Hugh Crawford (1813 Ship)

''Hugh Crawford'' was launched in 1810 in the United States as ''Orbit''. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1813. She was sold as a prize and her purchasers renamed her ''Hugh Crawford''. She traded with India and Australia and thrice carried free immigrants to New South Wales under private charter. She was one of the first ships to do so. She was last listed in 1833, but with data stale since 1827.

Career

On 29 January 1813 captured the American ship ''Orbit'', of 390 tons (bm), six guns, and 25 men. ''Orbit'' was sailing from New York to Bordeaux with a cargo of cotton, pearl, and potash. She had been launched in 1810 at New York.

She was sold as a prize and her new owners named her ''Hugh Crawford''. She entered ''Lloyd's Register'' (''LR'') in 1813 with Niels, master, Crawford, owner, and trade Plymouth-West Indies.''LR'' (1813), Supple. pages "H", Seq.№H63.
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What enables one to make the link between ''Orbit'' and ''Hugh Crawford'' is a mistake in the ''Register of Shipping'' (''RS'') in 1814. It mistakenly carried both ''Hugh Crawford'' and ''Orbit'', the publishers not realizing that ''Orbit'' had become ''Hugh Crawford''.

In September 1815 ''Hugh Crawford'' arrived at Bristol. She had left Honduras on 1 August in company with ''Samuel and Sarah'', bound for London, and ''Regent'', bound for Hull.

In 1813 the EIC had lost its monopoly on the trade between India and Britain. British ships were then free to sail to India or the Indian Ocean under a license from the EIC. W. Athol sailed ''Hugh Crawford'' from London on 17 April 1818.

''Hugh Crawford'', Athol, master, returned to the Clyde on 22 March 1819. She had left Bengal on 3 November 1818 and the Sand Heads on the 11th. She was at St Helena on 15 January 1819. On 10 February on her way home she encountered a Buenos Ayrean privateer. The privateer wanted to put 38 Spanish prisoners on ''Hugh Crawford'' but Athol refused to take them.

The ''Register of Shipping'' still carried both ''Hugh Crawford'' and ''Orbit'' in 1820, but the data for ''Orbit'' was stale. On 28 January 1820, ''Lloyd's List'' (''LL'') reported that ''Hugh Crawford'', Holliday, master, had been sailing from Charleston to Greenock when on 20 January she had struck on some rocks in the Clyde, about six miles from Dunoon. ''LL'' reported that she was totally wrecked and her cargo, though salvageable, was in a severely distressed state. The news of her loss proved to be exaggerated. By 1821 she was again appearing in ''LL''s ship arrival and departure (SAD) data.

By the 1825 issue ''Orbit'' had disappeared from the ''RS'', and both registers were in essential agreement on ''Hugh Crawford''.

''Hugh Crawford'' made three voyages carrying emigrants from England to Australia. She also carried such cargo as sheep, horned cattle, horses, mail, merchant goods, and timber.

On 20 November 1823, she was at St Helena, on her way back to England from Valparaiso. She arrived at London on 15 January 1824 with Wilson, master.

Thomas Potter Macqueen chartered ''Hugh Crawford'' to carry emigrants from England to New South Wales. She was reportedly the first privately chartered vessel to carry free settlers to New South Wales. Previously, free settlers had arrived as passengers on board vessels transportingconvicts. Later, Macqueen also chartered to perform the same service.

On 5 December 1824, ''Hugh Crawford'' was at Portsmouth on her way to New South Wales with Langdon, master. She arrived at the Cape Verde islands on 31 December and left for New South Wales on 4 January 1825. She arrived at Sydney on Sunday 3 April. She had carried 57 settlers, five of whom disembarked at Van Diemen's Land. She also brought 122 sheep and eight head of horned cattle.

From Sydney ''Hugh Crawford'' sailed on 10 June to Batavia, Dutch East Indies, via the Torres Islands. She sailed in company with and . ''Hugh Crawford'' arrived at Batavia on 2 July. Her arrival coincided with the outbreak of the Java War. On 3 July she sailed for Singapore. She arrived at Deal from on 19 January 1826.

On 23 June Langdon sailed from Gravesend and on the 27th from Deal, bound for New South Wales. On 27 July ''Hugh Crawford'' reached Santiago, Cape Verde. She arrived at Sydney on 22 November. On 26 December a sudden shift of the wind pushed her aground. She sustained little damage, but Langdon published a letter in ''The Australian'' thanking the commanders of and for the assistance they had rendered. Langdon had apparently brought a band for the amusement of his passengers, which band also played in Sydney, as did the band of ''Warspite''.''The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser'' 9 December 1826, p.2, "AUSTRALASIAN POLITICS".
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On 23 March 1827 Langdon sailed ''Hugh Crawford'' from Hobart, Tasmania, en route to England via Cape Horn. She arrived at the Falkland Islands on 22 May after having become becalmed off Cape Horn for five weeks. ''Hugh Crawford'' sailed from the Falklands on 25 May.

Fate

''Hugh Crawford'' was last listed in 1833, but with data unchanged since 1827.

Citations

References

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* {{cite book , last1=Lorton , first1=Roger , year=2012 , title=Falklands Wars - the History of the Falkland Islands: with particular regard to Spanish and Argentine pretensions and taking some account of South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and Britain's Antarctic Territories , url=https://falklandstimeline.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/falklands-history24.pdf

1810 ships
Ships built in the United States
Captured ships
Age of Sail merchant ships of England
Maritime incidents in January 1820
Migrant ships to Australia