Princess Amelia's origins are obscure. Between 1803 and 1804 she made one voyage from London as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She apparently was broken up in the West Indies after having delivered the captives that she had brought from West Africa.
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Princess Amelia |
| Namesake | Princess Amelia of Great Britain |
| Launched | America[1] |
| Acquired | 1803 |
| Fate | Broken up circa 1806 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 290,[1] or 294[2] (bm) |
| Complement | 30 |
| Armament | 10 × 6-pounder guns |
Career
editPrincess Amelia first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1803.[1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1803 | Lathan | Taylor & Co. | London–Africa | LR |
Captain Peter Bogle acquired a letter of marque on 24 June 1803. However, he had sailed from London on 26 March.[3] In 1803, 99 vessels sailed from England on voyages to transport enslaved people (hereafter, "captives"); 15 of these sailed from London.[4]
Princess Amelia started acquiring captives on 10 May at Cape Coast Castle. She then gathered more at Whydah, which was where she made most of her purchases.[3] She stopped at Barbados, and sailed for Demerara. She arrived at Kingston, Jamaica, with John Laten, master, on 1 January 1804 with 306 captives.[3][a]
When she arrived in December 1803, there were already four or five Guineamen (enslaving ships) in port. However, Princess Amelia was able to sell many of her captives while the other vessels faced much greater difficulties. The reason for the discrepancy was that Princess Amelia's captives were coming from the Gold Coast and were in "tolerable condition".[5]
Fate
editPrincess Amelia then disappeared from Lloyd's List's ship arrival and departure data. She was condemned and broken up after having disembarked the captives she was carrying.[3] Her entry in the Register of Shipping (RS) for 1806 bears the later annotation "Broke up".[6]
Notes
edit- ^ A Mr P.Bogle, of Princess Amelia, died while sailing from America to the West Indies.
Citations
edit- ^ a b c LR (1803), Supple. pages "P", Seq.No.P15.
- ^ "Letter of Marque, p.82 – Retrieved 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Princess Amelia voyage #83214.
- ^ Williams (1897), p. 680.
- ^ Diptee (2010), p. 46.
- ^ RS (1806), Seq.No.548.
References
edit- Diptee, Audra A. (2010). From Africa to Jamaica: the making of an Atlantic slave society, 1775–1807. University Press of Florida. ISBN 9780813034829.
- Williams, Gomer (1897). History of the Liverpool Privateers and Letters of Marque: With an Account of the Liverpool Slave Trade. W. Heinemann.