Betsey was launched in 1787 at Newfoundland. She sailed to England and initially she traded between Bristol and the Mediterranean. In 1792 she made one complete voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people before a French privateer captured her on her second slave voyage after she had embarked captives in West Africa and was bringing them to Jamaica.
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Betsey |
| Owner | |
| Launched | 1787, Newfoundland[3] |
| Captured | 10 August 1793 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 180,[3] or 194[4] (bm) |
| Complement | 24–27 |
| Armament | 4 guns |
Career
editMissing issues resulted in Betsey first appearing in Lloyd's Register (LR) in the issue for 1789.[3]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1790 | H.de Jersey J.Richards |
Mulloney Hunter & Co. |
Newfoundland–Bristol Bristol–Venice |
|
| 1792 | J. Richards J. Spencer |
Hunter & Co. | Bristol–Straits Bristol–Africa |
LR; repairs 1792 |
Captain John Spencer sailed from Bristol on 19 March 1792. Betsey acquired her captives at Bonny. She embarked 248 and arrived at Grenada on 31 August with 226, for a 9% mortality rate.[4] She had left Bristol with 24 crew members and she had 22 when she arrived in Grenada, two having died on the voyage; she discharged eight crewmen in Grenada.[1] She left Grenada on 15 September and arrived back at Bristol on 8 November.[4] By the time Betsey arrived back at Bristol she had suffered a total of three deaths among her crew.
Captain Spencer sailed from Bristol on 19 January 1793.[5]
Loss
editIn December 1793 Lloyd's List reported that a French privateer had captured Betsey, Spencer, master, as Betsey was sailing from Africa to Jamaica. The privateer sent Betsey into Saint Domingo.[6] The vessel with 283 captives arrived at in Jacmel in August.[5] The privateer had captured her off Puerto Rico on 10 August.[2]
In 1793, 17 British slave ships were lost; nine were lost on the Middle Passage, sailing from Africa to the West Indies.[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 slave vessels.[8]
Citations
edit- ^ a b Richardson (1996), p. 205.
- ^ a b Richardson (1996), p. 230.
- ^ a b c LR (1889), Seq.No.B175.
- ^ a b c Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Betsey voyage #18174.
- ^ a b Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Betsey voyage #18175.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 2567. 10 December 1793. hdl:2027/hvd.32044050633098.
- ^ Inikori (1996), p. 62.
- ^ Inikori (1996), p. 58.
References
edit- 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.
- 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. ISBN 0-901538-17-5.