William (1770 Ship)

''William'' was a merchant vessel built in France in 1770 or 1771. From 1791 she made numerous voyages as a whaler in the southern whale fishery. She also made one voyage in 1793 transporting supplies from England to Australia. She then resumed whaling, continuing until 1809.

Career

''William'' first entered ''Lloyd's Register'' in 1786. The table below recapitulates information from ''Lloyd's Register'' for ''William'', built in France in 1770.

Lieutenant John Ralph Moss RN became ''William's'' master in January 1791. Sailing from London on 25 February, she was driven ashore at Sheerness with many others by a sudden blizzard.She finally departed for the South Sea from the Downs on 3 April.''William'' proceeded first to Delagoa Bay in Southeast Africa, where she was reported on 28 August. By 18 January 1792 she was spoken with north of the Falkland Islands, so she had doubled both capes by the time she arrived in the Pacific, where she touched at the Juan Fernandez Islands later that month. She was reported on the coast of Peru in April and September, and called again at the Juan Fernandez Islands in November for firewood and fresh provisions to counter scurvy. She passed Gravesend inbound on 21 April 1793 with 141 tuns of sperm oil, five tuns of whale oil, and 2347 seal skins.

Under the command of William Folger, she sailed from England via Cork, Ireland, on 21 September 1793, with 2080 barrels of beef and pork, the Colony's new Assistant Chaplain, Rev. Samuel Marsden, and one female convict. ''William'' arrived at Port Jackson, New South Wales, on 10 March 1794. After unloading her goods, she purportedly left for China.

There is some confusion about her ownership and later role on this voyage. ''Lloyd's Register'' gave her owner as Samuel Enderby & Sons. A database of whaling voyages gives her owner as Mather & Co.,British Southern Whale Fishery Database – voyages: ''William''.
/ref> but also lists Enderbys as her owners from 1791 on. Both sources agree that she was a whaler.

Apparently, ''William'' went whaling off Peru instead of going to China. She was reported off the coast of Peru, and then on the coast of Chile in November 1794. She returned to Britain on 29 November 1795 with 64 tuns of sperm oil, 57 tuns of whale oil, and 32 cwt of whale bone.

On 12 April 1796, Captain George Fitch sailed ''William'' for the South Seas whaling grounds. She was reported to have been off Massafuero (Más Afuera) Island in August. Then at Chatham Island (Galapagos) on 6 November. She was in company with ''Greenwich'' between February and May 1797 at the Galapagos. On 8 July ''Williams'' was at Cape Corrientes (Mexico). She was off Chile on 21 November. Then she was off Bahia (possibly Bahía de Banderas), California, in January 1798 bound for the Galapagos and then Easter Island. She was reported at St Helena shortly before she returned to England on 10 July 1798.

Fitch made another whaling voyage in ''William'', sailing to Peru in 1798. ''William'', , and returned from Peru together. On 27 December 1800 they were 25 leagues west of Scilly when they encountered a 20-gun French privateer. In the ensuing engagement ''Cornwall'' took many shots to her hull. By the time the French privateer sailed off ''Cornwall'' had eleven feet of water in her hold and was quite water-logged. The engagement had lasted five hours and the whalers arrived at Falmouth on the 28th.''Lloyd's List'
2 January 1801, №4116.
/ref> ''William'' returned to Gravesend on 4 January 1801.''Lloyd's List'
(''LL'') 6 January 1801, №4117.
/ref>

On 4 March 1801 Captain Robert Poole received a letter of marque for ''William''.

Poole left Britain on 20 March. ''William'' was reported off the coast of Brazil in November. Later, she was reported at St Helena. She returned to Britain on 25 May 1802.

The ''Register of Shipping'' for 1802 showed ''William''s master changing from Poole to J. Cottle. Her owner was still S. Enderby, and her trade was still the South Seas Fishery.''Register of Shipping'' (1802), №W182.
/ref>

Obediah Cottle (or Catterell) sailed from Britain on 22 August, bound for the Pacific. ''William'' was reported to have been in the Pacific in November 1803 and March 1804, and at St Helena on 23 December. She returned to Britain on 21 March 1805.

Fate

''William'' was last listed in the ''Register of Shipping'' in 1809.

Citations

References

*
* {{cite book , last1=Clayton , first1=Jane M , year=2014 , title=Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775–1815: An alphabetical list of ships , publisher=Berforts Group , isbn=9781908616524

1770 ships
Ships built in France
Age of Sail merchant ships
Merchant ships of the United Kingdom
Convict ships to New South Wales
Whaling ships
Sealing ships