Lapwing was launched at Bristol in 1794, and lengthened in 1797. She was a West Indiaman until in 1801 she became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. However, on her first enslaving voyage a Spanish privateer captured her. Although the Spanish authorities ordered her restitution to her owners, it is not clear that the order was anything but moot.
Transporting enslaved people (1801): Captain Robert Curran acquired a letter of marque on 21 March 1801.[3] He sailed from Bristol on 13 April 1801.[4] On 19 May Lapwing, Corran, master, was "all well" at Cape Mount. On 20 October she was at Cape Coast Castle.[5]
On 11 December as Lapwing, of Bristol, Curran, master, was on her way to Demerara from Africa, a Spanish privateer captured her off Demerara and took her into Orinoco.[6] She was carrying 330 captives, 4480 pounds of ivory, 215 ounces of gold, and some trade goods.[7]Lapwing was condemned and sold.[5]
The Spanish Government ordered her returned to her owner, with damages. The privateer had captured Lapwing one day after the end of hostilities.[8] Her value at the time of capture was estimated at £43,800.[5] It is not clear how much her owners recovered, given that she had been sold and payments disbursed.
Anderson had insured Lapwing for £26,500. In 1806 Anderson petitioned the British Government and gave his losses as £57,511 15s 6d, including interest. The wording of his petition is such that it is not clear whether the claim was net of the proceeds of insurance or not.[7]
In 1801, 23 British ships in the trade in enslaved people had been lost. Ten had been lost in the Middle Passage, sailing between Africa and the West Indies.[9] During the period 1793 to 1807, war, rather than maritime hazards or resistance by the captives, was the greatest cause of vessel losses among British vessels carrying enslaved people.[10]
Inikori, Joseph (1996). "Measuring the unmeasured hazards of the Atlantic slave trade: Documents relating to the British trade". Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer. 83 (312): 53–92.
Inikori, Joseph E. (2002). Africans and the Industrial Revolution in England: A Study in International Trade and Economic Development. Cambridge University Press. ISBN9780521010795.
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. ISBN0-901538-17-5.