Union (1796 ship)

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History
British-Red-Ensign-1707.svgGreat Britain
NameUnion
OwnerJohn Dawson & John Rackham [1]
Acquiredcirca 1796
Capturedcirca 1797
General characteristics
Tons burthen95 [1] (bm)

Union was a vessel acquired in 1796 by owners in Liverpool. Captain Archibald Galbraith sailed from Liverpool on 2 August 1796, bound for West Africa to engage in the triangular trade in enslaved people. [1] [2] In 1796, 103 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 94 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [3]

Contents

Lloyd's List reported in March 1797 that a French squadron under "Renier" had captured Bell, Thompson, master, Falmouth, Pearson, master, and Union, Galbraith, master, on the African Windward Coast. The French then gave Falmouth up to the crews. [4]

In 1796, 22 British vessels in the triangular trade were lost. Five of these vessels were lost on the coast of Africa. [5] During the period 1793 to 1807, war, rather than maritime hazards or resistance by the captives, was the greatest cause of vessel losses among British enslaving vessels. [6]

Earlier, Galbraith had been captain of the slave ships Brothers, which the French had captured, and Chaser, which was condemned in West Africa on her first voyage before she could embark any enslaved people. After Union he went on to be captain of Goodrich on the third of her seven voyages as a slave ship. The Liverpool merchant John Dawson was the or an owner of Brothers, Chaser, and Union. [lower-alpha 1]

Notes

  1. Between 1783 and 1792, the firm of Peter Baker and John Dawson was the largest firm in Great Britain in the slave trade. [7] Dawson went bankrupt in 1793, but afterwards returned to the slave trade.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Union voyage #83891.
  2. Inikori (1996), p. 80.
  3. Williams (1897), p. 680.
  4. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 2911. 31 March 1797.
  5. Inikori (1996), p. 2.
  6. Inikori (1996), p. 58.
  7. Behrendt (1990), pp. 104–105.

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Onslow was a Spanish vessel launched in 1789 that was taken in prize in 1795. She became a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete slave trading voyage before a French privateer captured her in 1797 as she was just on her way to embark slaves for a second voyage.

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 captives to Demerara.

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References