William and Ann (1781 ship)

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History
British-Red-Ensign-1707.svgGreat Britain
Owner1781: Will and Francis Skinner, and William Reynolds
BuilderWhitby
Launched1781
FateWrecked 1830
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen341, or 344, or 400 (bm)
Length101 ft (31 m)
Beam29 ft (8.8 m)
Armament
  • 1782: 10 × 6-pounder guns
  • 1783: 6 × 6-pounder guns
  • 1798: 6 × 6-pounder guns
  • 1805: 6 × 4-pounder guns

William and Ann was launched in 1781 at Whitby. From her launch until 1805 she alternated between being a transport and trading with the Baltic. In 1805 she became a whaler in the northern whale fishery . She wrecked in ice in 1830 in the Greenland fisheries on her 24th whaling voyage.

Contents

Career

William and Ann first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1781. [2] When she was launched Great Britain was still at war and her initial service was as a transport. After the war ended in 1783, William and Ann started trading with the Baltic. Thereafter, she interspersed trading with the Baltic and service as a transport.

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource & notes
1781W.BridekirkW.SkinnerWhitbyLR
1782W.BridekirkW.SkinnerLondon transportLR
1784W.BridekirkW.SkinnerLondon transport
London–Petersburg
LR
1789W.BridekirkW.Skinner
W.Sims
London–BalticLR
1790W.BridekirkW.Skinner
St.Barbe
London–BalticLR; damage repaired 1789
1791W.BridekirkW.SkinnerCork transportLR; damage repaired 1789
1792W.BridekirkW.SkinnerLondon–PetersburgLR; damage repaired 1789
1793W.BridekirkW.SkinnerLondon–Petersburg
Cork transport
LR; damage repaired 1789
1797W.BridekirkW.SkinnerCork transport
London–Riga
LR; damage repaired 1789 & repairs 1797
1799W.BridekirkW.SkinnerRiga–Portsmouth
London transport
LR; damage repaired 1789 & repairs 1797
1800W.BridekirkW.SkinnerLondon transport
Liverpool–Rostock
LR; damage repaired 1789 & repairs 1797
1805W.BridekirkSkinner, Jr.CorkLR; damage repaired 1789 & repairs 1797

LR carried William and Ann until 1810 with data unchanged from the 1805 volume. However, William and Ann had become a whaler, something that the Register of Shipping (RS) had recorded.

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource & notes
1806JohnsonSkinnerWhitby–Davis StraitRS; repairs 1797, good repairs 1802, and small repairs 1804 and 1805

Some data exists on William and Ann's catches in the Northern Whale Fishery.

YearMasterWhere"Fish"
(Whales)
Tuns blubber Tuns whale oilSeals
1805JohnstonDavis Strait81110
1806714111
1807JohnstonDavis Strait6100.750
180825313.51

In 1809 William and Ann traded between London and Whitby rather than engaging in whaling.

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource & notes
1810StephensSkinnerWhitby–LondonRS; good repairs 1802, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807, & 1888
YearMasterWhere"Fish"
(Whales)
Tuns blubber Tuns whale oilSeals
1810StephensGreenland11184.542
181119192122

On 27 February 1812, William and Ann, Davidson, master, was leaving Leith for Davis Strait when she grounded at the end of the pier. [3]

YearMasterWhere"Fish"
(Whales)
Tuns blubber Tuns whale oilSeals
181216221166
18139139.50
1814StephensonGreenland31 or 32250180 or 190157
1815StephensonGreenland49167171
1816StephensonGreenland3684922
1817StephensGreenland222001535
1818StephensGreenland8115891
1819TerryGreenland114
1820TerryGreenland12189.51367
1821TerryGreenland972
1822Terry681
1823Terry25204
1824Terry13150
1825Terry346
1826Terry23
1827Terry670
1828Terry13149
1829Terry10115

Fate

The 1830 season was a disastrous one for the Northern Whale Fishery. Seven Scottish and five English ships were lost between 10 June and 10 September when beset by ice. [4] William and Ann, of Whitby, Terry, master, was one of the vessels lost. [5] She was one of the vessels that ice crushed on 26 June. [6]

Captain Terry transferred to Eagle, along with the carpenter and 12 seamen. [6]

Citation

  1. Weatherill (1908), p. 87.
  2. LR (1781), Seq.No.W374.
  3. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4644. 3 March 1812. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735025.
  4. Sanger (2012), p. 196.
  5. "Disastrous Intelligence From the Greenland Fisheries". Sheffield Independent. Vol. 11, no. 565. 16 October 1830. p. 2.
  6. 1 2 Lubbock (1937), p. 279.

Related Research Articles

Several sailing ships have been named William and Ann:

Camden was built at Whitby in 1813. She served as a general trader for much of her career, though in 1820-21 she made one voyage to Bombay for the British East India Company (EIC). Between 1824 and 1831, Camden sailed under charter to the Hudson's Bay Company. Between 1833 and 1837 she was a Greenland whaler out of the Whitby whale fishery, and was the last vessel from Whitby to engage in whaling. She was last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1850.

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.

Bellona was launched at Lancaster in 1799. She was a West Indiaman that made one voyage as a whaler. She disappeared in 1809 as she was returning to England from Jamaica.

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.

Gardiner and Joseph was launched at Hull in 1802. She made seven voyages as a whaler in the northern whale fishery until she was wrecked in November 1808.

<i>Jane</i> (1813 Hull ship) British merchantman and whaler 1818–1866

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.

Jane was launched in Aberdeen in 1797. She spent her entire career as a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. She was lost in 1829 in the Davis Strait.

Fame was launched in India in 1786. She was sold to Portuguese owners. A French privateer captured but the Royal Navy recaptured her in 1794. She then became a West Indiaman, sailing from Liverpool. Between 1796 and 1804 she made three voyages as a slave ship. She then returned to the West Indies trade. From 1818 on she was a whaler in the Greenland whale fishery, sailing from Whitby and then Hull. She burnt in 1823 while outward bound on a whaling voyage.

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.

Monarch was launched at Whitby in 1810. In 1803 her owners sold her to the Montrose Whale Fishing Company. Between 1813 and 1839 she made 27 annual voyages to the northern whale fishery. Her most successful years were 1823 when she killed 28 whales and brought in 193 tuns of whale oil, and 1832 when she killed 24 whales and brought in 205 tuns of whale oil. She was last listed in 1838. However, she was sold in 1839 and still sailing to the Baltic for some time.

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.

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.

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.

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