''Earl Spencer'' was an

East Indiaman East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belonging to the Bri ...

, launched in 1795 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 ...

(EIC). She made seven voyages for the EIC until in 1811-12 the government took her up to transport

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 to Australia in 1813. On her return voyage from Australia she sailed via China, where she carried a cargo back to England for the EIC.

EIC voyages

As most of her voyages took place during wartime, ''Earl Spencer'' frequently sailed under a

letter of marque A letter of marque and reprisal () was a Sovereign state, government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or French corsairs, corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with t ...

that authorized her to engage in offensive actions against the French, not just defensive. When the vessel changed masters, a new letter was issued. The outbreak of war after a period of peace also required a new letter.

EIC voyage #1 (1795-96)

Captain Thomas Denton left The Downs on 26 September 1795, bound for

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. His letter of marque had been issued on 5 September. On 20 Feb 1796 ''Earl Spencer'' reached

Kedgeree Kedgeree (or occasionally ) is a dish consisting of cooked, flaked fish (traditionally smoked haddock), boiled rice, parsley, hard-boiled eggs, curry powder, lemon juice, salt, butter or cream, and occasionally sultanas. The dish can be eat ...

. Homeward bound, she was at

Saugor Sagar, formerly Saugor, is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sagar district of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. It's Madhya Pradesh's 6th largest city of by Population. The city is situated on a ...

on 3 April, reached

False Bay False Bay (Afrikaans: ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarc ...

on 12 August and the

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

on 4 September. She arrived at Crookhaven on 27 November and Long Reach on 16 December.British Library: ''Earl Spencer'' (1)

EIC voyage #2 (1797-99)

Captain Charles Raitt left Portsmouth on 5 June 1797 for

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

and Bengal. He had a letter of marque issued on 13 March 1797. ''Earl Spencer'' reached Simons Bay on 4 September and Madras on 2 December. She arrived at Kedgeree on 26 January 1798. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 20 April, Simons Bay on 22 August, the Cape on 30 September, and

St Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

on 17 November. She arrived at The Downs on 3 February 1799.British Library: ''Earl Spencer'' (2)

EIC voyage #3 (1800-01)

Captain Charles Raitt left Portsmouth on 28 June 1800, bound for Bengal. ''Earl Spencer'' arrived at Kedgeree on 8 January 1801. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 7 April. She left in company with and . The pilot left them on 12 April. ''Countess'' proved to be a much faster sailer than the two East Indiamen and parted from them on 8 April. ''Earl Spencer'' reached St Helena on 4 August and arrived at the Downs on 1 November.

EIC voyage #4 (1803-05)

Charles Raitt was again captain of ''Earl Spencer'' on her third voyage. The

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

having broken out after the one year of peace following the

Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France, the Spanish Empire, and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it set t ...

, he received a new letter of marque on 8 June 1803. Raitt left Portsmouth on 30 June 1803, bound for Bengal. ''Earl Spencer'' reached Rio de Janeiro on 16 September. The Indiamen ''Earl Spencer'', , ''Princess Mary'', , ''Anna'', ''Ann'', , and ''Essex'' left Rio on 13 October. They were in company with the

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently de ...

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Rating When the rating system was f ...

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two column ...

, , and , and the

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a complement of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers, a six-tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided ...

. Three days later ''Albion'' and ''Sceptre'' separated from the rest of the ships. ''Earl Spencer'' arrived at

Diamond Harbour Diamond Harbour is a town and municipality located in the South 24 Parganas district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Situated on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River, it serves as the administrative headquarters of the Diamond Harbour su ...

on 11 February 1804. She was at Saugor on 26 April, and Madras on 16 August, before reaching St Helena on 31 December. She arrived at The Downs on 19 March 1805.

EIC voyage #5 (1806-07)

A change of captain meant a new letter of marque. Captain George Heming received a letter of marque on 21 July 1806. He sailed from Portsmouth on 9 August, bound for

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 ...

. ''Earl Spencer'' reached Rio de Janeiro on 13 November, the Cape on 15 January 1807, and Colombo on 5 April. She arrived at Bombay on 21 May. Homeward bound, she was at the Cape on 11 October, reached St Helena on 24 October, and arrived at the Downs on 29 December.

EIC voyage #6 (1808-10)

Captain George Heming sailed from Portsmouth on 10 June 1808, bound for Madras and Bengal. ''Earl Spencer'' was at Madeira on 24 June, and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 16 November. On the way she and rescued all of the passengers and all but 16 of the crew of ''Travers'', which had hit a rock on 7 November at . On 2 January 1809 ''Earl Spencer'' was at

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. There Heming joined Captain Kymer of and Captain Hawes of ''Monarch'' in letters of protest against the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

impressment Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is a type of conscription of people into a military force, especially a naval force, via intimidation and physical coercion, conducted by an organized group (hence "gang"). European nav ...

of seamen from the ships; ''Earl Spencer'' had lost 23 men, including some petty officers, out of her crew of 87 men to the Navy. ''Earl Spencer'' was at Saugor on 14 March. On 2 May 1809 she departed from the Sandheads with a convoy of four other

Indiamen East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European Trading company, trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belon ...

and several smaller vessels, all under the escort of HMS ''Victor''. On 24 May a storm split the convoy and ''Victor'' and the small ships separately lost touch with the Indiamen. One of the five, , had a leak that had worsened. She received permission on 25 May from Captain John Dale of , the senior EIC captain of the five vessels and so commodore, to sail to Penang. Hawes, ''Monarch''s captain, requested that another of the Indiamen accompany him in case ''Monarch'' foundered. Dale detailed ''Earl Spencer'' to go with ''Monarch''. The three remaining Indiamen, ''Streatham'', , and continued on their way while hoping to meet up with ''Victor''. The French frigate captured ''Streatham'' and ''Europe'' in the action of 31 May 1809. ''Lord Keith'' too exchanged broadsides with ''Caroline'' and was damaged, however she escaped and sailed to Penang to repair. ''Monarch'' and ''Lord Spencer'' arrived at Penang on 4 June. ''Lord Keith'' arrived on 10 June. Repairs completed, all three then sailed together and reached St Helena on 14 November; they arrived at The Downs on 19 or 20 January 1810.

EIC voyage #7 (1810-11)

Captain George Heming left Portsmouth on 9 June 1810 bound for Bengal. ''Earl Spencer'' reached Madeira on 25 June and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 12 December. escorted the Indiamen on the voyage, and on their arrival at Kedgeree on 15 December, Captain George Sayer, captain of ''Leda'', wrote a letter of commendation for Heming and his officers for their conduct on the voyage. On 3 February 1811 ''Earl Spencer'' was at Saugor, and on 20 February she was at Madras. She reached St Helena on 16 June and arrived at The Downs on 30 August. The government then took up ''Earl Spencer'' to transport convicts to Australia.

Convict transport and EIC voyage #8

Under the command of William Mitchell, ''Earl Spencer'' left England on 2 June 1813. She sailed via

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

, escorted for the early part of the voyage by , and arrived at

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 9 October 1813. She transported 200 male convicts, four of whom died on the voyage. An officer and 38 men of the 73rd Regiment of Foot provided the guards for the prisoners. Some 20 free settlers came too as passengers. Aboard the ship was the first steam engine brought out to Australia. ''Earl Spencer'' left Port Jackson bound for China, but there is no date given. Between her arrival in New South Wales and her departure for China, she engaged in whaling. ''Earl Spenser'' arrived at

Whampoa anchorage Pazhou is a subdistrict of Haizhu in southeastern Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, in China. , formerly Whampoa Island, has a total area of and is the site of Pazhou Pagoda. Its eastern bay was formerly the chief anchorage for ships parti ...

on 23 October 1814. She passed the

Bocca Tigris The Humen, also known as the Bocca Tigris or the Bogue, is a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the S ...

on 12 November, reaching the

on 26 March 1815, and

on 24 April. From there she sailed "towards England" on 20 June.British Library: Earl Spencer (3).
/ref>

Fate

The last listing in ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (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 the ''Register of Shipping'' for ''Earl Spencer'' was in 1820, with the listing unchanged from 1813.

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Earl Spencer (1795 ship) 1795 ships Ships built on the River Thames Convict ships to New South Wales Ships of the British East India Company Whaling ships