John Bull (1799 ship)

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 carried military prisoners to Australia from Ceylon on one voyage, and then on another transported female convicts to Australia from Cork. She was last listed in 1833.

For other ships with the same name, see John Bull (ship).

History
Great Britain
Name:	John Bull
Namesake:	John Bull
Owner:	1799:Taylor & Co.[Note 1] 1802:Dailgairns 1803:M. Benson
Builder:	Liverpool
Launched:	1799
Fate:	Last listed in 1833
General characteristics
Tons burthen:	464,[2][3] 480[2][4] (bm)
Sail plan:	Ship rigged
Complement:	1800:40[2] 1801:65[2] 1803:40
Armament:	1799:28x×9&18-pounder guns[2] 1800:24 x 4 & 9-pounder guns + 4 × 12-pounder carronades[4] 1801:24 × 9&18-pounder guns[2] 1803:20 × 9&18-pounder guns[2] 1805:8 × 9&12-pounder guns[5] 1808:8 × 9-pounder guns[3]

Career

John Bull entered Lloyd's Register in 1799. Her master was Parkinson, her owner Taylor & Co., and her trade, Liverpool-Africa.[6] Captain John Parkinson acquired a letter of marque for John Bull on 23 July 1799.[2] Under his command she made one voyage as a slaver.[1]

She sailed from Liverpool on 5 September 1799 bound for the Bight of Biafra and Gulf of Guinea islands. John Bull gathered her slaves at Bonny and delivered them to Kingston, Jamaica, where she arrived on 29 July 1800 with 550 slaves. She left Kingston on 5 October and arrived back at Liverpool on 24 December. She had left with 68 crew members and she suffered 21 crew deaths on her voyage.[1]

In 1801, Henry Kelly replaced Parkinson as master, and her trade became London-Jamaica.[7] Kelly received a letter of marque on 12 March 1801.[2] The application for the letter evidences a large increase in her crew size, suggesting that she was going to engage in privateering.

However, in 1802 her ownership changed from Taylor to Dalgairns. Then in 1803 her ownership changed to M. Benson, and her master to J. Murray.[8] On 31 May John Murray, of the ship John Bull, received a letter of marque.[2]

In July 1803 a vessel arriving at Falmouth reported that she had encountered the privateer John Bull, of 28 guns, of Liverpool. John Bull and the privateer Union, of Guernsey, had captured a large French vessel from Île de France and taken her into Bantry Bay.[9]

Also in 1803 John Bull captured a small French merchant vessel trading with the West Indies.[Note 2]

In 1805, John Bull's master was H. Kelly, changing to J. Murray. Her ownership and trade remained unchanged.[5]

On 13 January 1809, Patriarch, Easton, master, came into Port Royal, Jamaica, having been detained by John Bull, Askew, master. Patriarch had been sailing from Baltimore to Charleston.[11]

Year	Master	Owner	Trade
1805	H. Kelly J. Murray	M. Benson	Liverpool-Jamaica
1808[3]	J. Askew	R. Benson	Liverpool-Jamaica
1810	J. Askew	M. Benson	Liverpool-Jamaica
1815	J. Askew	R. Benson	Liverpool-Jamaica
1819[12]	J. Askew W. Corlett	R. Benson	Liverpool-Jamaica Liverpool-Calcutta
1820	W. Corlett	Hibberson	Liverpool-Calcutta

In 1819 John Bull received a license from the British East India Company to sail east of Capetown.[13] On 8 March 1820 she came into Capetown from Liverpool and Teneriffe having lost her anchors and cables.[14] She sailed for Bengal about a week later. Later that year, John Bull transported a number of military convicts from Ceylon to Port Jackson.

On 5 June 1821, John Bull towed Jane, Brabin, master, into Cork, Ireland. Jane had been sailing from Balmaura when she lost her masts and rigging.[15] That same day surgeon William Elyard, who with his family had just arrived in Cork on John Barry, transferred to John Bull.[16]

Under the command of William Corlette John Bull sailed from Cork on 25 July 1821. She sailed via St. Jago and arrived at Port Jackson on 18 December.[17] John Bull carried free passengers and 80 female convicts. No prisoners died en route.[18] Discontent among the crew developed from Corlette and Elyard's disciplinary measures,[16] aimed at preventing prostitution between crew and prisoners. The discontent did not, however, rise to the level of mutiny.[19]

Year	Master	Owner	Trade
1821[20]	W. Corlett	Hibberson	Liverpool-Calcutta Liverpool-New South Wales
1825	W.Grave	Hibberson	Liverpool-Havana
1830[21]	W. Grave	Hibberson	At Cowes
1833	W. Grave	Hibberson	At Cowes

Fate

She was in Prince's Dock, Liverpool in 1833 and the owners owed monies for docking.[22] She disappeared from Lloyd's Register after 1833.

Notes, citations and references

Notes

1. Michael Taylor, Thomas Bailey, Ralph Cantrell, & Roger Grimshaw.[1]
2. Her captain-owner, Frederic Bardie, alias Peter Wood, ended up in the prison ship Canada then (c.1810) in the Medway. In a fit of anger he attacked and stabbed one of the marine guards, for which he was hanged at Newgate.[10]

Citations

1. Tran Atlantic Slave Trade Database: Voyage 82071, John Bull (1800)
2. "Register of Letters of Marque against France 1793-1815"; p.70 Archived 9 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
3. Lloyd's Register (1819), Seq. №J588.
4. Lloyd's Register (1800), №J339.
5. Lloyd's Register (1805), №J626.
6. Lloyd's Register (1799), Seq. №J612.
7. Lloyd's Register (1801), Seq. №J429.
8. Lloyd's Register (1803), Seq. №J579.
9. Lloyd's List, №4365.
10. Knapp & Baldwin (1828), pp. 15-16. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFKnappBaldwin1828 (help)
11. Lloyd's List, №4339.
12. Lloyd's Register (1819), Seq. №J631.
13. Hackman (2001), p. 287.
14. Lloyd's List №5489.
15. Lloyd's List №5600.
16. National Archives: Journal of William Elyard.
17. Bateson (1959), pp. 294-9.
18. Bateson (1959), p. 329.
19. Bateson (1959), pp. 197-8.
20. Lloyd's Register (1821), Seq. №J656.
21. Lloyd's Register (1821), Seq. №J616.
22. Inquiry... (1833), p. 50. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFInquiry...1833 (help)

References

• Bateson, Charles (1959). The Convict Ships. Brown, Son & Ferguson. OCLC 3778075.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• A copious report of the Inquiry into the Affairs of the Corporation of Liverpool, before His Majesty's Commissioners ... commenced on the 4th and ended on the 30th November, 1833. (1833) (E. Smith & Company).
• Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-96-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Knapp, Andrew, & William Lee Baldwin (1828) The Newgate Calendar: Comprising Interesting Memoirs of the Most Notorious Characters who Have Been Convicted of Outrages on the Laws of England Since the Commencement of the Eighteenth Century; with Occasional Anecdotes and Observations, Speeches, Confessions, and Last Exclamations of Sufferers, Volume 4. (J. Robins).