Elizabeth (1786 ship)

Elizabeth was launched at Bermuda in 1786 or 1790. She first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1802. She then made four voyages as a slave ship, during the second of which a French privateer captured her. Next, she spent a little over a year as a hired armed tender under contract to the British Royal Navy. She returned to mercantile service trading with Madeira or Africa, until another French privateer captured her in early 1810.

For other ships with the same name, see List of ships named Elizabeth.

History
Great Britain
Name:	Elizabeth
Owner:	1802:Richard Buller, Francis Ingram, & William Ingram[1] 1805:William Brade, James Brade, William Smith, & Richard Haton[1]
Builder:	Bermuda
Launched:	1786[2] or 1790[3]
Fate:	Captured c.December 1809 or January 1810
General characteristics
Tons burthen:	204​^58⁄94,[4] or 206,[5] or 207[5][2] (bm)
Complement:	1804:30[5] 1805:25[5]
Armament:	1804:14 × 6-pounder guns[5] 1805:12 × 6-pounder guns[5] 1808:10 × 6-pounder carronades[4] 1811:16 × 6-pounder guns[2]
Notes:	Built mostly of Bermuda cedar

Career

Elizabeth entered LR in 1802 with C. Breer, master, Ingram & Co., owner, and trade Liverpool–Africa.[3]

Slave ship

Slave voyage #1 (1802-1803): Captain Christopher Brew sailed from Liverpool on 10 June 1802, for Africa. Elizabeth arrived at Trinidad on 28 February 1803. She had embarked 250 slaves and she landed 225, for a loss rate of 10%. She left Trinidad on 5 April and arrived back at Liverpool on 30 May. She had left Liverpool with 24 crew members and she suffered 2 crew deaths on the voyage.[1]

Slave voyage #2 (1803-1804): War with France had resumed while Elizabeth was on her first slave trading voyage. Before he set out on his second voyage, Brew acquired a letter of marque on 6 January 1804.[5] He sailed from Liverpool for the Bight of Benin on 26 January. Elizabeth gathered her slaves at Lagos/Onim.[1]

Lloyd's List reported on 14 September 1804 that the French privateer Grande Decide had captured Elizabeth.[6][Note 1] By one report the French took Elizabeth into Guadeloupe. It is unknown how many slaves Elizabeth had embarked and how many she landed at Basse-Terre. She had left Liverpool with 31 crew members and had one crew death on her voyage.[1]

In July HMS Centaur recaptured Elizabeth, of Liverpool, that "Decidé" had captured while Elizabeth was sailing from the coast of Africa with a cargo of slaves.[8]

Slave voyage #3 (1805-1806): Elizabeth returned to Liverpool and new ownership. On 2 August 1805 Captain James Brown acquired a letter of marque.[5] Elizabeth sailed from Liverpool on 15 September 1805, bound for Africa. She arrived at Dominica on 10 March 1806. It is unknown how many slaves Elizabeth had embarked and how many she landed. She had left Liverpool with 32 crew members and suffered 12 crew deaths on her voyage.[1] She also underwent some small repairs after she returned.

Slave voyage #4 (1806-1807): Captain Brown sailed from Liverpool on 17 July 1806, bound for the Bight of Biafra and the Gulf of Guinea islands. Elizabeth gathered slaves at New Calabar and arrived at Kingston, Jamaica, on 31 January 1807. She arrived with 313 slaves, but it is not clear how many she embarked, and how many she finally landed. She left Jamaica on 13 April and arrived back at Liverpool on 5 June. She had left Liverpool with 34 crew members and she suffered seven crew deaths on her voyage.[1]

On 10 February 1807 the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, which prohibited the slave trade in the British Empire.[9]

Hired armed tender

Elizabeth needed a new trade. She next served under the Royal Navy under contract from 22 January 1808 to 27 April 1809 as a hired armed tender.[4]

Merchantman

Entries in Lloyd's Register and the Register of Shipping are indicative, not definitive. They were only as accurate as owners choose to keep them. Some discrepancies between the two sources are also due to differences in publication dates.

Year	Master	Owner	Trade	Source
1809	J.Brown P. Coffe	Brade & Co.	Liverpool–Africa	Lloyd's Register (LR)
1809	Hamilton	Hamilton	Liverpool cruizer	Register of Shipping (RS)
1810	Coffee J. Brien	Hamilton & Co.	Liverpool–Madeira	LR
1810	P.Coffee	Captain	Liverpool cruizer	RS
1811	J. Brien	M'Dowel	Liverpool–Africa	LR[2]
1811	Bryant	Bryant	Liverpool–Madeira	RS[10]

Fate

On 13 February 1810 Lloyd's List reported that the French privateer Aimable Joséphine had captured Elizabeth, Briant, master, as Elizabeth was sailing from Liverpool to Africa.[11][Note 2] Lloyd's Register for 1811 carried the notation "captured" under Elizabeth's name.[2]

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

1. Grand Décidé was a privateer under Mathieu Goy, commissioned in Guadeloupe in January 1804. She had a crew of 220 men and was armed with twenty-two 8-pounder guns.[7]
2. HMS Narcissus captured Aimable Josephine, of 14 guns and 105 men, on 5 February 1810.[12]

Citations

1. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Voyages:Elizabeth (voyages 81219-22).
2. Lloyd's Register (1811), Seq.№312.
3. LR (1802) Supple. pages, Seq.№E58.
4. Winfield (2008), p. 394.
5. "Letter of Marque, p.61 - accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
6. Lloyd's List №4488.
7. Demerliac (2004), p. 321, №2745.
8. "No. 15754". The London Gazette. 13 November 1804. p. 1396.
9. "Slave Trade Abolition Bill". Hansard. 10 February 1807.
10. Register of Shipping (1811), seq.№327.
11. Lloyd's List №4432.
12. "No. 16342". The London Gazette. 13 February 1810. pp. 234–235.

References

• Demerliac, Alain (2004). La Marine de la Révolution: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1792 A 1799 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 2-906381-24-1.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.