Liver (1786 ship)
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain
| |
| Name: | Liver |
| Namesake: | Liver bird |
| Launched: | 1786, Liverpool |
| Fate: | Captured 1797 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | |
| Length: | 50 ft 4 in (15.3 m)[1] (originally) |
| Beam: | 16 ft 2 in (4.9 m)[3] (originally) |
| Complement: | |
| Armament: | |
Liver was launched at Liverpool in 1786, probably as a fishing smack. She was lengthened in 1790. Liver then made four complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved peoples. In these voyages she carried 827 captives. A French privateer captured her in 1797 as she was approaching the West Indies on her fifth voyage. Including this fifth voyage, over her career she almost surely delivered over 1000 enslaved people to the Americas.
Career[edit]
On 8 April 1790 the merchant George Case, one of numerous owners of the fishing smack Liver, bought out all the other owners.[1] George Case (1747–1836), was a British slave trader who was responsible for at least 109 slave voyages.[lower-alpha 1]
Liver first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1790. In 1790 Liver was raised and lengthened.[4]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1790 | Jn.Ford | George Case | Liverpool–Africa | LR; lengthened and raised 1790 |
The increase in Liver's size meant that the number of enslaved people Liver was allowed to carry under Dolben's Act, i.e., without penalty, was 220; had she not been lengthened the cap would have been 89.
1st slave voyage (1790–1791): Captain John Ford sailed from Liverpool on 18 August 1790, bound for West Africa. Liver acquired her slaves at New Calabar and sailed from Africa on 27 March 1791. She arrived at Grenada in May with 172 slaves. She arrived back at Liverpool on 28 July 1791. She had left Liverpool with 17 crew members and she had suffered eight crew deaths on the voyage.[5]
2nd slave voyage (1792–1793): Captain Hamlet Mullion sailed from 9 March 1792 bound for West Africa. Liver started acquiring slaves on 5 July and departed Africa on 9 November. She arrived at Kingston on 30 December with 226 slaves, four having died on the voyage. She sailed from Kingston on 1 February 1793 and arrived back at Liverpool on 23 March. She had left with 17 crew members and had suffered no crew deaths on the voyage.[6]
War with France had broken out before Liver again sailed on a slave trading voyage. Captain Mullion acquired a letter of marque on 31 October 1793.[2]
3rd slave voyage (1793–1795): Captain Mullion sailed from Liverpool on 18 November 1793. Liver acquired her slaves at Cape Lopez. She arrived at Grenada on 22 December 1794 with 210 slaves. She returned to Liverpool on 4 March 1795. She had left Liverpool with 27 crew members and she had suffered seven crew deaths on the voyage.[7]
4th slave voyage (1795-1796): Captain Philip Kewish acquired a letter of marque on 12 June 1795.[2] He sailed from Liverpool on 4 July 1795. Liver acquired her slaves in Gabon and then at Cape Lopez. She arrived at Martinique on 4 June 1796 with 219 slaves. She arrived back at Liverpool on 26 July. She had left Liverpool with 19 crew members and she had suffered nine crew deaths on her voyage.[8]
Fate[edit]
Captain Kewish sailed from Liverpool on 8 October 1796.[9] Lloyd's List reported in October 1797 that Liver, Kevish, late master, had been taken to the windward of Barbados.[lower-alpha 2] She had been on her way from Africa to the West Indies.[11]
It is presumed that the slaves on Lever were delivered to a French colony in the West Indies.[9] If she carried 173 or more slaves, the total number of slaves she carried over her five voyages would have exceeded 1000.
In 1797, 40 British slave ships were lost. This was the second worst year, after 1795, for the British slave ships. Thirteen of those lost in 1797, were lost in the Middle Passage, sailing from Africa to the West Indies.[12]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ In 1781, he was Mayor of Liverpool. Case was the co-owner of the slave ship Zong, whose crew in 1781 had perpetrated the Zong massacre.
- ↑ The actual date and location of Kewish's death is unknown.[10]
Citations[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Craig & Jarvis (1967), pp. 27–28.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Letter of Marque, p.73 – Retrieved 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Craig & Jarvis (1967), pp. 27-28.
- ↑ LR (1790), Seq.N.L345.
- ↑ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Liver voyage #82313.
- ↑ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Liver voyage #82314.
- ↑ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Liver voyage #82315.
- ↑ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Liver voyage #82316.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Liver voyage #82317.
- ↑ Behrendt (1990), p. 135.
- ↑ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (2961). 6 October 1797.
- ↑ Inikori (1996), p. 62.
References[edit]
- Behrendt, Stephen D. (1990). "The Captains in the British Slave Trade from 1785 to 1807" (PDF). Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. 140: 79–140.
- Craig, Robert; Jarvis, Rupert (1967). Liverpool Registry of Merchant Ships. Series 3. 15. Manchester University Press for the Chetham Society. Search this book on
- 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.
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