John Dawson (slave trader)

John Dawson (died 1812) was a Liverpool slave trader.[1]

John Dawson
Died1812
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Ship's captain and owner of slave ships

Captain John Dawson, in Mentor , captured the French East Indiaman Carnatic. When Carnatic came into Liverpool, she was said to be worth £135,000 and the richest prize ever taken and brought safe into port by a Liverpool privateer. Part of the value was due to a box of diamonds that had been found on her.[2] Dawson married the daughter of Peter Baker, the shipbuilder who owned Mentor, and became a partner in the firm of Baker and Dawson.[3]

Slave trade

In the period between 1783 and 1792, Dawson and his partner Peter Baker, were the largest firm of slave traders in Great Britain.[4] In 1790, Dawson owned 19 slave ships, with an average value of £10,000[5](about £1.3 million today). By the early 1790s, the partners' vessels had completed over 100 voyages. Baker & Dawson became one of the biggest slave-trading partnerships in late 18th-century Liverpool.

In 1786, Baker and Dawson, had a contract with the Spanish Government to supply slaves to Spanish America. Their vessels delivered more than 11,000 slaves.[3] It was estimated that the captives they provided had a value of £350,000.[6]

List of vessels owned by Baker & Dawson

Baker and Dawson were the largest firm of slave traders in England. Vessels they owned, individually or together, included:

Captains and crews

In January 1782 Dawson employed James Irving as a surgeon on his slave ship Prosperity, captained by James Murphy and based in Liverpool.[9]

Baker and Dawson often re-employed the same captains for their slave voyages. From 1785 to 1795 Thomas Molyneux captained six voyages, Joseph Withers and William Forbes five voyages, and Joseph Fayrer four.[4]

Bankruptcy

The contract that Baker and Dawson with the Spanish government to supply slaves to Spanish America caused the partners to over-reach themselves.[3] During the credit crisis of 1793,[10] Dawson was declared bankrupt in 1793, owing £500,000 (about £62 million today).[3][11]

After bankruptcy, Dawson returned to enslaving.

List of vessels owned by John Dawson after 1792
  • Brothers (1782 ship)
  • Chaser (1786 ship)
  • Union (1796 ship)
  • Abby:[12] Was of 98 tons (bm). Captain Murdock Murchy sailed from Liverpool on 19 September 1795. She sailed from Africa on 15 May 1796. The French captured her in 1796, after she had embarked her captives. She arrived at Martinique in July with 199 captives.[13]
  • General Chacon, of 245 tons (bm), was a French prize that first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1795.[14] Captain Thomas Molyneux sailed from Liverpool on 23 October 1795, bound for Africa.[15] She was lost at Teneriffe, on her way to Africa.[16]

Citations
  1. Richardson (2007), p. 197.
  2. Williams (1897), p. 239–240.
  3. Longmore (2013), p. 50.
  4. Behrendt (1990), pp. 104–105.
  5. Richardson (2007), p. 249.
  6. Richardson (2007), p. 32.
  7. Craig & Jarvis (1967), p. 20.
  8. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Sisters voyage #83562.
  9. "James Irving".
  10. Hyde, Parkinson & Marriner (1951), pp. 363–378.
  11. Richardson (2007), p. 41.
  12. Behrendt (1990), p. 91.
  13. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Abby voyage #80001.
  14. LR (1795), Seq.no.G375.
  15. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – General Chacon voyage #81571.
  16. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 2788. 26 January 1796. hdl:2027/uc1.c3049068.

References
  • Behrendt, Stephen (1990). "The Captains in the British Slave Trade from 1785 to 1807" (PDF). The Historic site of Lancashire and Cheshire. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  • Craig, Robert; Jarvis, Rupert (1967). Liverpool Registry of Merchant Ships. Series 3. Vol. 15. Manchester University Press for the Chetham Society.
  • Hyde, Francis E.; Parkinson, Bradbury B.; Marriner, Sheila (1951). "The Port of Liverpool and the Crisis of 1793". Economica. 18 (New series) (72): 363–378.
  • Longmore, Janet (2013). "Rural retreats: Liverpool slave traders and their country houses". In Dresser, Madge; Hann, Andrew (eds.). Slavery and the British Country House. pp. 43–53. ISBN 9781848020641.
  • Richardson, David (2007). Liverpool and Transatlantic Slavery. UK: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-84631-066-9.
  • Schwarz, Suzanne (2008). Slave Captain - The Career of James Irving in the Liverpool Slave Trade. Liverpool University Press.
  • 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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