| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | William |
| Launched | 1811, Kingston upon Hull |
| Fate | Wrecked 2 July 1830 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 350 (bm) |
| Armament | 8 × 9-pounder carronades |
William was launched at Kingston upon Hull in 1811. She made 19 complete voyages to Davis Strait and Greenland in the British northern whale fishery, but was lost to ice on her 20th. Her loss gave rise to an interesting case in claims for salvage.
William first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in the volume for 1811. [1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1811 | T.Orton | Marshall | Hull–Davis Strait | LR |
| 1812 | T.Orton Kelah | Marshall | Hull–Davis Strait | LR |
The whaling data below is from Coltish, [2] augmented with press reports.
| Year | Master | Where | Whales | Tuns whale oil |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1811 | [Andrew Marvel] Orton | Davis Strait | 12 | 174 |
| 1812 | [Robert] Keilah | Davis Strait | 17 | 235 |
| 1813 | Keilah | Greenland | 19 | 162 |
| 1814 | [James] Gawthorpe | Greenland | 16 | 141 |
| 1815 | Gawthorpe | Greenland | 4 | 70 |
| 1816 | Gawthorpe | Greenland | 5 | 62 |
| 1817 | Gawthorpe | Davis Strait | 8 | 86 |
| 1818 | [John] Barchard | Davis Strait | 8 | 94 |
| 1819 | Barchard | Davis Strait | 0 | 0 |
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1820 | Barchard Hawkins | Coopers | Hull–Davis Strait | LR; repairs 1819 & thorough repair 1820 |
| Year | Master | Where | Whales | Tuns whale oil |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1820 | [Thomas] Hawkins | Davis Strait | 18 | 245 |
| 1821 | Hawkins | Greenland | 12 | 129 |
| 1822 | Hawkins | Davis Strait | 3 | 40 |
| 1823 | Hawkins | Davis Strait | 32 | 260 |
| 1824 | Hawkins | Davis Strait | 9 | 100 |
| 1825 | Hawkins | Davis Strait | 2 | 23 |
| 1826 | Hawkins | Davis Strait | 7 | 102 |
| 1827 | Hawkins | Davis Strait | n/a | 52 |
| 1828 | [William] North | Davis Strait | 14 | 188 |
| 1829 | North | Davis Strait | 8 | 112 |
| 1830 | North | Davis Strait | 0 | 0 |
On 2 July 1830 William became trapped in ice at Davis Strait, leading her crew to abandon her and join other whaling vessels in the area. The crews of Traveller and Zephyr worked for 48 hours to clear her of ice. They then set fire to the upper part of William, lightening her and causing her to rise. When she rose to the point that the beams above the casks of blubber she had collected were exposed, they set fire to them too. When the casks appeared, the crews put out the fire. When William's master would not sign over her blubber and whale fins to the crews, Zephyr sailed away. Traveller took on 70 butts of blubber and one ton of whale fins. Captain George Simpson took them back with him and sold them, keeping the proceeds for himself and his men. William's owners sued for the proceeds, but Simpson argued that it was a long-standing custom of the whaling trade that salvaged cargo belonged to the men who had salvaged it. The jury found for the plaintiffs, who had estimated the value of the lost whale products at £500, and awarded them £392. [3] Although all but one witness, all of whom were masters of whaling ships, testified for the defendant, the jury found for the plaintiff. [4]
Captain William North died a few days after the loss of William, and so was not in a position to testify in the case.
Brunswick was launched at Hull and initially was a Greenland whaler. Her owner withdrew her from the northern whale fishery in 1836 and then deployed her sailing to New York and Sierra Leone. She was apparently on a voyage to India when she was wrecked on 7 April 1842.
Andrew Marvel was launched at Hull in 1812. From 1812 to 1835 she was a Greenland whaler, hunting bowhead whales in the northern whale fishery. Thereafter she became a merchantman. She foundered in September 1843 while on a voyage from Hull to Saint John, New Brunswick.
Earl Fauconberg was launched at Whitby in 1765. From 1784 on she made numerous voyages as a Greenland whaler. She was lost there in 1821.
Aurora was launched at Kingston upon Hull. She traded with the Baltic until 1803 when she became a Greenland whaler. She was lost in 1821 on her 18th voyage to the northern whale fishery.
Lord Wellington was launched in 1810 at Hull, England. She made 20 voyages to Davis Strait and Greenland as a northern whale fishery whaler. She was lost in June 1834 on her 21st voyage.
Majestic was launched at Sunderland in 1811. In 1812 she became a whaler in the British northern whale fishery, whaling at Davis Strait. She was lost there on 16 July 1819.
Gardiner and Joseph was launched at Hull in 1810. She made 11 voyages to Greenland or Davis Strait as a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She then traded briefly between Hull and North America. She foundered on 9 October 1824.
Jane was launched at Kingston upon Hull in 1813 as a West Indiaman. Between 1818 and 1836 she was a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She then became a merchantman and was wrecked in 1866.
Royalist was launched in 1794 at Sunderland. She was a general trader until 1812 when she became a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She was lost in April 1814 while whaling in the Davis Strait.
Hebe was launched at Hull in 1809. She initially sailed as a West Indiaman, but then sailed to the Mediterranean. In 1813 a privateer captured her but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. Between 1816 and 1819 she made two voyages to India, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). On her return new owners sailed her as a whaler. She was wrecked on 10 March 1821 on her second whaling voyage to the British northern whale fishery.
Home Castle was launched in Aberdeen in 1811. From 1813 on she was a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. She was lost in 1829 while whaling in Davis Strait.
Royal Bounty was launched in South Carolina in 1770, probably as George and Sarah. Her owners changed her name to Royal Bounty circa 1786. As Royal Bounty she sailed out of Leith, going on annual whale hunting voyages to the northern whale fishery. She was wrecked in 1819 on her 35th such voyage.
Isabella was launched in Kingston upon Hull in 1813. She initially sailed as a transport, and then as a merchantman trading with Canada. In 1817 the British Admiralty hired her as one of two vessels that would go on an expedition to search for a Northwest Passage. The expedition was unsuccessful. In 1820 she underwent two maritime mishaps, only one of which was substantive. From 1824 until she wrecked in the ice in June 1835 she was a whaler in the northern whale fishery.
Lynx was launched at Whitby in 1776. From 1777 to 1798 she traded with the Baltic. Between 1798 and 1811 Lynx engaged in whaling in Davis Strait, in the British northern whale fishery. She then changed to trading with New Brunswick; in 1812 a French privateer captured her.
Cumbrian was launched at Shields in 1811. Initially, during the last years of the Napoleonic Wars, Cumbrian was a transport. After the end of the war she became a West Indiaman. In 1817 she made one voyage to Bengal, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). In 1819 she became a whaler, sailing from Kingston upon Hull to the northern whale fishery. From 1835 on she left whaling and started trading more widely, to North America, Bombay, and Africa. She was driven ashore in August 1844, refloated, and subsequently condemned.
Gibraltar was launched in 1776 in France, almost certainly under another name. Between 1787 and 1795, she was a whaler in the northern whale (Greenland) fishery. A French privateer captured her in February 1796 as she was on her way to the fishery, and burnt her. Her loss led the British government to increase the protection of the outward-bound whaling fleet.
Zephyr was a vessel built at Hull in 1796. She initially traded with the Baltic, though for a year or so she was a London-based transport. From 1810 she made 27 voyages as a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She returned to mercantile trade and was last listed in 1853.
Traveller was launched at Peterhead in 1815. She made three voyages to India, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC), and then from 1821 to 1858 she was a whaler and sealer in the British northern whale fishery. She was wrecked on 2 May 1858.
Dwina was launched at Kingston upon Hull in 1792. She primarily traded between Hull and Baltic ports, though she did make some voyages to the Mediterranean. In 1802 she became a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She made two complete voyages; ice wrecked her in 1804 shortly after she arrived at Greenland on her third voyage.
Lady Forbes was launched at Leith in 1799. She became a West Indiaman, sailing under a series of letters of marque. She survived a major hurricane and an attack by pirates. From 1819, she was a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. She made three annual whaling voyages before she was lost in 1822 when ice crushed her.