''Bengal Merchant'' was a sailing ship built of teak in Bengal and launched there on 26 May 1812. Between 1812 and 1829, ''Bengal Merchant'' was in private trade as a licensed ship. She served the

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 Sout ...

(EIC) in 1813 and from 1830 till 1834. She also twice transported convicts from Britain to Australia before she was hulked in 1856.

Career

First voyage for the EIC (1813–14)

Captain Thomas Ross sailed from

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

on 21 May 1813. ''Bengal Merchant'' was at

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 26 July,

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

on 21 September, and the Cape on 17 November. She reached the Downs on 3 March 1814. ''Bengal Merchant'', Captain Peter Gordon, in November stopped at

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately from Cape Town in South Africa, from Saint Helen ...

for several days. There Gordon met Tommaso Corri (known as Thomas Currie), who was the only survivor (of four men) of the American Jonathan Lambert's settlement on Tristan. In May 1815 Gordon sent a letter, per Currie's request, to the government of the British colony at the Cape of Good Hope Colony, asking for British aid and protection. Eventually Britain annexed the island in 1816, establishing a small garrison there. ''Bengal Merchant'' was admitted to the Registry of Great Britain in 1814. She entered ''

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 ...

'' (''LR''), in 1814.''LR'' (1814), Supple.pages "B".
/ref> A passenger travelling from Batavia to Dover in 1815 on ''Bengal Merchant'' remarked on her master's insistence on her crew attending divine service on Sunday. The passenger thought it ridiculous to read prayers in English to a crew of

lascars A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland, or other land east of the Cape of Good Hope, who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the middle of the 2 ...

, Chinese, and Malays who did not understand the language. On 17 January 1816 ''Bengal Merchant'' was at Deal where a gale caught her, causing her to break her anchor.

Spanish ownership

Between 1816 and 1818, ''Bengal Merchant'' was in Spanish hands. After her return to British ownership and Calcutta registry, she became a Free Trader. In early 1820 ''Bengal Merchant'' was at Canton. She had 300 chests of opium. At the end of July 1826 ''Bengal Merchant'' was at Bengal. There she ran into , carrying away ''Claudine''s bowsprit and inflicting other damage.

First convict voyage (1828)

''Bengal Merchant'' sailed from Plymouth on 25 March 1828, under the command of Alex Duthie, and arrived at Hobart Town on 10 August 1828. She embarked 172 male convicts, four of whom died on the voyage.

Second voyage for the EIC (1830–31)

Captain Gilson Reeves Fox and ''Bengal Merchant'' left Portsmouth on 5 June 1830. They reached the Cape on 24 August,

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

on 19 October, and Calcutta on 1 December. For the return journey, they reached

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 1 June 1831 and the Downs on 6 August.

Third voyage for the EIC (1833–34)

In 1832 ''Bengal Merchant'' was sold to John Groves. Captain John Campbell left the Downs on 25 July 1833 and reached Calcutta on 9 December. On the return voyage ''Bengal Merchant'' passed Saugor on 28 January 1834. She reached St Helena on 8 April, and

Blackwall, London Blackwall is an area of Poplar, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London. The neighbourhood includes Leamouth and the Coldharbour conservation area. The area takes its name from a historic stretch of riverside wall built along a ...

, on 8 June.

Second convict voyage (1834)

In 1834 she was sold to Joseph Somes. Under the command of William Campbell, ''Bengal Merchant'' sailed from London on 1 October 1834 and arrived at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman ...

on 30 January 1835. She embarked 270 male convicts of whom three died on the voyage.

Third convict voyage (1836)

Again under the command of William Campbell, she sailed from Downs on 8 August 1836, and arrived at

on 9 December. She embarked 270 male convicts, one of whom died on the voyage.

Fourth convict voyage (1838)

''Bengal Merchant'' left Sheerness on 28 March 1838, under the command of William Campbell, and arrived at

on 21 July 1838. She embarked 270 male convicts; three male convicts died on the voyage.

Passenger transport

In 1839, ''Bengal Merchant'' was sold to Haviside & Co., London. Captain John Hemery sailed from Glasgow on 30 October 1839 with 160 passengers and arrived at Port Nicholson (Wellington Harbour), New Zealand, on 20 February 1840. The

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...

had chartered her and she was the first vessel to bring Scottish emigrants to New Zealand. After their arrival, the steerage passengers submitted a letter of complaint about the food they had received.

Fate

''Bengal Merchant'' was hulked in 1856.

Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bengal Merchant (1812) 1812 ships British ships built in India Ships of the British East India Company Age of Sail merchant ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Convict ships to New South Wales Convict ships to Tasmania Migrant ships to New Zealand