Career
Captain James M'Donald sailed from Martha Brae on 21 July 1790, bound for London. Adverse winds forced him to sail via the Gulf of Mexico. On 5 August he sighted a Spanish fleet astern, consisting of several merchantmen and two warships as escort. In the evening of 7 August Trelawney Planter passed ahead of the fleet when a frigate, later reported to be Roussillon, of 36 guns, and under the command of Captain Don Francisco Vidal, came up and ordered M'Donald to come aboard. When he did so, Captain Vidal berated him for sailing in Spanish waters. M'Donald replied that as the passage consisted of Spanish territory on the one side (Florida), and British territory on the other (the Bahamas), he was entitled to sail there. Vidal then caused M.Donald to be confined all night between two guns on the quarterdeck. Next morning Vidal had M'Donald tied up on the Fo'csle in the burning sun for three and a half hours. Vidal sent two officers and seventeen men, including a Black man to act as interpreter, to Trelawney Planter to search her. They returned, having found nothing indicating that she might engage in piracy, or smuggling of contraband. The Spaniards finally released M'Donald, his men, and Trelawney Planter at about 1pm on 8 August. [5] [lower-alpha 1]
Trelawney Planter arrived at Gravesend on 18 September 1790. She first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in the volume for 1791. [3]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|
| 1791 | M'Donald | R.Shedden | London–Jamaica | LR |
| 1797 | M'Donald | R.Shedden | London–Jamaica | LR |
|
Trelawney Planter disappeared from Lloyd's Register between 1797 and 1802; her disposition during this period is between currently obscure. In 1801 Shedden sailed a second, slightly larger Trelawney Planter.
Trelawney Planter re-appeared in the 1802 volume of Lloyd's Register. [1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|
| 1802 | J.Crear | Walker & Co. | Leith–Tobago | LR |
|
The Caledonian Mercury reported in November 1802 that Trelawney Planter had put into Bantry Bay while sailing from Tobago to Leith. Captain Crear and several of her crew had died at Tobago. [8] Lloyd's Register did not update her entry for some years. An advertisement in the Caledonian Mercury in February 1806 stated that she was under the command of James Gunn and that she intended to sail from Plymouth to Tobago, leaving with the Plymouth convoy due to sail on 1 March. [2]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|
| 1806 | J.Crear
J.Gunn | Walker & Co. | Leith–Tobago | LR |
| 1807 | J.Gunn
Wiseman | Walker & Co. | Leith–Tobago | LR |
| 1809 | Wiseman
J.Fell | Lind & Co. | Leith–Tobago | LR |
| 1810 | J.Fell | Robinson | Hull–London | LR |
| 1811 | J.Fell
Simmons | Robinson | Hull–London | LR |
|
HMS Squirrel was a Royal Navy sixth rate post ship, built in 1755. She served during the French and Indian War, most notably at Louisbourg and Quebec, and the American Revolution, during which she captured two French privateers. The Royal Navy sold her in 1783. J. Montgomery purchased her and she became the Greenland whaler Union. Then in 1790–91 she became a slaver, making five slave-trading voyages. Between 1796 and 1802 she made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then traded between London and Liverpool. She was last listed in 1804.
The ship that became Mary Ann was built in 1772 in France and the British captured her c. 1778. Her name may have been Ariadne until 1786 when she started to engage in whaling. Next, as Mary Ann, she made one voyage transporting convicts to New South Wales from England. In 1794 the French captured her, but by 1797 she was back in her owners' hands. She then made a slave trading voyage. Next, she became a West Indiaman, trading between London or Liverpool to Demerara. It was on one of those voyages in November 1801 that a French privateer captured her.
Tobago was a ship launched in 1790. She came into British hands in 1793 and was probably a prize taken immediately after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in early 1793. She traded with Tobago for several years before new owners purchased her for whaling. She made two whaling voyages to the East Coast of Africa before her owners sold her to new owners. She then made two voyages as a slave ship. She was abandoned or condemned in 1802 after having delivered her captives on her second such voyage.
Amazon was launched in France in 1775 under another name and taken in prize in 1780. British owners named her Amazon and she became a West Indiaman. In 1782 an American letter-of-marque, a former British Royal Navy frigate, captured her, but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She then became Dumfries. She may have been renamed again. She reappeared as Amazon in 1790, and traded between London and Smyrna. In 1798 she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1797 and 1798. She then made three voyages between 1800 and 1804 as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Her subsequent history is currently obscure.
Mercury apparently was launched in 1786 at Topsham, but her career prior to 1790 is obscure. She initially traded with Virginia and then with the "Straits". In 1794-1795 she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she became a West Indiaman. She was lost in 1802.
Recovery was built at Liverpool in 1793. She was a West Indiaman that sailed under a letter of marque. The French privateer Courageaux captured her in 1799. She returned to British ownership by 1800 and continued to trade until she foundered in June 1818 on her way from Hull to Miramichi Bay.
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.
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.
Barbara was launched in Philadelphia in 1771 and came to England circa 1787. She initially sailed as a West Indiaman, but then between 1788 and 1800 made five complete voyages as a whaler. The Spanish captured her late in 1800 in the Pacific during her sixth whaling voyage.
Resolution was launched at Liverpool in 1776 as the West Indiaman Thomas Hall; she was renamed in 1779. She sailed briefly as a privateer. Then between 1791 and 1804 Revolution made some six voyages as a whaler. On one voyage, in 1793, a French frigate captured her, but Resolution was re-captured. In 1804 a new owner returned her to the West Indies trade. She does not appear to have sailed after early 1805.
Several ships have been named John:
Nimble was built in Folkestone in 1781, possibly under another name. In 1786 Nimble was almost rebuilt and lengthened. Between 1786 and 1798 she made nine voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. Between 1799 and 1804 she made four voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her first voyage as to gather captives she detained a neutral vessel, an action that resulted in a court case. On her second voyage to gather captives, a French privateer captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. She was wrecked in 1804 or so after she had delivered her captives to St Thomas.
Intrepid was launched in 1776, almost surely under another name. She appeared as Intrepid in British records from 1787; missing volumes of Lloyd's Register (LR) and missing pages in extant records obscure her earlier name(s) and history. She made one voyage as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery and two as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She also captured a Spanish merchant ship in a notable action. Otherwise she traded widely as a West Indiaman, transport, and to North and South America. She was wrecked in November 1816.
Sparrow was built in Bombay in 1777, possibly under another name. Between 1789 and 1798 Sparrow made several voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. In 1803 she was captured and recaptured. The French Navy captured and burnt her in 1806.
Several vessels have been named Trelawney Planter for Trelawny, Jamaica:
HMS Spy was a Bonetta-class sloop launched at Rotherhithe in 1756 for the Royal Navy. The Navy sold her in 1773. From 1776, or perhaps earlier she was a transport. Then from 1780 to 1783, as Mars, she was first a privateer and then a slave ship, engaged in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. Between 1783 and 1787 her name was Tartar, and she traded with the Mediterranean. From 1787, as Southampton, she was a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She made at least four complete whaling voyages and was last listed in 1792.
Trelawney was launched in 1783 in Liverpool as a West Indiaman. In 1800 a French privateer captured her as Trelawney was sailing to the Mediterranean, but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. The ship traded with North America until she was wrecked on 19 February 1803.
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 made two more voyages as a slave ship. She was damaged outbound on a fourth voyage to transport enslaved people and then disappears from online records.
Trelawney was launched in 1775 at Liverpool as Clayton, sailing as a West Indiaman. She first appeared as Trelawney in 1779. Between early 1788 and end-1790 she made two voyages as a whaler in the northern whale fishery, and one in the southern whale fishery. Her return from the southern fishery resulted in her owners suing the government for a bounty payment; the owners won. She disappeared from the registers between 1794 and 1800. In 1800 she reappeared as a coaster, sailing between the River Tyne and London. In 1809 she started sailing across the North Atlantic to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Quebec. A United States privateer captured her in 1812.
Chaser first appeared under that name in British records in 1786. She had been launched in 1771 at Philadelphia under another name, probably Lord North. Lord North became Cotton Planter, and then Planter, before she became Chaser. Between 1786 and 1790 Chaser made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then became a merchantman. In 1794 a privateer captured her but the Spanish recaptured her. She became a Liverpool-based Slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. In 1796 she was condemned in West Africa on her first voyage in the triangular trade before she could embark any enslaved people.
Great Britain