''Melville Castle'' was launched in 1786 as 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 ...

. She made seven voyages 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 was sold in 1802 to Dutch owners and wrecked with great loss of life later that year on her first voyage for them.

Career

EIC voyage #1 (1787-1788): Captain

Philip Dundas Philip Dundas (baptised 7 May 1762 – 8 April 1807) was a Scottish East India Company naval officer, president of the East India Marine Board, and superintendent of Bombay. He returned to Britain and became a member of parliament and returned to ...

sailed from The Downs on 6 January 1787, 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- ...

and China. ''Melville Castle'' reached Bombay on 22 May and arrived at Whampoa anchorage on 21 September. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 11 January 1788, reached

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 April, and arrived at The Downs on 24 June. EIC voyage #2 (1789-1790): Captain Dundas sailed from The Downs on 26 February 1789, bound for Bengal. ''Melville Castle'' 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 27 June. Homeward bound, she was at Culpee on 7 December, reached st Helena on 29 March 1790, and arrived at The Downs on 31 May. Dundas brought back with him a

rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

, a present from the "King of Laknaor" (Lucknow?) to Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville. Dundas had no real use for a rhinoceros so he sold it to Thomas Clarke for £700 for exhibition at the Essex Change. The rhinoceros died in 1793. EIC voyage #3 (1792-1793): Captain Dundas sailed from The Downs on 8 March 1792, bound 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. ''Melville Castle'' was at

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek /h/ cou ...

on 17 June, reached Madras on 21 July, and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 15 August. On 15 September she was at 'Broken Ground' and on 8 October at Masulipatam; she returned to Diamond Harbour on 14 December. 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 18 January 1793, reached St Helena on 14 April, and arrived at Long Reach on 6 July. Captain John Alexander Haldane: War with France had broken out while ''Melville Castle'' was returning from her third voyage. Captain John Alexander Haldane acquired a letter of marque on 19 November 1793. However, the British government was contemplating an invasion of Île de France (Mauritius), and detained a large number of East Indiamen in England to serve as transports. It cancelled the planned expedition and released the vessels in May 1794. It paid ''Melville Castle''s owners £ 2,562 10 s for 123 days of

demurrage The term "demurrage" from Old French ''demeurage'', from ''demeurer'' – to linger, tarry – originated in vessel chartering and referred to the period when the charterer remained in possession of the vessel after the period normally allowed ...

for the delay in her voyage. While ''Melville Castle'' was at Spithead, a mutiny broke out among the crew of the similarly detained after her captain had sent for a boat from a nearby warship to

press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a famil ...

some unruly members of his crew. Haldane rowed over to ''Dutton''. He went on board where he talked with the mutineers, convincing them to return to work.Kay (1838), Vol. 2, Part 1, pp.37-39.pp.37-39. Also while he was waiting to sail, Haldane started reading the Bible. This had a profound effect on him and he decided to resign his command. Fortunately, he was able to find a replacement who was both acceptable to the EIC and as was the practice at the time, who could afford to purchase the command from Haldane. EIC voyage #4 (1794-1795): It was Captain John Lambe who sailed ''Melville Castle'' from Portsmouth on 2 May 1794, bound for Madras and Bengal. She reached Madras on 11 September and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 15 October. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 28 January 1795, Madras on 1 April, and Trincomalee on 4 May. She reached St Helena on 13 August and arrived at Long Reach on 29 November. EIC voyage #5 (1796-1797): Captain Lambe acquired a letter of marque on 20 April 1796. He sailed from Portsmouth on 27 June 1796, bound for Madras. ''Melville Castle'' reached the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

on 19 September, and Madras on 9 January 1797. Homeward bound, she was at Trincomalle on 12 April and Simon's Bay on 12 July. She reached St Helena on 11 September and arrived at The Downs on 13 December. EIC voyage #6 (1798-1799): Captain Lambe sailed from Portsmouth on 29 April 1798, bound for Bombay. ''Melville Castle'' reached Rio de Janeiro on 6 July and arrived at Bombay on 30 September. She visited

Cannanore Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hu ...

on 13 November before returning to Bombay on 31 December. Homeward bound, she reached St Helena on 1 May 1799 and arrived at The Downs on 13 July. David Webster sold ''Melville Castle'' to William Hamilton. on 17 March 1800 the EIC chartered her for one voyage at a rate of £25/ton (bm), plus £7 15s per ton surplus. EIC voyage #7 (1800-1802): Captain Lambe sailed from Portsmouth on 28 June 1800, bound for Bengal. ''Melville Castle'' reached St Helena on 22 September and arrived at Kedgeree on 4 January 1801. She then sailed for Bombay. She was at Saugor on 7 March and Anjengo on 24 April. She arrived at Bombay on 7 May. Homeward bound, she reached St Helena on 8 November and arrived at The Downs on 19 January 1802. The "United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies" offered 28,966 bags of rice for sale on 25 March. The rice had come in on , ''Melville Castle'', , and .

Fate

Her owners sold ''Melville Castle'' to Dutch owners who renamed her ''Vreede'' (or '' Vryheid''). She was repaired and the Government of the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...

chartered her to carry troops to the

and

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. She sailed from Amsterdam on 21 November 1802. On 23 November she was wrecked near Hythe, Kent. There were only 20 survivors (eight soldiers and 12 seamen), from her total complement of 474 crew and passengers. The dead numbered 312 soldiers, 12 officers, 22 women, 20 passengers, seven children, and 61 seamen.''Narrative...'' (1802), p.28.

Citations

References

* * . *Kay, John (1838) ''A Series of Original Portraits and Caricature Etchings''. Vol. 2, Part 1. (H. Paton, Carver and Gilder). *''A Narrative of the dreadful Shipwreck of the Vryheid, late the Melville-Castle ... a Dutch Indiaman ... Written by one of the survivors'' (1802). (Tegg & Castleman). * {{coord missing, London 1786 ships Ships built in Deptford Age of Sail merchant ships of England Ships of the British East India Company Maritime incidents in 1802 Shipwrecks of England