Rosamond (1776 ship)

History
Great Britain
NameRose
Launched1771, New York[1]
RenamedRosamond (1776)
General characteristics
Tons burthen180,[1] or 194,[2] or 200[3] (bm)
Complement20[3]
Armament
  • 1781: 8 × 3-pounder guns
  • 1797:10 × 4-pounder guns[3]
  • 1801: 2 guns

Rosamond was launched at New York in 1771, probably as Rose. She was renamed Rosamond in 1776. Between 1795 and 1800 she made four voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship, carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies (the Middle Passage in the triangular trade). She then became a West Indiaman until in 1804 a French privateer captured her.

Career

Rosamond first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1776, with the entry showing her name change.[1]

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1776 John Harrison
Southgate 		Yates & Co.
J.Blackburn 		New York–London LR
1781 Christall Young & Co. London–Halifax, Nova Scotia LR
1786 R. Angus Leitch & Co. Greenock–Grenada LR
1791 R. Angus Leitch & Co. Greenock–Grenada LR
1795 T. Boyd
W. Leece 		Rankin Greenock–Barbados
Liverpool–Africa 		LR; good repair 1791 & repairs 1793
1797 Leece [James] Penny & Co. Liverpool–Africa LR; good repair 1791, damages repaired 1794, & repairs 1795

1st slave trading voyage (1795–1796)

Captain William Lace sailed from Liverpool on 7 October 1795, bound for Abriz, Angola. Rosamond started acquiring her slaves on 24 January 1796 and sailed from Ambriz on 8 June. She arrived at Dominica on 20 July with 323 slaves. She sailed from Dominica on 11 August, and arrived back at Liverpool on 8 October. She had left Liverpool with 23 crew members and she suffered four crew deaths on the voyage.[4]

2nd slave trading voyage (1797)

Captain John Foulkes acquired a letter of marque on 7 January 1797.[3] Rosamond sailed from Liverpool on 24 January, bound for West Africa. She arrived at Barbados on 4 November with 316 slaves. She left Barbados on 20 November and arrived back at Liverpool on 24 December. She had left Liverpool with 23 crew members and suffered one crew death on her voyage.[2]

3rd slave trading voyage (1798–1799)

By one report, Captain Foulkes sailed from Liverpool on 14 May 1798, bound for West Africa.[5] By another report, she was bound for Angola. Under the strictures of Dolben's Act, her legal capacity was 323 slaves.[6] Rosamond arrived at Martinique on 20 March 1799 with 283 slaves. She arrived back at Liverpool on 28 June. She had left Liverpool with 28 crew members and suffered no crew deaths on the voyage.[5]

4th slave trading voyage (1799–1800)

Captain Foulkes sailed from Liverpool on 28 September 1799, bound for West Africa. Rosamond arrived at Kingston, Jamaica, on 7 September 1800 with 317 slaves. She sailed from Kingston on 13 October, and arrived back at Liverpool on 17 December. She had sailed from Liverpool with 30 crew members and she had suffered two crew deaths on the voyage.[7]

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1801 J.Foulkes
W.Cottrell 		Penny & Co. Liverpool–Africa LR; good repair 1791, damages repaired 1794, & repairs 1795
1805 W.Connell Rankins Greenock–Charleston LR; good repair 1791, damages repaired 1794, repairs 1795, & good repairs 1801

Fate

In May 1804 the French privateer Africaine was sailing from Havana with 358 French troops that had escaped from St. Domingo that she was carrying back to France. On her way, and shortly before being herself captured, Africaine captured two British merchant vessels, Rosamond, of Glasgow, and the brig Chance, of Jamaica.[8]

The entry for Rosamond in the issue of LR for 1805 bears the annotation "captured".[9]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c LR (1776), Seq.№R184.
  2. ^ a b Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Rosamond voyage #83390.
  3. ^ a b c d "Letter of Marque, p.85 - accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  4. ^ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Rosamond voyage #83389.
  5. ^ a b Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Rosamond voyage #83391.
  6. ^ Williams (1897), p. 682.
  7. ^ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Rosamond voyage #83392.
  8. ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4461. 12 June 1804. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735021.
  9. ^ LR (1805), Sq.№R330.

References

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