William Heathcote (1800 ship)

William Heathcote was launched in Liverpool in 1800. She made one voyage voyage as a slave ship before a French privateer captured her in a single-ship action, and the British Royal Navy recaptured her. She became a West Indiaman before she made another slave trading voyage, one of the last such legal voyages. She then became a West Indiaman again, and sailed to Brazil and as a transport. She was wrecked in July 1816.

History
Great Britain
Name: William Heathcote
Builder: Liverpool
Launched: 1800
Fate: Wrecked July 1816
General characteristics
Tons burthen: 500, or 503,[1] 506, or 508,[1] or 517 (bm)
Complement:
Armament:
  • 1800:16 × 4&6-pounder guns[1]
  • 1800:24 × 9-pounder guns[2]
  • 1807:18 × 9-pounder guns[1]
  • 1810:12 × 9-pounder guns[1]

Career

William Heathcote first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1800.[2]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1800 J.Brown Neelson Liverpool–Africa LR

1st slave trading voyage (1800–1802): Captain John Stothart acquired a letter of marque on 30 September 1800.[1] He sailed from Liverpool on 18 November. William Heathcote acquired her slaves in Bonny and arrived in May 1801 in Demerara with 373 slaves. She arrived back at Liverpool on 9 April 1802. She had left Liverpool with 60 crew members and she suffered 14 crew deaths on her voyage.[3]

On her return from Demerara William Heathcote became a West Indiaman.

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1804 J.Brown
T.Phillips		 Heathcote
Neilson & Co.		 Liverpool–Africa
Liverpool–Demerara		 LR

On 4 August 1804 William Heathcote was returning to Liverpool from Demerara when a French privateer captured her.[4] The privateer was General Augereau, of 12 guns and 90 men. In the action leading up to the capture, Captain Phillips, his son, a passenger, and a seaman were killed, and the mate, a passenger and seven seamen wounded; General Auguereau had three men killed and her captain and five men wounded.[Note 1] On 9 August HMS Nautilus recaptured William Heathcote and sent her into Plymouth.[6] William Heathcote was carrying a cargo that the press reported was worth £80,000 that consisted of cotton, coffee, indigo, cochineal, sugar, and cotton. The capture took place off Bayonne and HMS Indefatigable shared by agreement.[7] The hired armed brig Cockatrice escorted William Heathcote into Liverpool on 2 October 1804.[8] The underwriters agreed a valuation of £36,000 for the cargo and £8,000 pounds for the vessel.[9]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1807 T.Phillips
M.Joynson		 Neilson & Co. Liverpool–Africa
Liverpool–Demerara		 LR

2nd slave trading voyage (1807–1808): Captain Moses Joynson acquired a letter of marque on 17 March 1807.[1] The Slave Trade Act 1807, which forbade British ships to engage in the slave trade, took effect on 1 May 1807, but William Heathcote must have cleared customs outbound before that date as Captain Joyson did not sail until 6 July.[Note 2] William Heathcote arrived in Suriname in February 1808. She arrived back in Liverpool on 17 August.[10]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1809 M.Joynson
H.Langley		 Neilson Liverpool-Demerara Register of Shipping
1811 H.Langley
T.Henley		 Neilson Liverpool-Demerara
Forshaw		 Register of Shipping

Captain John Hanley acquired a letter of marque on 11 December 1810.[1]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1812 J.Henley Forshall Liverpool–Brazils LR
1816 Bateman Foreshall & Co. London transport
Liverpool–Philadelphia		 LR

In February 1816 an advertisement appeared in the press stating that William Heathcote, William Batman, master, was intending to sail to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[11] She sailed on 11 February but had to put back two days later leaky and with her main top mast sprung.[12]

Fate

William Heathcote was wrecked in July 1816 on Bier Island. Her crew and part of her materials were saved. She was on a voyage from Philadelphia to Saint John, New Brunswick. British North America.[13]

Notes
  1. General Augereau, of 162-tons, pierced for 14 guns, was recommissioned as a privateer in Bayonne in July 1803. From July 1803 to September 1804, she was under Étienne Pellot with 11 officers, 74 or 74 men, and 12 carronades. Another captain from late 1804 to February 1805, with 70 to 88 men, until HMS Topaze captured General Augereau on 13 February 1805 in the Caribbean.[5]
  2. The last British vessel to sail legally was Kitty's Amelia. She had cleared customs on 27 April though she did not sail until 27 July.

Citations
  1. "Letter of Marque, p.92 - accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  2. LR (1800), "W" supple. pages.
  3. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – William Heathcote voyage #84069.
  4. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (4478). 10 August 1804. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735021. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  5. Demerliac (2003), p. 292, n°2360.
  6. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (4484). 31 August 1804. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735021. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  7. "Ship News". Morning Post (London, England), 31 August 1804; Issue 11197.
  8. Williams (1897), pp. 391-393.
  9. Naval Chronicle (July–December 1804), Vol.12, p.430.
  10. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – William Heathcote voyage #84070.
  11. "Advertisements & Notices". Liverpool Mercury etc (Liverpool, England), 9 February 1816; Issue 241.
  12. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (5048). 13 February 1816. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735027. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  13. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (5100). 13 August 1816. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735027. Retrieved 15 September 2020.

References
  • Demerliac, Alain (2003). La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1800 à 1815 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 9782903179304. OCLC 492784876.
  • Williams, Gomer (1897). History of the Liverpool Privateers and Letters of Marque: With an Account of the Liverpool Slave Trade. W. Heinemann.
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