 3 January 1807. She reached Penang on 25 January and St Helena on 18 April, before arriving at The Downs on 3 July. [8]
Sinclair made a second voyage to Australia, still under Moore's command. She arrived at Sydney on 28 July 1808, carrying Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Foveaux, the new Lieutenant Governor of the colony, and 45 troops. She left on 26 October for England. [9]
Sinclair continued to trade under a letter of marque for some time thereafter.
Captain George Allen received a letter of marque on 16 April 1811. [2]
Captain John Peat received a letter of marque on 4 January 1813. [2]
Vice-Admiral William Bligh was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The Mutiny on the Bounty occurred during his command of HMS Bounty in 1789; after being set adrift in Bounty's launch by the mutineers, Bligh and his loyal men all reached Timor alive, after a journey of 3,618 nautical miles.
The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was a coup d'état in the then-British penal colony of New South Wales, staged by the New South Wales Corps in order to depose Governor William Bligh. Australia's first and only military coup, it is named after early Sydney's illicit rum trade, over which the Rum Corps, as it became known, maintained a monopoly. During the first half of the 19th century, it was widely referred to in Australia as the Great Rebellion.
Scarborough was a double-decked, three-masted, ship-rigged, copper-sheathed, barque that participated in the First Fleet, assigned to transport convicts for the European colonisation of Australia in 1788. Also, the British East India company (EIC) chartered Scarborough to take a cargo of tea back to Britain after her two voyages transporting convicts. She spent much of her career as a West Indiaman, trading between London and the West Indies, but did perform a third voyage in 1801–02 to Bengal for the EIC. In January 1805 she repelled a French privateer of superior force in a single-ship action, before foundering in April.
HMS Hindostan was a 50-gun two-decker fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She was originally a teak-built East Indiaman named Admiral Rainier launched at Calcutta in 1799 that the Royal Navy brought into service in May 1804. Before the Royal Navy purchased her, Admiral Rainier made two trips to England for the British British East India Company (EIC), as an "extra ship", i.e., under charter. Perhaps her best known voyage was her trip to Australia in 1809 when she and Dromedary brought Governor Lachlan Macquarie to replace Governor William Bligh after the Rum Rebellion. In later years she became a store ship, and in 1819 was renamed Dolphin. She was hulked in 1824 to serve as a prison ship, and renamed Justitia in 1831. She was finally sold in 1855.
Albion was a full rigged whaler built at Deptford, England, and launched in 1798. She made five whaling voyages to the seas around New South Wales and New Zealand. The government chartered her in 1803 to transport stores and cattle, to Risdon Cove on the River Derwent, Tasmania.
Atlas was built in Souths Shields by Temple and launched in 1801 for Temple. She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland or England to Port Jackson. On the first voyage she carried cargo for the British East India Company (EIC). On the second she sailed to Bengal after delivering her convicts to New South Wales and was wrecked off India in 1820 while on her way back to Britain.
Hercules was a sailing ship built in 1801 at South Shields, England. She made one trip transporting convicts to Port Jackson. She made two trips for the British East India Company (EIC), and was homeward bound from the second of these when the French privateer Napoleon captured her off the Cape of Good Hope.
Minorca was a merchant ship launched in 1799 at Newcastle upon Tyne, England. She made one voyage in 1801 transporting convicts to New South Wales. For her return voyage to Britain she was under contract to the British East India Company (EIC).
William Pitt was a three-decker sailing ship, built in Liverpool in 1803. She made three complete voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and on the first of these she transported convicts to New South Wales. In December 1814 she was lost in a gale to the east of Algoa Bay while homeward bound from her fourth voyage.
Fortune, also known as La Fortune, was a sailing ship built in Spain. She was taken in prize in 1804. New owners renamed her and she entered British registers in 1805–6. She twice transported convicts from Britain to New South Wales. She was lost c. 1814 on her way to China from Australia.
Alexander was a sailing ship built by Henry Baldwin and launched in Quebec in 1801. She was registered in London in 1802. She sailed for the British East India Company carrying wheat to New South Wales for the government, before returning to Britain via China. She spent a few years trading with the West Indies before she traveled to New South Wales again, this time transporting convicts. On her return to Britain new owners returned her to trading with the West Indies, but she is no longer listed after 1810 and her ultimate fate is unknown.
Northampton, was a three-decker merchant ship launched in 1801 upon the River Thames, England. She made eight voyages to India as an extra (chartered) ship for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1801 and 1819. During the same period she made one separate trip transporting convicts from Britain to New South Wales, followed by a voyage for the EIC from China back to England. In 1820 she carried settlers to South Africa. She is last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1822.
HMS Porpoise was the former mercantile quarter-decked sloop Lord Melville, which the Royal Navy purchased in 1804 to use as a store-ship.
Mary Bligh, Lady O'Connell (1783–1864) was the Lady of Government House, New South Wales, Australia during the period her father William Bligh was the Governor of New South Wales.
Comet was launched in 1800 on the Thames. In 1801 she made a voyage under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). On her second voyage, in 1803, the French captured her. Still, in 1804 her previous owners were able to reacquire her. She then made another voyage for the EIC. On her return she first served as a troopship and then in the West Indies trade. She apparently was lost in 1815 or 1816.
Jane, Duchess of Gordon was launched in 1805 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made one complete voyage for the EIC and then foundered while homeward bound on the second.
Varuna was launched at Calcutta in 1796. She made four voyages as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC), and then spent two years as a troopship. She returned to India in 1806. She was lost in 1811, probably in a typhoon.
Glory was an East Indiaman launched in 1802. She made two complete voyages as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC) before she disappeared in November 1808 while homeward bound from her third voyage. On her second voyage she participated in the British expedition to capture the Cape of Good Hope.
Sarah Christiana was launched in 1798. She made one voyage as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). She then made a voyage to Jamaica. On her return, the EIC engaged her for four more voyages as an East Indiaman. In 1810 she was sold and became a West Indiaman. She was wrecked broken up in 1828.
Lady Burges was launched in 1799 as an East Indiaman. She made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1800 and 1805. She was wrecked in 1806 early in her fourth voyage.
