Active (1789 ship)

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

History
Great Britain
NameActive
BuilderBermuda
Launched1789
CapturedCirca late 1804
General characteristics
Tons burthen127,[1] or 137[2] (bm)
Sail planSnow
Complement25[2]
Armament14 × 4-pounder guns[2]

Active was launched at Bermuda in 1789. She transferred to Liverpool circa 1798 and then spent a few years as a West Indiaman. Between 1802 and 1803 she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. She was captured off West Africa around late 1804 on her second voyage before she could start acquiring slaves.

Career

Active first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1798,[1]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1798 T.Davis M'Burnie Liverpool-Martinique LR
1799 T.Davis
R.Johnson 		M'Burnie Liverpool-Martinique LR
1800 T.Davis
R.Johnson 		M'Burnie Liverpool-Martinique LR
1801 R.Johnson
W.Wilding 		M'Burnie Liverpool-Martinique
Liverpool–Newfoundland 		LR
1802 W.Wilding
J.Noumus 		M'Burnie
Newton 		Liverpool–Newfoundland
Liverpool–Africa 		LR

1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1802–1803):: Captain Isaac Nomus sailed from Liverpool on 4 August 1802.[3] In 1802, 155 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 122 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool.[4]

Active arrived at Demerara on 19 December 1802. She sailed from Demerara on 17 March 1803 and arrived back at Liverpool on 12 May. She had left with 22 crew members and she suffered one crew death during the voyage. At some point on the voyage, Captain Robert Hall replaced Nomus. [3]

2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1803–loss): Captain James Dalrymple acquired a letter of marque on 2 September 1803.[2] Captain John Dalrymple sailed from Liverpool on 26 October.[5] In 1803, 99 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 83 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool.[4]

Fate

When Fame arrived at Demerara she brought news that Active, Dalrymple, master, and Prudence, Darby, master, had been captured on the Windward Coast.[6]

In 1804, 30 British vessels in the triangular trade were lost; eight of these vessels were lost off the coast of Africa.[7] 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 enslaving vessels.[8]

Citations

  1. ^ a b LR (1898), Seq.No.A553.
  2. ^ a b c d "Letter of Marque, p.47 - accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  3. ^ a b Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Active voyage #80021.
  4. ^ a b Williams (1897), p. 680.
  5. ^ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Active voyage #80022.
  6. ^ "LIVERPOOL, MAY 2". Lancaster Gazette and General Advertiser, for Lancashire, Westmorland, &c. (Lancaster, England), Saturday, May 05, 1804; Issue 151.
  7. ^ Inikori (1996), p. 62.
  8. ^ Inikori (1996), p. 58.

References

  • 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.
  • Williams, Gomer (1897). History of the Liverpool Privateers and Letters of Marque: With an Account of the Liverpool Slave Trade. W. Heinemann.