''Alexander'' was a sailing ship built by Henry Baldwin and launched in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in 1801. She was registered in London in 1802. She sailed for the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

carrying wheat to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

for the government, before returning to Britain via China. She spent a few years trading with the West Indies before she traveled to New South Wales again, this time transporting

convict 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 convicts ...

s. On her return to Britain new owners returned her to trading with the West Indies, but she is no longer listed after 1810 and her ultimate fate is unknown.

East Indiaman (1802-1803)

She was taken up for service with the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

between 1802 and 1803. The Victualing Board chartered ''Alexander'' to carry 511,945 pounds (228.5

ton Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...

s) of flour to

; the Bill of Lading was dated 5 March 1802. Captain James Normand left England on 28 April 1802, bound for

and

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. ''Alexander'' reached

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

on 30 June, and

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

on 16 October. The government sold some of her supplies (60 casks of flour and 25 casks of salt meat) to

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 175416 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. He carried a few corms of Gros Michel banana ...

to resupply his two French vessels then in port. The supplies permitted '' Naturaliste'' to return to France and '' Geographe'' to continue her explorations of the Australian coast. A listing of vessel and arrivals and departures supports these dates and gives the name of her master as "Norman". However, it shows her as having delivered "prisoners", and having left for China. The standard history of convict ships to Australia does not show an ''Alexander'' delivering convicts in 1802. She left Port Jackson on 3 January 1803, stopped at

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

on 20 March, and reached Bombay on 27 April. From Bombay she reached St Helena on 5 October, and the Downs on 18 December.British Library: ''Alexander'' (2).
/ref> On 4 January 1804 Captain Norman wrote a testimonial to the Commissioners of Longitude in support of an award for

Thomas Earnshaw Thomas Earnshaw (4 February 1749 – 1 March 1829) was an English watchmaker who, following John Arnold's earlier work, further simplified the process of marine chronometer production, making them available to the general public. He is also kno ...

for his chronometer. Norman wrote that over the 13 months between leaving England and arriving in Bombay, the chronometer was never more than five miles off, and that from Bombay home it had altered trivially.

West Indies

Her owners then placed ''Alexander'' in the West Indies trade. ''Lloyd's Register'' continued to report on ''Alexander'' from 1804 to 1810.

Convict transport

''Lloyd's Register'' continued to show ''Alexander'' on the London-Jamaica trade, but this appears to be a case of the ''Register'' not receiving updated information. The entry in the ''Register of Shipping'' for 1806 is better.''Register of Shipping'' (1806), Seq. No.A435.
/ref> Under the command of

Richard Brooks Richard Brooks (born Reuben Sax; May 18, 1912 – March 11, 1992) was an American screenwriter, film director, novelist and film producer. Nominated for eight Academy Awards in his career, he was best known for ''Blackboard Jungle'' (1955), '' ...

, ''Alexander'' sailed from Portsmouth on 28 January 1806, with 42 female and 15 male convicts for the

colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

. She was part of a convoy under the escort of that included the merchant transports ''(Lady Madeleine)'' ''

Sinclair Sinclair may refer to: Places * Lake Sinclair, near Milledgeville, Georgia * Mount Sinclair, Canada * Sinclair, Iowa * Sinclair, West Virginia * Sinclair, Wyoming * Sinclair Mills, British Columbia * Sinclair Township, Minnesota * Sincl ...

'', ''Elizabeth'', ''Justina'', and the fellow convict transport ''Fortune''. The vessels passed Madeira on 25 February and were reported all well on 5 March. ''Lady Madeleine Sinclair'' was also carrying Captain

William Bligh William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was a Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Royal Navy vice-admiral and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1806 to 1808. He is best known for his role in the Muti ...

, who was sailing to the colony to assume the governorship. ''Alexander'' underwent repairs at

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

after having run aground on a sand bank prior to reaching the port. ''Alexander'' arrived at

on 20 August. One male convict and a child died on the voyage. ''Alexander'' left Port Jackson on 10 November bound for England with a cargo of 300 tons of oil, 20 tons of fine salted skins, and 1500 furs. While exiting Port Jackson, she ran aground upon

Bennelong Point Bennelong Point, a former island in Sydney Harbour, is a headland that, since the 1970s, is the location of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. History Bennelong Point is known to the local Gadigal people of the Eora ...

and after heaving off without damage continued on her way. When she returned to Britain, her owners appear to have sold her. Her new owners then returned her to the West Indies trade. According to ''Lloyd's Register'', they may have increased her armament, perhaps fearing the more intense presence of privateers in that theatre. The information in the ''Register of Shipping'' shows no change.

Fate

''Lloyd's Register'' does not list ''Alexander'' after 1810. The ''Register of Shipping'' for 1810 has the notation "condemned" by the entry for ''Alexander''.''Register of Shipping'' (1810), Seq. No.A419.
/ref>

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander (1801 ship) 1801 ships Ships built in Quebec City Convict ships to New South Wales Ships of the British East India Company Age of Sail merchant ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom