General Baird (1801 ship)

See also: Transport vessels for the British expedition to Balambangan Island (1803)

History
United Kingdom
NameGeneral Baird
NamesakeSir David Baird, 1st Baronet
BuilderRangoon
Launched1801,[1] or 1802[2]
FateDestroyed by fire 29 October 1803
General characteristics
Tons burthen550,[2] or 650[3] (bm)

General Baird was built in Rangoon in 1801 or 1802 as a "country ship", that is, a British ship that traded east of the Cape of Good Hope. Her master was W. Fleming, and her owner Fairlie, Gilmore and Co.[2]

In 1803 Lord Wellesley, Governor-General of India, had decided upon the resettlement of Balambangan Island and instructed R. J. Farquhar, the British Resident at Amboina, to manage the expedition.[4]

The expedition sailed from Malacca on 29 August.

Farquhar reestablished the settlement at Balambangan by the end of September 1803.

A fire on 29 October 1803 destroyed General Baird, Captain Fleming, master, in the harbour at Balambangan. She caught fire and burned to the water's edge.[5][6][7]

Post script: The British burnt their fort and village and withdrew from Balambangan on 5 December 1806.

Citations

  1. ^ Phipps (1840), p. 179.
  2. ^ a b c East-India register and directory (1803), p.97.
  3. ^ Phipps (1840), pp. 127 & 179.
  4. ^ Hall (1981), p. 540.
  5. ^ "India News". The Times. No. 6151. London. 13 October 1804. col C, p. 2.
  6. ^ "Ship News". The Morning Post. No. 11240. 13 October 1804.
  7. ^ Grocott (1997), p. 157.

References

  • Grocott, Terence (1997). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras. London: Chatham. ISBN 1861760302.
  • Hall, D. G. E. (1981). A History of South-East Asia. Macmillan Press.
  • Phipps, John (1840). A Collection of Papers Relative to Ship Building in India ...: Also a Register Comprehending All the Ships ... Built in India to the Present Time ... Scott.