Hector (1781 ship)

History
Great Britain
Name	Hector
Owner	1781:John Maxse[1]; 1802:Thomas Parr;
Launched	1781, Bristol
Captured	1804
General characteristics
Tons burthen	338,[1][2] or 361,[2] or 400[3] (bm)
Complement	1794:25[2]; 1803:35[2];
Armament	1795:10 × 4&6-pounder guns[2]; 1801:4 × 6-pounder + 2 × 4-pounder guns ; 1803:18 × 9-pounder guns[2];

Hector was launched at Bristol in 1781 as a West Indiaman. A new owner in 1802 sailed Hector as a slave ship. She made one complete voyage as a slave ship before a French privateer captured her on her second slave voyage after Hector had disembarked her slaves.

Career

Hector entered Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1783. Between 1781 and 1783, LR conflated her with the Bristol-built Orange Valley.[lower-alpha 1] The following data is for Orange Valley.

Year	Master	Owner	Trade	Source
1781	C.Watson	Meyler & Co.	Bristol–Jamaica	LR
1782	C.Watson	Meyler & Co.	Bristol–Jamaica	LR; "Now the Hector, Ronaldson"
1783	C.Watson	Gordon & Co.	Bristol–Jamaica	LR

The following data is for Hector, with the data for 1783 still reflecting the confusion.[3]

Year	Master	Owner	Trade	Source
1783	Ronaldson	Meyler & Co.	Bristol–Jamaica	LR; former "Orange Valley"
1786	Ronaldson	Maxse & Co.	Bristol–Jamaica	LR

Captain Thomas Harvey acquired a letter of marque on 30 January 1795.[2]

Year	Master	Owner	Trade	Source & notes
1795	Ronaldson T.Harvey	Maxse & Co.	Bristol–Jamaica	LR; good repair 175
1799	T.Harvey A. Ball	Maxse & Co.	Bristol–Jamaica	LR; damages repaired 1785, & repairs 1796 & 1798
1802	A.Ball J.Williams	Maxse & Co. T. Parr	Bristol–Jamaica Liverpool–Africa	LR; damages repaired 1785, repairs 1796 & 1798, & large repair 1802

Slave voyages

1st slave voyage (1802–1803): Captain Joseph Williams sailed from Liverpool on 3 June 1802. Hector acquired slaves at Calabar and arrived at Trinidad on 9 January 1803 with 339 slaves. She sailed for Liverpool on 20 February and arrived there on 8 April. She had left Liverpool with 37 crew members and had suffered seven crew deaths on the voyage.[5]

2nd slave voyage (1803–loss): War with France had resumed shortly before Hector had returned to Liverpool from her first slave voyage. Before Captain Williams sailed again he acquired a letter of marque on 23 May 1803.[2] Hector sailed from Liverpool on 8 June. She acquired her slaves at Calabar and arrived at Demerara on 14 January 1804 with 300 slaves. She sailed for Liverpool on 27 February. She had left Liverpool with 37 crew members and she had suffered seven crew deaths on her voyage.[6] Parr sold Hector while she was on her way to Demerara.

Fate

Lloyd's List reported on 4 May 1804 that privateers had captured Sarah, Cannell, master, Caldicot Castle, Skerrett, master, and Hector, Williams, master, and taken them into Guadeloupe. Lloyd's List reported that the three were sailing to Liverpool from Demerara.[7] However, Sarah was not. She was coming into Demerara with slaves from Africa. Her captor took her to Guadeloupe.

Caldicot Castle's captor was the privateer Grand Decide, which had brought two prizes into Guadeloupe, suggesting that she may also have been the captor of Hector.[lower-alpha 2]

In 1804, 30 British slave ships were lost. Only one was lost homeward-bound after having disembarked slaves.[9]

Notes

Unfortunately, Farr has no mention of Orange Valley,[4] probably because Orange Valley was captured and burnt in 1796.
Grand Décidé was a privateer under Mathieu Goy, commissioned in Guadeloupe in January 1804. She had a crew of 220 men and was armed with twenty-two 8-pounder guns.[8]

Citations

Farr (1950), p. 235.
"Letter of Marque, p.67 – Retrieved 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
LR (1783), Seq.No.H99.
Farr (1950).
Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Hector voyage #81775.
Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Hector voyage #81776.
"The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4450. 4 May 1804. hdl:2027/mdp.39015005721504.
Demerliac (2003), p. 321, №2745.
Inikori (1996), p. 62.

References

Demerliac, Alain (2003). La marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire: nomenclature des navires français de 1800 à 1815 (in French). Éd. Ancre. ISBN 2-903179-30-1. OCLC 162449062.
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. doi:10.3406/outre.1996.3457.
Farr, Grahame E., ed. (1950). Records of Bristol Ships, 1800-1838 (vessels over 150 tons). Vol. 15. Bristol Record Society.

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[5] Unfortunately, Farr has no mention of Orange Valley,[4] probably because Orange Valley was captured and burnt in 1796.

[10] Grand Décidé was a privateer under Mathieu Goy, commissioned in Guadeloupe in January 1804. She had a crew of 220 men and was armed with twenty-two 8-pounder guns.[8]

[FOOTNOTEFarr1950235-1] Farr (1950), p. 235.

[LoM-2] "Letter of Marque, p.67 – Retrieved 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.

[LR1783-3] LR (1783), Seq.No.H99.

[FOOTNOTEFarr1950-4] Farr (1950).

[6] Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Hector voyage #81775.

[7] Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Hector voyage #81776.

[8] "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4450. 4 May 1804. hdl:2027/mdp.39015005721504.

[FOOTNOTEDemerliac2003321№2745-9] Demerliac (2003), p. 321, №2745.

[FOOTNOTEInikori199662-11] Inikori (1996), p. 62.