''Nancy'' was a schooner or ship launched at Bombay. In 1778 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) government at Bengal acquired her to use as a warship 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 ...

. The EIC Board of Governors in London vetoed the idea and ''Nancy'' became an express

packet ship Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...

. She made two voyages from Bengal to Ireland between 1782 and 1784, and was wrecked on the second of these.

Career

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...

Governor-General of Bengal The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

wanted to create a small navy at

like the EIC's

Bombay Marine The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India. Fr ...

, in order to combat pirates and French privateers. He acquired four vessels, the smallest of which was ''Nancy''. Captain Heffernan was appointed her captain. Reportedly, Heffernan retired and sailed to Cork in 1781. When the Board of Governors of the EIC in London vetoed the project the EIC decided to use ''Nancy'' as an express packet. She sailed from

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 ...

on 1 March 1782 under the command of Captain George Hifferman, and arrived at

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

on 15 July 1782. Records in the British Library state that Captain John Haldane left India on 1 April 1782, and left Cork on 19 January 1783.British Library: ''Nancy'' (1).
/ref> Hardy's information agrees that ''Nancy'' left Cork on 19 January 1783 bound for Bengal and under the command of Captain Haldane.

Loss

''Nancy'' was lost off the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

on 9 February 1784, or 24 February. ''Nancy'' struck the Gilstone in the Western Rocks and sank in deeper water near

Rosevear Rosevear ( kw, Ros Veur "great promontory") is the largest () of the group of rocks known as the Western Rocks, Isles of Scilly. The islands are on eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean on the south-west approaches to the island of Great Britain ...

Ledges. When she sank, she was carrying actress

Ann Cargill Ann Cargill (born Ann Brown) (1760 – 4 March 1784) was a British opera diva and celebrated beauty whose life and death were a sensation in London at the close of the 18th century. Life Ann was born in London, the daughter of coal merchant Edw ...

and her young child; Cargill was Haldane's lover or wife. Some of the crew and passengers took to a small boat that was dashed on Rosevear killing all aboard. In total 36 crew, 12 passengers, and 1 prisoner drowned.

Post-script

In 2008 the Islands Maritime Archaeological Group (IMAG) fortuitously found what they believe is the wreck site, east of the Rosevear Ledges.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations References * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nancy (1778 EIC ship) 1774 ships Ships of the British East India Company Maritime incidents in 1784