Career
In 1817 John Bull carried five Indian convicts from Bengal to Mauritius, [2] and in 1822 she carried some British convicts from Bengal to Port Jackson. In 1824 Captain Benjamin Osman, her owner and master, [3] offered her for sale in Sydney. He died on 1 March after a long and painful illness. [4]
In 1824 John Bull was sold in New South Wales, to Messrs. James Reibey and Thomas Wills for some £2000. They intended to sail her between Sydney and Port Dalrymple. [5] Later she traded with Mauritius and Canton. She brought tea, and satin, from Canton. On occasion she sailed via Manila, where she acquired sugar.
On 10 September 1825 Captain Henry Row passed within 40 miles from some islands at 6°47′N158°1′E / 6.783°N 158.017°E / 6.783; 158.017 as he was sailing from New South Wales to Canton. He did not approach more closely as he sighted five boats that gave chase. John Bull was lightly armed and so Row was unwilling to interact with them, choosing instead to sail on. He believed the islands were unknown and so named them "John Bull's Islands". [6]
In June 1827 John Bull was at Sydney undergoing fitting as a whaler. [7] On 23 August she sailed for the "Sperm fishery". John Bull, Captain Lewis, arrived back at Sydney on 20 May 1828 with 145 tons of sperm oil. [8] The cargo was sold to the London market at £74 per ton (Imperial measure), yielding a profit of £3-4000 pounds. [9] Customs declarations gave her cargo as 179 tons of sperm oil.
John Bull, Salmon, master, of 176 tons (bm), sailed for the sperm fishery again on 19 October. [10] On 5 or 6 February 1829 John Bull had 300 barrels of oil. A later report stated that she had been seen off Japan; she had poor results, and her chief mate had died in a fall from her yards. She returned to port on 11 February 1830 with 162 tons (or 1300 barrels or 550 casks) of oil; she had caught just 52 "fish". Her cargo was consigned to her owners, Messrs. Jones and Walker. [11] Asia, Stead, master, carried the whale oil that John Bull had gathered back to England for the London market. [12]
In March Lamb & Co, and other investors, purchased John Bull for £2150. [13] On 13 May Captain W. Barkus sailed for the sperm fishery with 160 tuns, casks, and fishery stores.
Britannia was a 301 burthen ton full rigged whaler built in 1783 in Bridport, England, and owned by the whaling firm Samuel Enderby & Sons. She also performed two voyages transporting convicts to Port Jackson. She was wrecked in 1806 off the coast of New South Wales.
Colonial Ship King George was the first ship, by virtue of having three masts, built in the colony of Sydney, New South Wales.
Albion was a full rigged whaler built at Deptford, England, and launched in 1798. She made five whaling voyages to the seas around New South Wales and New Zealand. The government chartered her in 1803 to transport stores and cattle, to Risdon Cove on the River Derwent, Tasmania.
Indispensable was a sailing ship built in France and launched in 1791. She was captured in 1793 at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars and thus came into British hands, keeping her name. She performed two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1793 and 1797. During this period and later she made two voyages transporting convicts to New South Wales. Amongst her notable events were the discovery of Indispensable Strait (1794), the capture of a Spanish vessel (1798), and the rescue of some castaways (1814). She later went on serve as a whaler in the South Seas until autumn 1827. She ceased trading after this last voyage and was broken up by April 1830.
Asia was a merchant ship built by A. Hall & Company at Aberdeen in 1818. She made eight voyages between 1820 and 1836 transporting convicts from Britain to Australia. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1826 and 1827. At the same time she served in private trade to India as a licensed ship. She also carried assisted emigrants to Australia. She was last listed in 1845.
Albion was a sailing ship of two decks and three masts, built at Bristol, England, and launched in 1813. She made three voyages transporting convicts to Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales. She also traded with Jamaica, India, and Quebec. For two of the voyages to India she was an "extra" ship to the British East India Company (EIC).
Hadlow was a merchant sailing ship built in 1814 at Quebec, British North America. She made two voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. She plied between England, India, and Sierra Leone before being lost with all hands in 1823.
Queen Charlotte was a merchant ship built at Sydney, New South Wales in 1813. She made two voyages transporting convicts from Bengal and Mauritius to Australia. She disappeared c.1832 while on a whaling voyage.
Eliza was a merchant ship built in British India, probably in 1804. Between 1819 and 1831 she made five voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. In between, she also made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). Her crew abandoned her at sea in 1836 as she was leaking uncontrollably.
Grenada was a merchant ship built at Kingston upon Hull, England in 1810. She made four voyages transporting convicts from England to Australia. In 1827, while returning to England from Australia via Batavia, she arrived at Mauritius in a damaged state and was condemned.
Integrity was a 220-ton merchant ship built at Redbridge, Southampton, England in 1824. She made two voyages transporting convicts from Mauritius to Australia. She was wrecked in the Torres Strait in August 1841.
John Bull was a sailing ship built in 1799 at Liverpool for the slave trade. She made one voyage carrying slaves from West Africa to Jamaica. Thereafter she became a West Indiaman, trading with Jamaica. Early in this period she was a letter of marque, and captured a French merchant vessel. A little later John Bull detained an American vessel. Much later she transported female convicts to New South Wales from Cork. After she delivered her convicts she made an unsuccessful voyage as a whaler in the South Pacific. She was last listed in 1833.
Several vessels have borne the name John Bull, named for the figure John Bull:
Cyprus was a brig launched at Sunderland in 1816. The colonial government in Van Diemen's Land purchased her in 1826. In 1829 as she was transporting convicts from Hobart Town to Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, some of the convicts seized Cyprus. They sailed her via Japan to Canton, where they scuttled her.
Cadmus was launched in 1813 at Sunderland. She traded with the East Indies under license from the British East India Company (EIC) until 1827. Then between 1827 and 1834 she made two voyages as a whaler. She was lost in 1835.
Policy was launched at Dartmouth in 1801. She was a whaler that made seven whaling voyages between 1803 and 1824, when she was lost at Tahiti on her eighth. On her second whaling voyage, in 1804, she was able to capture two Dutch vessels. On her fourth voyage the United States Navy captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her.
Lady Harewood, was launched in 1791 at Rotherhithe. She was initially a West Indiaman and in 1800 a French privateer captured her, but a Royal Navy frigate recaptured her two days later. She made three voyages transporting convicts to Australia, one in 1829 to Van Diemen's Land, and two, in 1831 and 1832, to New South Wales. In 1833 she became leaky on her way to Singapore from Australia and was condemned and sold at Singapore.
Adrian was launched in 1819 at Newcastle-on-Tyne. She initially sailed between London and Canada but then in 1822 she started sailing east of the Cape of Good Hope under a license from the British East India Company. She made voyages to Bengal and Batavia. In between, she transported convicts to New South Wales. She foundered in 1833.
Sir Charles Price was launched in America in 1812 under another name. The British captured her c.1814 and Daniel Bennett purchased her and added her to his fleet of whalers. She made six complete whaling voyages and was lost on her seventh whaling voyage.
Caroline was launched at Philadelphia in 1800, possibly under another name. She appeared in British records from 1814. From 1820 on she was based at Hobart in Van Diemen's Land. From there she sailed to and from Port Jackson and on seal hunting voyages to Macquarie Island. She departed on a sealing voyage in November 1824 and wrecked at Macquarie Island on 17 March 1825; her crew were rescued some five months later.
