Albion (1783 ship)

Albion was launched at Liverpool in 1783. She made two voyages as a slave ship before she was sold to a Bristol merchant. She then made two more voyages as slave ship. In 1793 as she was on the homeward-bound leg of her fourth voyage a vessel ran into her and Albion's crew abandoned her. She then drifted to Salem, Massachusetts, where she was recovered. She was sold in Boston.

For other ships with the same name, see List of ships named Albion.
History
Great Britain
Name: Albion
Namesake: Albion
Owner:
  • 1787:Staniforth & Co.
  • 1790:James Jones
Builder: Liverpool
Launched: 1783
Fate: Abandoned July 1793; abandoned vessel sold in America
General characteristics
Tons burthen: 150,[1] 158,[2] or 164[3][4] (bm)
Propulsion: Sail

Career

Albion first appears in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1789 with T. Pinder, Standforth, owner, and trade Liverpool–Africa.[1]

Slave trading voyage #1 (1787-1788): Captain Richard Pinder sailed from Liverpool on 8 May 1787.Albion gathered her slaves in the area between Rio Nuñez and the Assini River and arrived at St Vincent on 12 February 1788 with 265 slaves. She sailed from St Vincent on 3 March and arrived back at Liverpool on 15 April. She had left with 34 crew members and suffered 9 crew deaths on the voyage.[2]

Slave trading voyage #2 (1788-1789): Captain Pinder sailed from Liverpool on 7 June 1788. Albion was off the coast of Africa by July, and gathered her slaves at Bassa (possibly the coast of Grand Bassa County). She arrived at Grenada in May 1789 with 336 slaves. She left Grenada on 26 May and arrived back at Liverpool on 8 July. She had left with 35 crew members and suffered six crew deaths on the voyage.[2]

Lloyd's Register for 1790 shows Albion's master changing from T. Pinder to C. Wade, her owner changing from Staniforth to J. Jones, and her trade from Liverpool–Africa to Bristol–Africa.[5] James Jones purchased Albion in January 1790. Her master was John Robinson Wade.[4]

Slave trading voyage #3 (1790-1791): Captain Wade sailed from Bristol on 14 April 1790. Albion gathered slaves at Iles de Los, Gallinhas, and Cape Grand Mount, with most of the slaves coming from Gallinhas. Apparently a slave insurrection occurred at Grand Cape Mount in January 1791. She embarked 262 slaves: 160 adult men, 72 adult women, 19 boys (two of whom were infants), and 11 girls. She arrived at St Vincent with 250 slaves on 22 June 1791; nine men and three women had died on the voyage, for an overall loss rate of 4.6%.[3][4]

Albion back at Liverpool on 14 August. She had left Bristol with 28 crew and returned with 19. She enrolled eight crew members at Ile de Los to replace eight who had died at Gallinhas. She arrived with at St Vincent with 25, and discharged five there. One more crew member died on the way back to Liverpool.[4]

Slave trading voyage #4 (1792-Loss): Captain Edward Mentor sailed from Bristol on 4 August 1792. Albion gathered her slaves at Ile de Los and left Africa on 7 February 1793. she arrived at Kingston, Jamaica on 11 March.[6] She had embarked 161 adult males and 78 adult females. her slaves were consigned to Holcombe, Young & co.[7]

Fate

On 26 June 1793 Albion sailed from Bluefields, Jamaica, with the Jamaica fleet returning to England and under escort by the frigate HMS Proserpine, the sloops Fly and Serpent, and the troop transport Europa. Albion was carrying 600 hogsheads of sugar. Another vessel in the convoy was Amity Hall, Young, master. On 4 July a gale forced Amity Hall away from the fleet, but she sighted it again on 5 July.[8]

As Amity Hall was rejoining the fleet on 6 July she collided with Albion.[8] The collision took place off Cape San Antonio, Cuba.[9][10][11]

Albion's owners sued the owners of Amity Hall, arguing that the accident was the consequence of Amity Hall not following the sailing instructions for the fleet that Commodore Alms, of Proserpine, had issued. The Court found for Albion's owners.[8]

After the collision, Mentor and Albion's crew went on board Amity Hall, and abandoned Albion. She then drifted to North American waters.[8]

Captain John Ingersoll, of the sloop Nancy, was eight days out of Salem, Massachusetts, when he sighted Albion.[Note 1] He recovered her on 3 August at 38°N 66°W. He and his crew of five men and a boy were able to carry out some repairs and pumped her dry. On her they found that her cargo consisted of sugar, rum, cotton, mahogany, and logwood. He brought her to Salem on 10 August. He registered her on 13 August, before resuming his voyage to Guadeloupe.[12]

Some official records report that Albion was sold at Boston.[7]

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

  1. Ingersoll was the uncle and future father-in-law of the mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch.[12]

Citations

  1. LR(1789), Seq.№A142.
  2. Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database - Voyages: Albion, Pinder, master
  3. Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database - Voyages: Albion, Wade, master
  4. Richardson (1996), p. 160.
  5. Lloyd's Register (1790), Seq.№A165.
  6. Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database - Voyages: Albion, Mentor, master
  7. Richardson (1996), p. 204.
  8. Fletcher (1805), p. 102-4.
  9. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (2539). 3 September 1793.
  10. "Ship News". The Times (2768). London. 2 September 1793. col B, p. 3.
  11. "Ship News". The Times (2770). London. 4 September 1793. col B, p. 3.
  12. Phillips (1947), pp. 114-5.

References

  • Fletcher, Charles, M. D. (1805). The naval guardian.
  • Phillips, James Duncan (1947). Salem and the Indies: the story of the great commercial era of the city. Houghton Mifflin.
  • Richardson, David, ed. (1996). Bristol, Africa, and the Eighteenth-Century Slave Trade to America, Vo. 4 The Final Years, 1770-1807. Bristol Record Society, c/o Department of Historical Studies, Univ. of Bristol. ISBN 0 901538 17 5.
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