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William Heathcote (1800 ship)
William Heathcote was launched in Liverpool in 1800. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Next, a French privateer captured her in a single-ship action, and the British Royal Navy recaptured her. She became a West Indiaman before she again made an enslaving voyage, one of the last such legal voyages. After British participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade ended, she became a West Indiaman again; she then sailed to Brazil and as a transport. She was wrecked in July 1816. CareerWilliam Heathcote first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1800.[2]
1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1800–1802): Captain John Stothart acquired a letter of marque on 30 September 1800.[1] He sailed from Liverpool on 18 November.[3] In 1800, 133 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for the trade in enslaved people. Of these vessels, 120 sailed from Liverpool.[4] William Heathcote acquired captives in Bonny and arrived in May 1801 in Demerara with 373 captives. Lloyd's List reported on 3 March 1801 that a schooner, bound for St Domingo from Bordeaux, had come into Dominica.[3] The schooner was a prize to Brooks and William Heathcote, of Liverpool.[5] William Heathcote arrived back at Liverpool on 9 April 1802. She had left Liverpool with 60 crew members and she suffered 14 crew deaths on her voyage.[3] On her return from Demerara William Heathcote became a West Indiaman.
On 4 August 1804 William Heathcote was returning to Liverpool from Demerara when a French privateer captured her.[6] The privateer was General Augereau, of 12 guns and 90 men. In the action leading up to the capture, Captain Phillips, his son, a passenger, and a seaman were killed, and the mate, a passenger and seven seamen wounded; General Auguereau had three men killed and her captain and five men wounded.[a] On 9 August HMS Nautilus recaptured William Heathcote and sent her into Plymouth.[8] William Heathcote was carrying a cargo that the press reported was worth £80,000 and that consisted of cotton, coffee, indigo, cochineal, sugar, and cotton. The capture took place off Bayonne and HMS Indefatigable shared by agreement.[9] The hired armed brig Cockatrice escorted William Heathcote into Liverpool on 2 October 1804.[10] The underwriters agreed a valuation of £36,000 for the cargo and £8,000 for the vessel.[11]
2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1807–1808): Captain Moses Joynson acquired a letter of marque on 17 March 1807.[1] The Slave Trade Act 1807, which forbade British ships to engage in the slave trade, took effect on 1 May 1807, but William Heathcote must have cleared customs outbound before that date as Captain Joyson did not sail until 6 July.[b] William Heathcote arrived in Suriname in February 1808. She arrived back in Liverpool on 17 August.[12]
Captain John Hanley acquired a letter of marque on 11 December 1810.[1]
In February 1816 an advertisement appeared in the press stating that William Heathcote, William Batman, master, was intending to sail to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[13] She sailed on 11 February but had to put back two days later leaky and with her main top mast sprung.[14] FateWilliam Heathcote was wrecked in July 1816 on Bier Island. Her crew and part of her materials were saved. She was on a voyage from Philadelphia to Saint John, New Brunswick. British North America.[15] Notes
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