Catherine (1793 ship)
# Catherine (1793 ship)

Catherine was launched in the United States. Beyond that, her origins are obscure. She came to be registered at Bristol and made one complete voyage in 1793 as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French captured her in 1794 as she was setting out on her second slave trading voyage.

1st enslaving voyage (1793): Captain James Wilson sailed from Bristol on 19 January 1793. He acquired captives at Bonny and arrived at Lucea, Jamaica on 20 August 1793 with 316 captives. Catherine arrived back at London on 22 December 1793. On his way to Saint Lucia Wilson had stopped at Grenada. She arrived at Gravesend, Kent, from Jamaica on 22 December.

A more complete source shows that Catherine left Bristol with 42 crew and returned with 21. Three additional crew enlisted at Gabon on 30 May and 25 June 1793, while six were ' lost' at Cape Coast in July and early August. Catherine reached Jamaica with 39 crew, discharging 24 there between 22 December and 4 February. On 6 March, while she was at Jamaica, she enlisted six new crew members.

Catherine had reached Calaber on 16 August 1793. There she embarked 164 men and 186 women. Two men died before she left New Calabar. When she left Africa on 27 September she had 348 captives. In the Middle Passage, i.e., as she sailed from Africa to the West Indies, she lost 20 men and 32 women, suggesting that she arrived at Jamaica with 296 captives. However, the evidence is inconsistent. The report that she arrived with 296 captives states that she landed and sold 61 and transshipped 253, suggesting that she arrived with 314. Another report states that she delivered 318 captives to the owners' agents, Taylor, Ballantine & Fairlie to sell. She was also reported to have captured three French vessels on the African coast.

Catherine first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR), in the volume for 1794.

| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1794 | J.Wilson | J.Jones | Bristol–Africa | LR; lengthened and rebuilt 1792 |

In February, Catherine, Wilson, master, sailed from London to Bristol.

2nd enslaving voyage (1794–loss): Captain James Wilson acquired a letter of marque on 29 April 1794. He sailed from Bristol on 31 May, with a crew of 40 men, bound for Africa and then Jamaica.

In July 1794, Lloyd's List reported that the French had captured three Bristol ships on their way to Africa and taken the ships to France. The three were Catherine, Wilson, master, Thomas, Mentor, master, and Nancy, Wilcox, master.

In 1794, 25 British enslaving vessels were lost. Eighteen were lost on the way to Africa. During the period 1793 to 1807, war, rather than maritime hazards or resistance by the captives, was the greatest cause of vessel losses among British slave vessels.

## Citations

* 1 2 3 4 "Letter of Marque, p.55 – Retrieved 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
* ↑ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Catherine voyage #18177.
* 1 2 Richardson (1996), p. 231.
* ↑ LR (1794), Seq.no.C556.
* ↑ Richardson (1996), p. 239.
* ↑ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Catherine voyage #18192.
* ↑ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 2631. 22 July 1794. hdl:2027/hvd.32044050633098.
* ↑ Inikori (1996), p. 62.
* ↑ Inikori (1996), p. 58.
