''Admiral Barrington'' was a ship built in 1781 in France and was employed as a French

West Indiaman West Indiaman was a general name for any merchantman sailing ship making runs from the Old World to the West Indies and the east coast of the Americas. These ships were generally strong ocean-going ships capable of handling storms in the Atlantic ...

, though under a different name. She was captured in 1782 and was later sold to Godfrey Thornton. Thornton renamed her ''Admiral Barrington''. She then made one full voyage for the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

(EIC) from 1787 till 1788. Her most notable voyage was as a

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

ship in the third fleet to Australia. On her return voyage in 1793 pirates attacked her near

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and murdered almost her entire crew. She was apparently recovered, only to have a French privateer capture her in the West Indies in 1797. The privateer took her to Bordeaux, where she was sold.

EIC extra ship

At the time of ''Admiral Barrington''s first voyage for the EIC, her principal managing owner was Godfrey Thornton. She served as an extra ship, meaning that the EIC had chartered her. Under the command of Captain Charles Lindegreen she sailed for China, leaving Portsmouth on 21 February 1787. She reached

False Bay False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcat ...

, South Africa, on 11 May and Whampoa on 21 August. On her return trip to Britain she reached Macao on 7 January 1788,

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

on 22 April, and Deptford on 1 August. In mid-December 1788 news reached London that ''Admiral Barrington'' was frozen up at

Cronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for "crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of ...

and would winter there. ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...

'' for 1789 gives her master's name as J. Arnott, her owner as G. Thornton, and her trade as London-Copenhagen.

Third Fleet

Under the command of Robert Abbon Mash, she sailed from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, England, on 27 March 1791 as part of the third fleet and arrived in

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

on 16 October. She brought with her Captain William Paterson, three noncommissioned officers, and 24 privates of the

New South Wales Corps The New South Wales Corps (sometimes called The Rum Corps) was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment of the British Army to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia, in fortifying the ...

. They served as guards for the 300 male convicts on board. In addition, four free women accompanied their convict husbands, together with two children. Ninety-seven persons were sick on board the ship when she arrived. Thirty-six convicts died during the voyage, i.e., she delivered 264 alive. She was the last of the eleven ships to arrive in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Pirate attack

''Admiral Barrington'' left Port Jackson on 6 January 1792, to whale off the coast of Australia. At some point she visited Norfolk Island.Collins (1798), Vol. 2, Chap. 16. Originally, before she left for Botany Bay, her captain's intent was to go to China to pick up a back-haul cargo for the EIC. Instead, from New South Wales she sailed to Batavia. She left Batavia and reached the coast of India near Bombay. However, a gale of wind forced her on shore on one of the "Malouine Islands" (sic). There the natives on the island murdered her crew, except for the master, chief mate, and surgeon, who swam to the safety of a British

country ship that was anchored near the island.Collins 1975, p. 299

Fate

Although the Bombay papers in 1793, reported that ''Admiral Barrington'' had been taken by Malwan pirates and never recovered, apparently ''Admiral Barrington'' was salvaged as she returned to commercial service. In 1797 she was sailing in the West India trade when the French privateer ''Diede'' captured her and sent her into Bordeaux.''Lloyd's List'' n° 2981 - accessed 30 September 2015.
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Notes

Citations

References

* * * * {{coord missing, India 1781 ships Ships of the Third Fleet Ships of the British East India Company Whaling in Australia Shipwrecks in the Arabian Sea Ships built in France Age of Sail merchant ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Whaling ships Maritime incidents in 1792 Captured ships