Charlotte (1784 ship)

Service history

Initial career

Charlotte first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1784. Prior to her voyage transporting convicts, Charlotte traded with the Baltic and the West Indies.

Convict transport

Charlotte was a "heavy sailer"; she had to be towed down the English Channel to keep pace with the rest of the Fleet. Her master was Thomas Gilbert, and her surgeon was John White, principal surgeon to the colony.

She sailed for Botany Bay carrying 84 male and 24 female convicts , or 89 male and 20 female. Among the prisoners were James Squire, James Bloodsworth, James Underwood, Samuel Lightfoot, William Bryant and Mary Bryant,

Charlotte arrived at Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia, on 26 January 1788. This voyage was commemorated on the Charlotte Medal, commissioned by White and created by the convict Thomas Barrett.

One female convict, thought to be Ellen Fraser 1764-1840 (nee Redchester), was transferred from "Prince of Wales" to " Charlotte" on 13 August 1787, during the stop in Rio, where she joined her husband William Fraser who was a convict on the " Charlotte". Ellen gave birth to the second child of British parents in the colony (John Fraser).

She left Port Jackson on 6 May 1788, bound for China to take on a cargo of tea, under charter to the East India Company.

In May 1788, Captain Gilbert in Charlotte and Captain John Marshall in , left Port Jackson together intending to find a new route to China. After sighting Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island they discovered, on 27 May 1788, Matthew Island, and then, on 24 June, they saw land in the southern sector of the Marshall Islands. They continued on via Abemama, Kuria, Aranuka, Tarawa, Abaiang, Butaritari, and Makin without attempting to land on shore. They reached Canton on 9 September 1788, 126 days from Port Jackson. The two large dispersed groups of islands they discovered in the Central Pacific have since been known as the Gilbert and Marshall Islands.

Later career

On her return to England on 28 November 1789, Bond and Co., Walbrook merchants, purchased Charlotte to use her in the London—Jamaica trade. The following data is from Lloyd's Register.

Charlotte was one of the transport vessels that were part of the expedition under General Sir David Baird and Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham that would in 1806, capture the Dutch Cape Colony.

On 11 March, she and Anacreon sailed as cartels to France with prisoners from .

At some point she may have been sold to a Quebec merchant; if so, this does not appear in LR or the Register of Shipping.

Fate

A Charlotte was lost off Newfoundland in November 1818. However, there is no evidence to link the Charlotte that sank while sailing from Quebec to Liverpool with M'Call, master, to the Charlotte of this article. Another source notes that Charlotte continued to be listed in Lloyd's Register until 1821, but it is not unusual for Lloyd's Register to carry stale data for several years.

Recognition

An Urban Transit Authority First Fleet ferry was named after Charlotte in 1986.

Citations

References

References

1. [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015005676393?urlappend=%3Bseq=94 ''LR'' (1810), Seq.No.C363.]
2. (1996). "Picture of the Charlotte". First Fleet Fellowship.
3. [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015065522776?urlappend=%3Bseq=72 ''LR'' (1784), Seq.No.C481.]
4. [https://archive.org/details/thevoyageofgover15100gut The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay] (1789)
5. (2011). "The Ships of the First Fleet". Fellowship Of First Fleeters.
6. (2 November 1806). "Ship News". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Sunday 2 November 1806, p.1.
7. "Eleanor Redchester".
8. Letter from Newton Fowell, midshipman on {{HMS. Sirius. 1786. 6, to John Fowell, 12 July 1788. Cited in Irvine (ed.) 1988, p.81.
9. (15 January 1819). "The Marine List". Lloyd's List.
10. [http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/content/sydney-ferries-fleet-facts Sydney Ferries Fleet Facts] {{webarchive. link. (12 April 2015 Transport for NSW)