Betsey (1801 ship)

Betsey (or Betsy), was launched in 1801 at Calcutta, India. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) as Betsey. Around 1814 she sailed to England and was sold to English owners who renamed her Marquis of Wellington. As Marquis of Wellington she made a second voyage for the EIC after transporting convicts to New South Wales. She was returning to England in 1818 when she was wrecked near Margate.

For other ships with the same name, see Betsey (ship), Marquis of Wellington (ship), and Lord Wellington (ship).

History
United Kingdom
NameBetsey
Owner
  • Edward Bacon
  • MacCullum & Co.
  • D. Isbister & Co.[1]
BuilderEdward Bacon[1]
Launched22 December 1801,[1] Calcutta, India
RenamedMarquis of Wellington, c.1814.
FateWrecked March 1818 at Margate
General characteristics
Tons burthen630, or 63634⁄94,[2][1] or 642,[3] or 653[4] (bm)
Length124 ft 9 in (38.0 m)[1] (keel)
Beam34 ft 11 in (10.6 m)[1]
PropulsionSail
Complement53
Armament12 guns

Betsey

Edward Bacon (of Hudson & Bacon), Calcutta, in 1801 launched Betsey for his own account. On 10 February 1802 Captain W.W. Bampton (or Brampton) left Calcutta for London with a cargo of rice. Betsey passed Saugor on 10 March and reached St Helena on 30 June. She arrived at Deptford on 20 September.[5]

On 6 December Betsey sailed from London to return to the local trade in India.[3]

In 1814 or so her owners sold her and her new owners, in London, named her Marquis of Wellington.[6] She was admitted to the Registry of Great Britain on 6 May 1814.[2] She first appears in Lloyd’s Register in 1814, with owner D. Isbister & Co.[7]

Marquis of Wellington

Marquis of Wellington made one trip for the EIC in which she transported convicts to New South Wales and then carried a cargo back from China to Portsmouth. On this voyage she made the first recorded European contact with Mokil Atoll (Mwoakilloa Atoll).

Under the command of George Betham (or Bitham), she sailed from Portsmouth, England, on 1 September 1814.[4] On 11 November Marquis of Wellington reached Rio de Janeiro.[8] She then stayed there for some three weeks. Marquis of Wellington arrived at Port Jackson on 27 January 1815.[4]

She had embarked 200 or 199 male convicts, of whom two or one died. Sources agree that 198 landed.[9] A detachment from the 46th Regiment of Foot provided the guard; the regiment was transferring to Australia to replace the 73rd Regiment of Foot (1st Battalion Highlanders).

Marquis of Wellington left Port Jackson on 4 April, bound for China.[10] She sighted Pohnpei, and on 7 May Betham made the first recorded sighting of Mokil (Mwoakilloa Atoll), at 6°4′N 159°48′E.,[11] naming it "Wellington Group" after his ship,[12] The name persisted for some years thereafter.[13]

Marquis of Wellington arrived at Whampoa on 4 June. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 12 July. She reached Batavia on 5 September and St Helena on 10 November, before arriving back at Portsmouth on 26 December.[8]

Fate

On 21 November 1817, Lloyd's List reported that Marquis of Wellington, Nichols, master, had arrived at Bengal in a damaged state and been taken into dock. She was expected to be able to take on a cargo in June.[14]

Marquis of Wellington was driven onshore on 4 March 1818 on the Mouse Sand, with the loss of two masts, when she was caught in a gale that also caused difficulties to many other vessels along the coast of England.[15] Five days later she was abandoned as a total wreck.[1] Marquis of Wellington, Nichols, master, had been sailing from Bengal to London. Part of her cargo was gotten off and taken to Whitstable and Margate.[16]

Citations
  1. Hackman (2001), p. 296.
  2. House of Commons (1814), p. 460.
  3. Hackman (2001), p. 242.
  4. Bateson (1959), pp. 290–1.
  5. British Library Betsy (2).
  6. Phipps (1840), p. 99.
  7. Lloyd's Register (1814), Sup. Seq. no. M105.
  8. British Library: Marquis of Wellington (2).
  9. Bateson (1959), p. 327.
  10. "Arrival of Vessels at Port Jackson, and their Departure". Australian Town and Country Journal, Saturday 3 January 1891, p.17. 3 January 1891. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  11. Foreign Ships in Micronesia: Pohnpei - accessed 29 July 20-15
  12. Anthony (1996), p. 4.
  13. Hezel (1994), p. 84.
  14. Lloyd's List, n° 5231.
  15. Lloyd's List, n°5260.
  16. Lloyd's List, n° 5261, dated 10 March 1818.

References
  • Anthony, Stephen S. (1996). Hydrogeology and ground-water resources of Kahlap Island, Mwoakilloa Atoll, State of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
  • Bateson, Charles (1959). The Convict Ships. Brown, Son & Ferguson. OCLC 3778075.
  • Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-96-7.
  • Hezel, Francis X. (S.J.) (1994). The First Taint of Civilization: A History of the Caroline and Marshall Islands in Pre-colonial Days, 1521-1885. University of Hawaii. ISBN 978-0824816438.
  • House of Commons, Parliament, Great Britain (1814). Minutes of the Evidence Taken Before the Select Committee on Petitions Relating to East-India-Built Shipping. H.M. Stationery Office.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Phipps, John, (of the Master Attendant's Office, Calcutta) (1840). A Collection of Papers Relative to Ship Building in India ...: Also a Register Comprehending All the Ships ... Built in India to the Present Time ... Scott.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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