Amacree (1788 ship)

Amacree or Amachree, was launched in 1788 in Liverpool She made ten voyages as a slave ship, carrying slaves from West Africa and primarily to Dominica. The last press mention of Amacree occurred in 1801.

History
Kingdom of Great Britain
Name: Amacree
Namesake: Amachree I (d.1800), first king of the Kalabari Kingdom
Builder: Liverpool
Launched: 1788
Fate: Disappeared from press reports after 1801
General characteristics
Tons burthen: 205,[1] or 212,[2] or 215, or 229[2] (bm)
Length: 88 ft 0 in (26.8 m)[1]
Beam: 23 ft 8 in (7.2 m)[1]
Complement:
Armament:
  • 1794: 12 × 9-pounder guns[2]
  • 1800: 18 × 9&12-pounder guns[2]
Notes: Two decks & three masts

Career

1st slave voyage (1788–1789): Captain Edward Deane sailed from Liverpool on 27 May 1788, bound for New Calabar. On 10 August Amacree, Dean, master, was well off the coast of Africa, with 100 slaves. Amacree arrived at Dominica in December 1788 with 410 slaves. Captain Dean died on 12 December,[3] at St George, Grenada, and John Sperling, Jr., replaced him as captain of Amacree. She arrived back at Liverpool on 8 February 1789. She had sailed from Liverpool with 37 crew members and she suffered four crew deaths on her voyage.[4]

Amacree first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1789.[5]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1789 R.Lee Wm.Harper Liverpool–Africa LR

2nd slave voyage (1789–1790): Captain Roger Lee sailed from Liverpool on 16 April 1789, bound for New Calabar. Amacree arrived at Dominica on 16 September with 282 slaves. She sailed for Liverpool on 26 November and arrived back at Liverpool on 7 January 1790. She left Liverpool with 31 crew members and suffered two crew deaths on her voyage.[6]

3rd slave voyage (1790): Captain Lee sailed from Liverpool on 20 April 1790, bound for Cape Grand Mount. Amacree arrived at Dominica on 5 October with 300 slaves. She sailed on 9 November and arrived back at Liverpool on 25 December. She had left Liverpool with 27 crew members and she suffered three crew deaths on her voyage.[7]

4th slave voyage (1791–1792): Captain Lee sailed from Liverpool on 13 April 1791, bound for West Africa. Amacree started gathering slaves on 24 July.[8]

On this voyage Lee, together with five other captains of slave ships, bombarded Calabar for more than three hours to force the local native traders to lower the prices they were charging for slaves. The bombardment by some 66 guns killed and wounded 50 or so of the local inhabitants and resulted in the traders agreeing to the prices the captains offered.[9][Note 1]

Amacree sailed from Africa on 16 February 1792 and arrived at Dominica on 14 April with 406 slaves. She sailed from Dominica on 19 May and arrived back at Liverpool on 26 June. She had left Liverpool with 27 crew members and she suffered eight crew deaths on the voyage.[8]

5th slave voyage (1792–1793): Captain William Platt sailed from Liverpool on 28 September 1792. Captain Platt died on 11 October,[Note 2] and Thomas Bourke replaced him as captain. Amacree gathered slaves at Calabar and Bonny. She arrived at Dominica on 30 June 1793 with 217 slaves. She arrived back at Liverpool on 1 October 1793. She had left Liverpool with 27 crew members and suffered 10 crew deaths on her voyage.[11]

6th slave voyage (1794–1795): Captain John Hewan acquired a letter of marque on 16 June 1794.[2] He sailed from Liverpool on 8 July, bound for Loango. Amacree began gathering slaves on 27 September and departed Africa on 9 January 1795, having embarked 351 slaves. She arrived at Havana on 26 March with 347 slaves, for a mortality rate of about 1%. She sailed for Liverpool on 13 May and arrived there on 4 July. She had left Liverpool with 34 crew members and suffered seven deaths on her voyage.[12]

7th slave voyage (1797–1798): Captain Thomas Mullion sailed from Liverpool on 6 June 1797, bound for Bonny. Amacree arrived at Dominica on 25 December with 349 slaves. She left for Liverpool on 19 January 1798 and arrived there on 26 February. She had left Liverpool with 43 crew members and suffered one crew death on her voyage.[13]

8th slave voyage (1798–1799): Captain Richard Kendall sailed from Liverpool on 14 June 1798, bound for Bonny. Amacree arrived at Dominica on 28 November with 345 slaves. She sailed for Liverpool on 10 March 1799 and arrived there on 19 April. She had left Liverpool with 47 crew members and suffered 10 crew deaths on her voyage.[14]

9th slave voyage (1799–1800): Captain William Maxwell sailed from Liverpool on 1 August 1799, bound for New Calabar. Amacree arrived at Dominica on 27 January 1800 with 325 slaves. She sailed for Liverpool on 24 April and arrived there on 22 June. She had left Liverpool with 35 rew members and suffered seven crew deaths on her voyage.[15]

10th slave voyage (1800–1801): Captain Thomas Houghton acquired a letter of marque on 4 September 1800. He sailed from Liverpool on 20 October, bound for Cape Grand Mount. Amacree arrived at Martinique on 12 June 1801 with 211 slaves. She arrived back at Liverpool on 27 September.[16] Her cargo to Liverpool consisted of ivory, pepper, sugar, cotton, wine, "noyeau" (nuts), and succades.[17] On her way back from Martinique she had to put into Cork, in distress.

Fate

Although LR continued to carry Amacree for a number of years with stale data, she did not again appear in any ship arrival and departure data after her return to Liverpool in 1801.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

  1. The other five were Betsey, Martha, Recovery, Thomas, Phillips, master, and Wasp, Hutchenson, master.
  2. The date of death comes from Behrendt, who places Platt on Venus, not Amacree.[10] The database on trans-Atlantic slave voyages does not show Patt as master on Venus for any slave-trading voyage.

Citations

References

  • Behrendt, Stephen D., (1990) "The Captains of the British slave trade from 1785 to 1807". Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Vol.140.
  • Craig, Robert; Jarvis, Rupert (1967). Liverpool Registry of Merchant Ships. Series 3. 15. Manchester University Press for the Chetham Society.
  • Wilberforce, William (1899). The Enormity of the Slave-trade: And the Duty of Seeking the Moral and Spiritual Elevation of the Colored Race: Speeches of Wilberforce and Other Documents and Records. American Tract Society.
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