Bengal Merchant (1812 ship)
{{Short description|Sailing ship built in Bengal in 1812}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}} |Ship name=Bengal Merchant |Ship namesake= |Ship yard number= |Ship owner=*Sedgewicke & Hearne (1812-1832)
|Ship builder=Anthony Blackmore, Howrah,{{sfnp|Phipps|1840|p=104}} Bengal |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=26 May 1812 |Ship fate=Hulked in 1856 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Ship type= |Ship tons burthen=463,{{sfnp|Phipps|1840|p=104}}[http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS045-001114618 British Library: Bengal Merchant.] or 464, or 477,Naval Chronicle, Vol. 33, p.400. or 478,[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015024214440?urlappend=%3Bseq=114 Register of Shipping (1814).] or 503{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=67}} (bm) |Ship length= |Ship beam= |Ship draught= |Ship propulsion=Sail |Ship speed= |Ship complement= |Ship armament=14 × 18&12-pounder carronades |Ship notes= Teak-built }} |
Bengal Merchant was a sailing ship built of teak in Bengal and launched there on 26 May 1812. Between 1812 and 1829, Bengal Merchant was in private trade as a licensed ship.{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=67}} She served the East India Company (EIC) in 1813 and from 1830 till 1834. She also transported convicts from Britain to Australia four times before she was hulked in 1856.
Career
= First voyage for the EIC (1813–14)=
Captain Thomas Ross sailed from Calcutta on 21 May 1813. Bengal Merchant was at Saugor on 26 July, Mauritius on 21 September, and the Cape on 17 November. She reached the Downs on 3 March 1814.
Bengal Merchant, Captain Peter Gordon, in November stopped at Tristan da Cunha for several days. There Gordon met Tommaso Corri (known as Thomas Currie), who was the only survivor (of four men) of the American Jonathan Lambert's settlement on Tristan. In May 1815, Gordon sent a letter, per Currie's request, to the government of the British colony at the Cape of Good Hope Colony, asking for British aid and protection. Eventually Britain annexed the island in 1816, establishing a small garrison there.
Bengal Merchant was admitted to the Registry of Great Britain in 1814. She entered Lloyd's Register (LR), in 1814.[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015005689354?urlappend=%3Bseq=632 LR (1814), Supple.pages "B".]
| class=" wikitable" |
| Year
! Master ! Owner ! Trade ! Source |
|---|
| 1814
| T.Ross | Davidson | London–India | LR |
A passenger travelling from Batavia to Dover in 1815, on Bengal Merchant remarked on her master's insistence on her crew attending divine service on Sunday. The passenger thought it ridiculous to read prayers in English to a crew of lascars, Chinese, and Malays who did not understand the language.{{sfnp|Jaffer|2013|pp=159-61}} On 17 January 1816, Bengal Merchant was at Deal where a gale caught her, causing her to break her anchor.Lloyd's List [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015005778165?urlappend=%3Bseq=241 №5041.]
=Spanish ownership=
Between 1816 and 1818, Bengal Merchant was in Spanish hands. After her return to British ownership and Calcutta registry, she became a Free Trader.{{sfnp|Phipps|1840|p=104}}
In early 1820, Bengal Merchant was at Canton. She had 300 chests of opium.Asiatic Journal, (2 February 1821), Vol.11, p.204.
Between September 1821 and December 1827, Bengal Merchant was Captained by Alexander Brown of Farnham in Surrey, on 6 different occasions. In February of 1822, the Times Newspaper shipping News stated; "For Bengal, to sail from Portsmouth, the Teak ship Bengal Merchant of 500 tons, Commander Alexander Brown, carries a Surgeon, superior accommodation, and equal in every respect to the East India Company's regular ships". It apparently didn't sail until June of 1822, the African court Calendar reported; Hon Company's Chartered Ship Bengal Merchant, Alexander Brown, Calcutta and Madras, London, Sugar and Saltpetre, 20th June. On other occasions, Captain Brown Chartered the Ship through Smith Inglis and Co of Mansion House. "google books online" [https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_African_Court_Calendar_and_Directory.html?id=yuENAAAAQAAJ&redir_esc=y], British Newspaper Archive Online
At the end of July 1826, Bengal Merchant was at Bengal. There she ran into {{ship||Claudine|1811 ship|2}}, carrying away Claudine{{'}}s bowsprit and inflicting other damage. On this occasion it is likely H Hutchinson was Captain. The Bombay Gazette reported Bengal Merchant arrived in Calcutta on 8 August. British Newspaper Archive Online Lloyd's List [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015073720958?urlappend=%3Bseq=403 №6178.]
=First convict voyage (1828)=
Bengal Merchant sailed from Plymouth on 25 March 1828, under the command of Alex Duthie, and arrived at Hobart Town on 10 August 1828.{{sfnp|Bateson|1959|pp=310-11}} She had embarked 172 male convicts, four of whom died on the voyage.{{sfnp|Bateson|1959|p=331}}
=Second voyage for the EIC (1830–31)=
=Third voyage for the EIC (1833–34)=
In 1832, Bengal Merchant was sold to John Groves.{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=67}}
Captain John Campbell left the Downs on 25 July 1833, and reached Calcutta on 9 December. On the return voyage Bengal Merchant passed Saugor on 28 January 1834. She reached St Helena on 8 April, and Blackwall, London, on 8 June.
=Second convict voyage (1834)=
In 1834, she was sold to Joseph Somes.{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=67}}
Under the command of William Campbell, Bengal Merchant sailed from London on 1 October 1834, and arrived at Port Jackson on 30 January 1835.{{sfnp|Bateson|1959|pp=302–3}} She had embarked 270 male convicts, three of whom died on the voyage.{{sfnp|Bateson|1959|p=334}}
=Third convict voyage (1836)=
Again under the command of William Campbell, she sailed from Downs on 8 August 1836, and arrived at Port Jackson on 9 December.{{sfnp|Bateson|1959|pp=304–5}} She had embarked 270 male convicts, one of whom died on the voyage.
=Fourth convict voyage (1838)=
Bengal Merchant left Sheerness on 28 March 1838, under the command of William Campbell, and arrived at Port Jackson on 21 July 1838.{{sfnp|Bateson|1959|pp=304–5}} She had embarked 270 male convicts; three male convicts died on the voyage.{{sfnp|Bateson|1959|p=335}}
=Passenger transport=
In 1839, Bengal Merchant was sold to Haviside & Co., London.{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=67}} Captain John Hemery sailed from Glasgow on 30 October 1839, with 160 passengers and arrived at Port Nicholson (Wellington Harbour), New Zealand, on 20 February 1840. The New Zealand Company had chartered her and she was the first vessel to bring Scottish emigrants to New Zealand. After their arrival, the steerage passengers submitted a letter of complaint about the food they had received.{{Cite web |url=https://douglasstewart.com.au/product/letter-of-grievances-by-passengers-of-the-bengal-merchant-port-nicholson/ |title=Letter of Grievances. |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405112726/https://douglasstewart.com.au/product/Letter-of-grievances-by-passengers-of-the-Bengal-Merchant-Port-Nicholson/ |archive-date=5 April 2017 |url-status=dead }}
Fate
Bengal Merchant was hulked in 1856.
Citations
{{reflist|30em}}
References
- {{cite book |title =The Convict Ships | first =Charles | last =Bateson | author-link=Charles Bateson | year =1959 | publisher =Brown, Son & Ferguson | oclc =3778075 }}
- {{cite book |last=Hackman |first=Rowan |date=2001 |title=Ships of the East India Company |location=Gravesend, Kent |publisher=World Ship Society |isbn=0-905617-96-7 }}
- {{cite book |last=Jaffer |first=Aaron |date=2013 |chapter=Lord of the Forecastle: Serangs, Tindals, and Lascar Mutiny, c.1788–1860 |editor1-first=Clare |editor1-last=Anderson |editor2-first=Niklas |editor2-last=Frykman |editor3-first=Lex Heerma |editor3-last=van Voss |editor4-first=Marcus |editor4-last=Rediker |title=Mutiny and Maritime Radicalism in the Age of Revolution |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107689329}}
- {{cite book|last=Phipps|first=John |year=1840|title=A Collection of Papers Relative to Ship Building in India ...: Also a Register Comprehending All the Ships ... Built in India to the Present Time ...|publisher=Scott }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bengal Merchant (1812)}}
Category:British ships built in India
Category:Ships of the British East India Company
Category:Age of Sail merchant ships
Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom
Category:Convict ships to New South Wales