''Earl Spencer'' was an

East Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

, launched in 1795 for the British

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). She made seven voyages for the EIC until in 1811-12 the government took her up to transport

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 ...

s to Australia in 1813. On her return voyage from Australia she sailed via China, where she carried a cargo back to England for the EIC.

EIC voyages

As most of her voyages took place during wartime, ''Earl Spencer'' frequently sailed under a letter of marque that authorized her to engage in offensive actions against the French, not just defensive. When the vessel changed masters, a new letter was issued. The outbreak of war after a period of peace also required a new letter.

EIC voyage #1 (1795-96)

Captain Thomas Denton left The Downs on 26 September 1795, bound for

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. His letter of marque had been issued on 5 September. On 20 Feb 1796 ''Earl Spencer'' reached

Kedgeree Kedgeree (or occasionally ) is a dish consisting of cooked, flaked fish (traditionally smoked haddock), boiled rice, parsley, hard-boiled eggs, curry powder, butter or cream, and occasionally sultanas. The dish can be eaten hot or cold. Other ...

. Homeward bound, she was at

Saugor Sagar is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sagar district of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Situated on a spur of the Vindhya Range, above sea-level. The city is around northeast of state capital ...

on 3 April, 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 ...

on 12 August and the

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

on 4 September. She arrived at Crookhaven on 27 November and Long Reach on 16 December.British Library: ''Earl Spencer'' (1)

EIC voyage #2 (1797-99)

Captain Charles Raitt left Portsmouth on 5 June 1797 for

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and Bengal. He had a letter of marque issued on 13 March 1797. ''Earl Spencer'' reached Simons Bay on 4 September and Madras on 2 December. She arrived at Kedgeree on 26 January 1798. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 20 April, Simons Bay on 22 August, the Cape on 30 September, and

St 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 17 November. She arrived at The Downs on 3 February 1799.British Library: ''Earl Spencer'' (2)

EIC voyage #3 (1800-01)

Captain Charles Raitt left Portsmouth on 28 June 1800, bound for Bengal. ''Earl Spencer'' arrived at Kedgeree on 8 January 1801. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 7 April. She left in company with and . The pilot left them on 12 April. ''Countess'' proved to be a much faster sailer than the two East Indiamen and parted from them on 8 April. ''Earl Spencer'' reached St Helena on 4 August and arrived at the Downs on 1 November.

EIC voyage #4 (1803-05)

Charles Raitt was again captain of ''Earl Spencer'' on her third voyage. The

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

having broken out after the one year of peace following the

Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on perio ...

, he received a new letter of marque on 8 June 1803. Raitt left Portsmouth on 30 June 1803, bound for Bengal. ''Earl Spencer'' reached Rio de Janeiro on 16 September. The Indiamen ''Earl Spencer'', , ''Princess Mary'', , ''Anna'', ''Ann'', , and ''Essex'' left Rio on 13 October. They were in company with the

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colum ...

, , and , and the

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

. Three days later ''Albion'' and ''Sceptre'' separated from the rest of the ships. ''Earl Spencer'' arrived at

Diamond Harbour Diamond Harbour () is a town and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River. It is the headquarters of the Diamond Harbour subdivision. Histor ...

on 11 February 1804. She was at Saugor on 26 April, and Madras on 16 August, before reaching St Helena on 31 December. She arrived at The Downs on 19 March 1805.

EIC voyage #5 (1806-07)

A change of captain meant a new letter of marque. Captain George Heming received a letter of marque on 21 July 1806. He sailed from Portsmouth on 9 August, bound for

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- ...

. ''Earl Spencer'' reached Rio de Janeiro on 13 November, the Cape on 15 January 1807, and Colombo on 5 April. She arrived at Bombay on 21 May. Homeward bound, she was at the Cape on 11 October, reached St Helena on 24 October, and arrived at the Downs on 29 December.

EIC voyage #6 (1808-10)

Captain George Heming sailed from Portsmouth on 10 June 1808, bound for Madras and Bengal. ''Earl Spencer'' was at Madeira on 24 June, and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 16 November. On the way she and rescued all of the passengers and all but 16 of the crew of ''Travers'', which had hit a rock on 7 November at . On 2 January 1809 ''Earl Spencer'' was at

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. There Heming joined Captain Kymer of and Captain Hawes of ''Monarch'' in letters of protest against the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

impressment Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of ...

of seamen from the ships; ''Earl Spencer'' had lost 23 men, including some petty officers, out of her crew of 87 men to the Navy. ''Earl Spencer'' was at Saugor on 14 March. On 2 May 1809 she departed from the Sandheads with a convoy of four other

Indiamen East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

and several smaller vessels, all under the escort of HMS ''Victor''. On 24 May a storm split the convoy and ''Victor'' and the small ships separately lost touch with the Indiamen. One of the five, , had a leak that had worsened. She received permission on 25 May from Captain John Dale of , the senior EIC captain of the five vessels and so commodore, to sail to Penang. Hawes, ''Monarch''s captain, requested that another of the Indiamen accompany him in case ''Monarch'' foundered. Dale detailed ''Earl Spencer'' to go with ''Monarch''. The three remaining Indiamen, ''Streatham'', , and continued on their way while hoping to meet up with ''Victor''. The French frigate captured ''Streatham'' and ''Europe'' in the

action of 31 May 1809 The action of 31 May 1809 was a naval skirmish in the Bay of Bengal during the Napoleonic Wars. During the action, an Honourable East India Company convoy carrying goods worth over £500,000 was attacked and partially captured by the French fri ...

. ''Lord Keith'' too exchanged broadsides with ''Caroline'' and was damaged, however she escaped and sailed to Penang to repair. ''Monarch'' and ''Lord Spencer'' arrived at Penang on 4 June. ''Lord Keith'' arrived on 10 June. Repairs completed, all three then sailed together and reached St Helena on 14 November; they arrived at The Downs on 19 or 20 January 1810.

EIC voyage #7 (1810-11)

Captain George Heming left Portsmouth on 9 June 1810 bound for Bengal. ''Earl Spencer'' reached Madeira on 25 June and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 12 December. escorted the Indiamen on the voyage, and on their arrival at Kedgeree on 15 December, Captain

George Sayer George Sydney Benedict Sayer (1 June 1914 – 20 October 2005) was a teacher at Malvern College, trustee of the Lewis estate and probably best known for his biography of the author C. S. Lewis.

, captain of ''Leda'', wrote a letter of commendation for Heming and his officers for their conduct on the voyage. On 3 February 1811 ''Earl Spencer'' was at Saugor, and on 20 February she was at Madras. She reached St Helena on 16 June and arrived at The Downs on 30 August. The government then took up ''Earl Spencer'' to transport convicts to Australia.

Convict transport and EIC voyage #8

Under the command of William Mitchell, ''Earl Spencer'' left England on 2 June 1813. She sailed via

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

, escorted for the early part of the voyage by , and arrived at

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 ...

on 9 October 1813. She transported 200 male convicts, four of whom died on the voyage. An officer and 38 men of the 73rd Regiment of Foot provided the guards for the prisoners. Some 20 free settlers came too as passengers. Aboard the ship was the first steam engine brought out to Australia. ''Earl Spencer'' left Port Jackson bound for China, but there is no date given. Between her arrival in New South Wales and her departure for China, she engaged in whaling. ''Earl Spenser'' arrived at

Whampoa anchorage Pazhou is a subdistrict of Haizhu in southeastern Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, in China. , formerly Whampoa Island, has a total area of and is the site of Pazhou Pagoda. Its eastern bay was formerly the chief anchorage for ships parti ...

on 23 October 1814. She passed the

Bocca Tigris The Humen, also Bocca Tigris or Bogue, is a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta that separates Shiziyang in the north and Lingdingyang in the south near Humen Town in China's Guangdong Province. It is the site of the Pearl River's discharge ...

on 12 November, reaching the

on 26 March 1815, and

on 24 April. From there she sailed "towards England" on 20 June.British Library: Earl Spencer (3).
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Fate

The last listing in ''

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 ...

'' and the ''Register of Shipping'' for ''Earl Spencer'' was in 1820, with the listing unchanged from 1813.

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Earl Spencer (1795 ship) 1795 ships Ships built on the River Thames Convict ships to New South Wales Ships of the British East India Company Whaling ships