Jenny (1783 Ship)

''Jenny'' was built at Newfoundland in 1783. She sailed to Britain and traded between Britain and Newfoundland and then between Bristol and Africa until 1790 when Sydenham Teast (or Sidenham Teast) purchased her. Between 1791 and 1794 she made two voyages exploring the Pacific Northwest and gathering sea otter pelts. In 1796 she returned to trading with Africa but was lost in January 1797 as she was returning to Bristol from Africa.

Career

''Jenny'' entered ''Lloyd's Register'' (''LR'') in 1784 with J. Parsons, master, Clements, owner, and trade Bristol–Newfoundland.''LR'' (1789), Seq.№J789.
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Trading with Africa

Records exist for three voyages to Africa for ''Jenny'', none of which involved slave trading. She carried no cannons on any of these voyages, and her crew numbered from eight to ten.

Voyage #1 (1788–1789): Captain William Byrne sailed from Bristol on 22 March 1788. He died on 5 October and it was Captain David Prosser who returned ''Jenny'' to Bristol on 5 June 1789.

Voyage #2 (1789–1790): Captain Prosser sailed from Bristol on 3 July 1789. ''Jenny'' returned direct from Africa on 15 March 1790.

Voyage #3 (1790): Captain Prosser sailed from Bristol on 26 March 1790. (He died at some point on the voyage before ''Jenny'' returned to Bristol.) In June ''Jenny'' took on ivory and wax from ''African Queen'' at Cape Lahou. ''Jenny'' sailed for Bristol on 7 July and returned to Bristol on 9 September.

Trading with the Pacific Northwest

Clements went bankrupt in 1790 and was forced to sell ''Jenny'', which Sydenham Teast then purchased. Some sources state that Teast employed ''Jenny'' as a slaver, carrying slaves between West Africa and Barbados. The most complete database of trans-Atlantic slave voyages does not support that assertion. There was a ''Jenny'' that carried slaves to Barbados, but that occurred some two decades before the launch of the ''Jenny'' of this article.

Teast had ''Jenny'' lengthened and rebuilt in 1791, including the addition of a third mast. Her master changed from M'Carthy to James Baker.''LR'' (1792), Seq.№J183.
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Voyage #1 (1791–1793): Captain James Baker sailed ''Jenny'' for the Pacific in the first week of October 1791, bound for Cape Verde and the South Seas.

During her voyage ''Jenny'' was at Tahiti. There she picked the captain, two men, and two boys, survivors from the wrecking of . Two young Tahitian women also came on ''Jenny''. ''Jenny'' took them with her to Nootka Sound. In addition to Tahiti Baker also visited Easter Island, Kiritimati (Christmas Island), and the Hawaiian Islands, before sailing to the Pacific Northwest Coast.

In early August 1792, ''Jenny'' was in Clayoquot Sound where, with the Butterworth Squadron, Baker was involved in a violent conflict with Tla-o-qui-aht people of chief Wickaninnish. After that Baker took ''Jenny'' north to trade for sea otter furs in Haida Gwaii, collecting a cargo of about 350 otter skins. Then Baker sailed to Nootka Sound, arriving in early October, 1792.

Baker did not have a license that would permit him to go to Guangzhou (Canton) to sell his cargo of furs. He therefore decided to sail back to England. He did not want to return to Tahiti and so was pleased that George Vancouver, who was going back, would take the two Tahitian women.

In mid October Baker left Nootka Sound to return to Bristol, stopping at the Columbia River. In December 1792 William Robert Broughton, captain of , part of the Vancouver Expedition, encountered Baker in the Columbia River. The ''Jenny'' and ''Chatham'' left the river and crossed the Columbia Bar together, then parted ways. Broughton named the bay where he found ''Jenny'' Baker Bay, after James Baker.

''Jenny'' returned to Bristol on 25 June 1793.

Teast prepared ''Jenny'' for her next voyage to the Pacific. He had her converted from a three-masted schooner to a square-rigged ship. He acquired trade goods that would appeal to the indigenous inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest. He arranged with the British East India Company (EIC) for a license that would permit her to bring back a cargo from China after selling her furs there. Third, he appointed a new captain, John William Adamson.

Voyage #2 (1793–1795): Captain Adamson sailed from Bristol in October, 1793. She was at California in April 1794. Between May and September she gathered otter skins, mostly in Haida Gwaii. Adamson then sailed to Nootka Sound, arriving on 29 Sept 1794. There he encountered Vancouver, who noted that he had gathered some 2,000 sea otter skins. ''Jenny'' then sailed to Canton, arriving on 25 December 1794. Captain Adamson and ''Jenny'' returned to Bristol on 22 July 1795, or 25 July.

Africa again

''Jenny'' did not appear in ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1795, but she reappeared in 1796 with E. Buckle, master, Teast, owner, and trade Bristol–Africa.''LR'' (1796), Supple. pages "J".
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Captain Edmund Buckle sailed ''Jenny'' for Africa on 29 February 1796 on a voyage not intended for the slave trade. She was reported to have passed Sierra Leone on 7 April.

Loss

''Lloyd's List'' reported on 27 January 1797 that ''Jenny'', Buckle, master, had been lost on Lundy Island as she was returning to Bristol from Africa.''Lloyd's List'' №2893.
/ref> The only survivor was the first mate. Teast and the underwriters attempted to salvage what they could.

The place where ''Jenny'' was lost is now known as Jenny's Cove ().

Citations and references

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{{1797 shipwrecks

1783 ships
Ships built in Newfoundland and Labrador
Age of Sail merchant ships of England
Maritime incidents in 1797
Shipwrecks in the Bristol Channel