Cam's Delight (1741 ship)

History
Great Britain
NameCam's Delight
BuilderPortsmouth,[1] or "Frehm",[2] or "Frnhm"
Launched1741[3]
FateSunk March 1838
General characteristics
Tons burthen
  • Originally:50[1] (bm)
  • 1798 on:78, or 84[2] (bm)
Sail planSchooner
Complement12 (1798)
Armament6 × 2 or 3-pounder guns (1798)
NotesSingle deck

Cam's Delight was built in Fareham (Portsmouth) in 1741. Although she spent some years trading with Africa, she spent most of her career as a coaster. She may have made occasional voyages further afield. She was wrecked in 1838, after having sailed for some 97 years.

Career

Cam's Delight first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1782 with W. Morris, master, Ireland & Co., owners, trade Guernsey–Bristol. She had undergone a thorough repair in 1775.[1]

Capture and recapture: Lloyd's List (LL) reported on 13 September 1782 that a French privateer had captured Cam's Delight off Land's End and sent her to France. Cam's Delight, Morris, master, had been sailing from Bristol to Portsmouth.[4] The next issue of LL reported that she had been retaken and brought into Portsmouth.[5] An alternate report was that a French squadron had captured her but then had given her up.[3]

Cam's Delight then disappeared from LR for some years. Still, a 1789 guide to Bristol listed Cam's Delight, Morris, master, as a constant trader between Bristol and Portsmouth.[6]

Cam's Delight reentered LR in 1798 with G[eorge] Smyth, master, S.Teast, owner, and trade Bristol–Africa. She had undergone a good repair and lengthening in 1798.[2] Although the Bristol–Africa trade usually signaled the slave trade, she was apparently not a slave ship.[3][a]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1800 G.Smyth
D.Cotther 		S.Teast Bristol–Africa LR; lengthened & good repair 1798
1802 W.Nettles
W.Woodburn 		Captain & Co.
Kewley & Co. 		London–Cork
Liverpool–St Michaels 		LR; lengthened & good repair 1798
1804 Woodburn
J.Ellis 		Kewely & Co.
Capt. & Co. 		Liverpool–St Michaels
Dublin–Chester 		LR; lengthened & good repair 1798
1810 J.Ellis G.Blundell Liverpool–Wexford LR; lengthened & good repair 1798
1815 R.Roberts
J.Gibbons 		G.Blundell Liverpool–Dublin LR; lengthened 1798 & good repair 1811

In late April or early May 1815, Captain Roberts ran Cam's Delight ashore at Seacombe, Cheshire because she was very leaky. She was on a voyage from Dublin to Liverpool.[8]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1820 R.Roberts Jones & Co. Liverpool–Dublin LR; lengthened 1798 & good repair 1811
1825 R.Roberts Roberts & Co. Liverpool–Dublin LR; lengthened 1798 & good repair 1811
1830 A.Lawson
 Capt.&Co. Liverpool coaster LR; lengthened 1798, good repair 1811, large repair 1828, & small repair 1829
1835 H.Watson A.Matier Newry–Wickham LR; homeport Newry
1837 H.Watson
E.Brown 		A.Matier Newry–Wickham
Liverpool–Chester 		LR; homeport Newry

Loss

A report from Liverpool dated 21 March 1838 stated that Cam's Delight had collided at Liverpool on 20 March with Mary Somerville, bound for Calcutta, and been sunk. However, her crew had been saved.[9][10]

Notes

  1. ^ Also, Cam's Delight does not appear in the pre-eminent database of trans-Atlantic slave trade voyages.[7]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c LR (1782), Seq.№16.
  2. ^ a b c LR (1798), Seq.№602.
  3. ^ a b c Richardson (1996), p. 252.
  4. ^ LL 13 September 1782, №1396.
  5. ^ LL 17 September 1782, №1397.
  6. ^ Shiercliff (1789), p. 113.
  7. ^ Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade - Database.
  8. ^ LL 2 May 1815, №4967.
  9. ^ "SHIP NEWS", Morning Post (London, England), 23 March 1838.
  10. ^ "Ship News", Times (London, England), 23 March 1838; pg. 7; Issue 16684.

References

  • Richardson, David, ed. (1996). Bristol, Africa, and the Eighteenth-Century Slave Trade to America, Vo. 4 The Final Years, 1770-1807. Bristol Record Society, c/o Department of Historical Studies, Univ. of Bristol. ISBN 0-901538-17-5.
  • Shiercliff, E. (1789). The Bristol and Hotwell Guide; ... Containing an Historical Account of the Ancient and Present State of that ... City: Also of the Hotwell; ... a Description of Clifton, Etc. MS. Notes.