''Neptune'' was a merchant ship built 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 ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

in 1815. 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) chartered ''Neptune'' for one voyage. Later, she made two voyages

transporting Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, and ...

convicts 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 ...

from England to Australia. During one of those voyages she was notably involved in the Convict Crisis off the Cape coast in 1849. She was sold as a hulk in 1860.

Career

''Neptune'' cost 150,000 rupees to build. She first appeared 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 ...

'' in 1816 with Innerarity, master, Hook & Co., owners, and trade London–Bengal,''Lloyd's Register'' (1816), "N" Supple. pages, Seq.№N12.
/ref> suggesting that she had taken on British registry and was sailing to Bengal under a license from the EIC. (The ''Register of Shipping'' showed her master's name as Inveriety.) In 1819 ''Neptune''s master changed from Innerarity to R. Low, and her owner from Hook & Co. to Robinson. The ''Register of Shipping'' for 1820 showed ''Neptune'' with Lowe, master, Davidson & Co. owner, and trade Liverpool—Calcutta. In December 1823 her owners sold ''Neptune'' for a "Free Trader". On her one voyage for the EIC she left Portsmouth on 6 July 1827 under the command of Captain John Altham Cumberlege, Jr., bound for Bengal. She reached

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- ...

on 26 October,

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

on 15 November,

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 27 December, and arrived at

on 2 January 1828. On her return voyage she passed

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 ...

on 14 February, reached

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 ...

on 3 March 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 18 May, and arrived at the Downs on 12 July. On her first convict voyage, under the command of William Ferris and surgeon Joseph Steret, she departed

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

on 7 October 1837 and arrived in Hobart on 18 January 1838. She transported 200 male convicts, three of whom died en route. ''Neptune'' sailed from

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 ...

, Ireland, on 26 October 1843, still under the command of William Ferris, and with 308 bounty emigrants aboard. She arrived in Sydney on 11 February 1844 and was placed in quarantine for three days on arrival due to smallpox. Ten people died during the voyage. In 1849 ''Neptune'' attempted to deliver 288 convicts to the Cape Colony to start a new penal settlement in South Africa. The free settlers already there vigorously opposed the idea and it was eventually abandoned.Se
articles from 1849 and 1850
an

On her second convict voyage, under the command of John Henderson and with surgeon Thomas Gibson, she departed England in January 1850. Calling at Bermuda colony she took on further convicts before departing for the Cape where popular feeling against the prospect of becoming a penal colony resulted in Convict crisis, boycotting and protests, thereby preventing the landing of her convicts and she eventually arrived in Hobart on 5 April 1850. She transported 300 male convicts, and disembarked 282 at Hobart.

Fate

''Neptune'' does not appear in the 1860 volume of ''Lloyd's Register''. She was sold in 1860 for use as a hulk.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * {{cite book, last=Phipps, first=John, (of the Master Attendant's Office, Calcutta), year=1840, title=A Collection of Papers Relative to Ship Building in India ...: Also a Register Comprehending All the Ships ... Built in India to the Present Time ..., publisher=Scott 1815 ships British ships built in India Convict ships to Tasmania Age of Sail merchant ships Ships of the British East India Company