Will was a ship launched at Liverpool in 1797 for Aspinal & Co., who were one of Liverpool's leading slave-trading companies. She made numerous voyages between West Africa and the Caribbean in the triangular trade in enslaved people, during which she several times successfully repelled attacks by French privateers. Will apparently foundered in a squall in July 1806, shortly before the passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807 abolished the slave trade for British subjects.
1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1797–1798): Captain James Locke received a letter of marque for Will on 4 July 1797.[1]Will, James Lake, master, sailed from Liverpool on 18 July 1797.[3] In 1797, 104 vessels sailed from England, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 90 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool.[4]
Will arrived off Africa on 15 September. She acquired captives at Bonny and sailed for Jamaica on 24 October. She arrived at Kingston on 29 December. She had embarked 420 captives and disembarked 415, for a mortality rate of 1%. Will left Kingston on 18 February 1798 and arrived back at Liverpool on 15 April. Two of her 39 crew members had died during the overall voyage.[3][lower-alpha 2]
After the passage of Dolben's Act in 1788, masters received a bonus of £100 for a mortality rate of under 2%; the ship's surgeon received £50. For a mortality rate between two and three per cent, the bonus was halved. There was no bonus if mortality exceeded 3%.[6][lower-alpha 3] Dolben's Act also limited the number of enslaved people that British enslaving ships could transport without facing penalties, based on the ships' tons burthen. At a burthen of 286 tons, the cap for Will would have been 420 captives. Dolben's Act was the first British legislation passed to regulate slave shipping.
The Lloyd's Register (1798) entry for Will gave her master's name as T. Dodson, changing to H. Crow.[8] Crow made four voyages to the Bight of Biafra and Gulf of Guinea islands, and then to Jamaica, in 1798, 1800, 1801, and 1802.
2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1798–1799):Will left Liverpool on 30 July 1798 with a crew of 46 men, bound for Angola.[9] In 1798, 160 vessels sailed from England, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 149 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. This was the largest number of vessels in the period 1795–1804.[4]
Will ended up stopping at Bonny River. Crow had three men die on Will. Will arrived on 29 December at Kingston, Jamaica, with 420 captives.[9] In Jamaica, Crow lost 31 crew members—10 died, the Royal Navy pressed 15, and six deserted—forcing him to bring on 13 new crew members. Will left Jamaica on 14 February 1799 and arrived in Liverpool on 9 April,[9] with a crew of 23, apparently having lost two more crew members en route.[10]
3rd voyage transporting enslaved people (1799–1800):Will left Liverpool on 25 July 1799, with a crew of 42.[10][11] In 1799, 156 vessels sailed from England, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 134 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool.[4]
Will again sailed to Bonny. Near Cape Palmas a French privateer schooner fired on Will, but sheered off on meeting resistance. Then after Will had been at Bonny for some three months gathering captives, Hugh Crow's brother Will, captain of Charlotte, brought the intelligence that there were three French frigates in the area. Next day, three frigates and a schooner came up and anchored some four miles away. They then sent their boats to attack Will. However, the tide was at half-ebb and the boats did not push over the Barleur bank, which stood between them and their target. After a two-hour long-range exchange of fire, Will cut her cables and returned to Bonny. There the nine ships in the harbour organized themselves under the command of Captain Latham of Lottery and sallied forth, anchoring in a line about four miles from the French vessels, which after a week gave up and sailed away.[12]
The Will, under Captain Crow, beating off a French Privateer, 21 February 1800
On 2 February 1800, a French privateer attacked Will. Crow fought back, driving the privateer off, though not without suffering casualties and a great deal of damage. In the engagement, Will had three crewmen wounded, two captives killed, and ten captives wounded. Crow estimated that had the French vessel attacked once more he would have been forced to strike.[13][14] The action apparently took place near Tobago. Crow had trained one captive to be a gunner and found the man to be "both courageous and expert".[15]
Will arrived at Kingston on 7 March, with 405 captives on board.[11] Crow had six crew members die and four desert.[10] When she arrived, boats from eight warships arrived and pressed many of Will's crew. Then on 12 April, during a celebration in honour of Rodney's victory, the crew on board a nearby sloop fired a gun that was still loaded with a double-headed shot. The projectile hit Will's doctor, who had been drinking coffee on the quarterdeck, killing him.[16]Will left for Britain on 19 May. She arrived back at Liverpool on 15 July.[11]
4th voyage transporting enslaved people (1800–1801): Prior to leaving on this, his third voyage, Crowe received a letter of marque on 28 August 1800.[1]Will sailed again on 6 November.[17] In 1800, 133 vessels sailed from England, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 120 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool.[4]
Will did not reach Bonny for almost 10 weeks. There she took on the captain and crew of Diana, which had wrecked. Lloyd's List reported that Diana, of Liverpool, Ward, master, had wrecked on the Bonny Bar, but that the crew was saved, and that Will and Lord Stanley had brought them into Jamaica.[18]
Will reached Jamaica with 293 captives.[17] On 21 May 1801 she left Port Royal in convoy, under the escort of HMSYork. Captain John Ferrier, of York, appointed Crow a senior captain of the convoy, and placed Will at the rear of the convoy as "whipper-in". Will encountered Hector, Blackie, master, of Liverpool, which was not part of the convoy but was in a sinking state. Hector capsized before Crow could get her crew off, but he was still able to save all but one man on her, a passenger who drowned as she capsized and went under.[12][19]Will arrived back at Liverpool on 19 July, having left Liverpool with 42 crew members and having suffered only two crew member deaths in the overall voyage.[17]
After his return to Liverpool, Crow received two pieces of silver. The merchants and underwriters of Liverpool gave him an engraved silver plate worth £200 commemorating him on his feat of driving off three French frigates on 16 December 1799. The Lloyd's underwriters gave him an engraved silver cup commemorating Crow's defeat of the French privater brig on 21 February 1800.[20]
5th voyage transporting enslaved people (1801–1802): Crow left on his fourth slaving voyage on Will on 11 November 1801.[21] In 1801, 147 vessels sailed from England, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 122 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool.[4]
Will was delayed for some time at Cape Palmas due to an absence of wind. After collecting captives at Bonny, Crow sailed for the Portuguese island of São Tomé to resupply. There one of Will's officers fell overboard and was eaten by sharks before the crew could rescue him. Also, there Crow found the master (Wright), crew, and some captives from the brig John Bull, which had wrecked on the coast of Africa. Crow took them aboard, including some 60 captives. Disease broke out among the rescued men and after Crow landed them some time later at Barbados, most died. Crow then sailed on to Kingston. Crow and Will arrived at Kingston on 30 June 1802 with 294 captives.[21]
Will and Crow arrived back at Liverpool on 23 October 1802,[21] narrowly missing being shipwrecked on the coast of Wales. He had lost seven of his 35-man crew.[21] Aspinal & Co. had Will repaired and laid up, and Crow moved to a new ship, Ceres.[22][lower-alpha 4]
6th voyage transporting enslaved people (1804–1805): Captain John Brelsford received a letter of marque on 21 June 1804.[1][lower-alpha 5]
Brelsford sailed to the Bight of Biafra and Gulf of Guinea islands, and then to Jamaica.[25]Will left Liverpool on 4 July 1804. In 1804, 147 vessels sailed from England, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 126 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool.[4]
Will arrived at Kingston on 15 December with 262 captives. She left Kingston 21 April 1805 and arrived at Liverpool on 5 July. She had lost one man of her 42 crew.[25]
Fate
7th voyage transporting enslaved people (1805–loss):Will's captain was Thomas Livesley (or Lievesly). He sailed the same circuit as his predecessors, but apparently without a letter of marque. Will left Liverpool on 20 October 1805.[26]
Will arrived at Kingston on 31 March 1806 with 265 captives. She also had lost seven of her 36 crew men. She left Kingston on 19 June.[26]
Lloyd's List reported that Will, of and for Liverpool, had been upset by a squall in July 1806 after leaving Kingston and had foundered. Four crew members had drowned.[27]
In 1806, 33 British enslaving ships were lost. The source for this number does not show any vessels being lost on the homeward leg of their journeys.[28] Absent detailed vessel histories, it is frequently difficult to know if a vessel lost between the West Indies and Britain was a Guineaman, or simply a West Indiaman. Still, 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.[29]
Notes
↑ Originally William Aspinal. Later, William, together with James Tobin.
↑ On 2 August 1799, Lake was captain on Trelawney off Cabinda when captives succeeded in taking over the vessel. However, with the assistance of a nearby ship the revolt was put down after a 90-minute battle.[5]
↑ At the time the monthly wage for a captain of a slave ship out of Bristol was £5 per month.[7]
↑ In 1807 Crow made the last legal enslaving voyage from Liverpool, sailing in the ship Kitty's Amelia.[23]
↑ Brelsford had been captain of Sarah when he and three other members of her officers and crew were acquitted of the murder of two captives. The stated motive for the charge was Brelsford's need to bring the number of captives he was carrying down to the maximum number that Dolben's Act permitted.[24]
Iris was launched at Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. In all she made eight voyages (1783-1800) transporting captives from West Africa to the Caribbean. She also made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) to Bengal and back (1795-1796). She was condemned in Jamaica in December 1800 as unseaworthy.
Sarah was launched at Liverpool in 1797. She then made six voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies. A French privateer captured Sarah in 1804 in a single-ship action on her seventh voyage after Sarah had gathered her slaves but before she could deliver them to the West Indies.
Hannah was built in Liverpool in 1795. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade of enslaved people. She was lost in 1801 as she was returning home after having delivered her captives on her fourth 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 in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She foundered off Bermuda in 1803 after having disembarked her captives.
Defiance was launched in Hamburg in 1790, probably under another name. She started sailing as a slave ship out of London in 1795. Between 1795 and 1800 she made three voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then left that trade but a French privateer captured her late in 1800.
Vulture was built in France 1777 and captured. By early 1779 she was sailing as a privateer out of Liverpool. She then became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made 10 voyages transporting enslaved people and was captured in 1795 on her 11th such voyage.
Goodrich was a brig launched in Bermuda in 1793. She made three voyages between 1795 and 1799as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then became a general merchantman and was wrecked in 1808.
Prince was launched at Bristol in 1785 as Alexander and then made two complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Her owners changed her name to Prince in 1787. As Prince, she made six more complete voyages as an enslaving ship. She sailed on enslaving voyages for owners in Bristol, Liverpool, and London. She foundered in 1800 as she was returning to England from her ninth, having delivered captives to Jamaica.
Caroline was a ship launched in France in 1792, possibly under another name. She was taken in prize in 1794 and sailed first as a West Indiaman, then as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery, and finally as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was lost in 1801, after she had delivered her captives to Kingston, Jamaica on her second voyage from Africa.
Bolton was launched at Liverpool in 1792. She then made 10 voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During her career she repelled one attack by a French privateer, was captured on a later voyage by another before being recaptured by the Royal Navy, and then was captured on her tenth voyage by yet another privateer after Bolton had gathered her captives but before she was able to deliver them to the West Indies. Bolton returned to British ownership, first sailing as West Indiaman, before embarking on an 11th enslaving voyage. She blew up on the African coast in 1806 after some of the captives aboard her succeeded in taking her over and setting fire to her.
Agreeable was launched in 1786 in Liverpool, possibly under another name. Between 1798 and 1802 she made three voyages as a slave ship. A French privateer captured her in 1803 as she was sailing from Africa to the West Indies on her fourth slave trading voyage.
Bell was launched in 1788 in Liverpool. Between 1788 and 1795 she made five voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French captured her in 1798 on her sixth enslaving voyage after she had embarked her captives. In 1798, the Royal Navy destroyed her.
Princess Amelia was launched in 1798 at Liverpool. She made eight complete voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. After the end of British participation in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, she became a merchantman. She was probably the Princess Amelia, from Liverpool, that was lost in 1810.
Molly was launched at Liverpool in 1778 as a slave ship. Between 1778 and 1807 she made 18 complete voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. During this period she also suffered one major maritime incident and captured two ships. After the end of Britain's involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Molly became a merchantman trading with the West Indies, Africa, Brazil, Nova Scotia, and Africa again. She was last listed in 1832, giving her a 54-year career.
Ann was launched at Chester in 1792 as a West Indiaman. From 1796 she made eight complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She participated in several single ship actions. On her first voyage she repelled an attack by a French privateer. On her second a privateer captured her but she was recaptured. On her ninth voyage a French privateer again captured her, but this time her captor plundered and then released her. She sank on 24 May 1810 in the Old Dock at Liverpool, but was salvaged.
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. Her fourth voyage gave rise to an influential, and exaggerated, estimate of the profitability of trading in enslaved people. She was lost in 1804 on the coast of Africa on her sixth voyage.
Lottery was launched at Liverpool in 1796. Between 1796 and 1807 she made eight complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Detailed and insightful accounts exist for the third voyage. After the end of British participation in the trans-Atlantic enslaving trade, Lottery became a West Indiaman. She was wrecked on 30 January 1810 outbound from Liverpool.
True Briton was launched at Liverpool in 1775. She made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During the second of these voyages there was an unsuccessful insurrection by the captives she was carrying. Then in 1777–1778 she made another enslaving voyage, this time under the name John. On her return to Liverpool, she became the privateer Bellona, and succeeded in taking several prizes. Bellona then made three enslaving voyages. In 1786 her ownership changed, and so did her name. She became Lord Stanley, and under that name proceeded to make 11 more enslaving voyages. In 1794, at Havana, a deadly fever spread through the vessel, apparently after she had landed her captives. On her last voyage the captain acted with such brutality towards a black crew member that the man, who providentially survived, sued the captain when the vessel arrived at Liverpool and won substantial damages.
Aeolus was built in Liverpool. Between 1787 and 1806 she made 13 voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On one voyage she repelled an attack by a French privateer in a single ship action. She was last listed in 1808.
Bud was launched at Liverpool in 1783. Between 1783 and 1800 she made 12 complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. In 1796 she repelled an attack by a faster, better armed, and more heavily crewed French privateer in a single ship action. Then in 1798, a French privateer captured her in another single ship action after Bud's short but sanguinary resistance. The Royal Navy quickly captured her, and her captor. On her 13th enslaving voyage she was condemned at Kingston, Jamaica after she had arrived with her captives.
Crow, Hugh (1830). Memoirs of the late Captain Hugh Crow, of Liverpool; comprising a narrative of his life, together with descriptive sketches of the western coast of Africa; particularly of Bonny ... To which are added, anecdotes and observations illustrative of the Negro character. Compiled chiefly from his own manuscripts, etc. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green.
Eltis, James (2009). "Abolition and Identity in the Very Long Run". In Klooster, Wim (ed.). Migration, Trade, and Slavery in an Expanding World: Essays in Honor of Pieter Emmer. BRILL. ISBN978-9047429647.
Howley, Frank (2008). Slavers, Traders and Privateers: Liverpool, the African Trade and Revolution, 1773-1808. Countyvise. ISBN9781901231984.
Inikori, Joseph (1996). "Measuring the unmeasured hazards of the Atlantic slave trade: Documents relating to the British trade". Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer. 83 (312): 53–92.
Mackenzie-Grieve, Averil. (1941). The Last Years of the English Slave Trade, Liverpool, 1750-1807. Putnam.
Taylor, Eric Robert (2009). If We Must Die: Shipboard Insurrections in the Era of the Atlantic Slave Trade. LSU Press. ISBN978-0807131817.
Williams, Gomer (1897). History of the Liverpool Privateers and Letters of Marque: With an Account of the Liverpool Slave Trade. W. Heinemann.
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