''Morley'' was a merchantman launched in 1811 at Deptford as a

West Indiaman West Indiaman was a general name for any merchantman sailing ship making runs from the Old World to the West Indies and the east coast of the Americas. These ships were generally strong ocean-going ships capable of handling storms in the Atlantic ...

. In 1813 she was under contract to the Transport Board when she captured an American vessel, which capture gave rise to an interesting court case. In early 1815 an American

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 ...

captured, plundered, and released her. She then made six voyages to Australia

transporting Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipelines, and ...

convicts A convict is "a person found Guilt (law), guilty of a crime and Sentence (law), 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 commo ...

. On her fifth voyage she introduced whooping-cough to Australia. After her sixth voyage she sailed to China and then brought a cargo back to England 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 continued to sail to Australia and elsewhere and is last listed in 1855.

Career

''Morley'' appears 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 ...

'' in 1812 with Morgan, master, Morley, owner, and trade London–Jamaica. ''Lloyd's Register'' (1812), "M" Supple. pages, Seq.№M18.
/ref>

Government transport

On 28 April 1812 John Morley chartered ''Morley'' to the Transport Board. The Transport Board then ordered ''Morley'' to sail to the East Indies. On 1 February 1813 the American ship arrived at the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

. She had been sailing from Manila when "The Transport ''Morley'', Brown, Master" had captured her. The

Vice admiralty court Vice admiralty courts were juryless courts located in British colonies that were granted jurisdiction over local legal matters related to maritime activities, such as disputes between merchants and seamen. American Colonies American maritime act ...

condemned her as a lawful prize to the Crown, but not ''Morley'' as ''Morley'' had not acquired a

. ''Morley''s owners applied for an award. The Treasury agreed, and issued a warrant for £4738 to the Transportation Board on behalf of the owners. The Transportation Board advised the owners that it was keeping the money as ''Morley'' had been under contract to it. The owners appealed. It is not clear what the final decision was. On 19 March 1815 the American letter-of-marque captured "the Morley transport", which was coming from

Algoa Bay Algoa Bay is a maritime bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is located on the east coast, east of the Cape of Good Hope. Algoa Bay is bounded in the west by Cape Recife and in the east by Cape Padrone. The bay is up to deep. The harbour ...

. The Americans plundered ''Morley'' and then gave her up. ''Rambler'', which had been coming from China, returned to Boston, having captured several British ships. ''Morley'' then returned to trading as a West Indiaman to Jamaica.

Convict transport

Between 1816 and 1830 ''Morley'' made six voyages transporting convicts to Australia. Convict voyage #1 (1816-1817): Captain Robert R. Brown sailed from England on 18 December 1816. ''Morley'' sailed via the Cape 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 16 April 1817. The surgeon on board was Robert Espie. The entire voyage took only 113 days, which set a new record. ''Morley'' transported 175 male convicts, with no deaths. She returned to England via Batavia. Convict voyage #2 (1818): Captain Brown sailed from The Downs on 18 July 1818. ''Morley'' arrived at Port Jackson on 7 November. She had embarked 164 male convicts, with one death en route. She sailed for England in December 1818. In 1820 T. Ward acquired ''Morley''. Convict voyage #3 (1820): Captain Brown sailed from London on 22 May 1820. She arrived at

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

99 days later, which established a record that would stand until 1837. She delivered one set of convicts to Hobart and then sailed with the remainder to Port Jackson, where she arrived on 30 September, for a total transit time of 113 days. She had embarked 121 female convicts and she landed 50 at Hobart and 71 at Port Jackson, with no deaths en route. Convict voyage #4 (1822-1823): Captain George Holliday (or Halliday) sailed from The Downs on 25 September 1822 for Hobart. ''Morley'' arrived there on 11 January 1823. She had embarked 172 male convicts and she landed 170, having suffered two deaths en route. On her return from Australia ''Morley'' traded between London and Calcutta under a license from the EIC. At some point prior to her next voyage transporting convicts ''Morley'' underwent extensive repairs that increased her burthen from 480 to 492 tons. Convict voyage #5 (1827-1828): Captain Henry Williams sailed Dublin on 3 November 1828. ''Morley'' stopped at Teneriffe and then arrived at Port Jackson on 3 March 1828. She had embarked 195 male convicts and she landed 193, having suffered three convict deaths en route. Unfortunately, on this voyage she introduced whooping cough to Australia. The children of the guards developed the illness and when ''Morley'' arrived there was contact with the shore before the authorities were advised and she was put into quarantine. By then it was too late and the disease spread widely in the colony with the result that several children died, including one of the sons of the governor,

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Sir Ralph Darling. Convict voyage #6 (1829-1830): Captain William Harrison sailed from The Downs on 10 August 1829 on a voyage under the auspices of the EIC. ''Morley'' arrived at Port Jackson on 3 December. She had embarked 200 convicts, all of whom survived the journey. From Australia she sailed to China, arriving at Whampoa on 17 March 1830. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 31 March, reached

Saint 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 July, and arrived back at The Downs on 16 September.

Later career

''Lloyd's Register'' for 1831 shows ''Morley''s master changing from Harrison to J. Douglas. Her owner is still Ward & Co., and her trade is London–New South Wales. The 1832 volume of ''Lloyd's Register'' shows J. Douglas as master and owner, and her trade as London–

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 ...

. On 9 April 1832 ''Morley'' rescued the crew of the brig ''Zillah''. ''Zillah'', Martin, master was on a voyage from

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Forfarshire Angus (; ) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agriculture and fishing. Global pharmaceuticals ...

Saint Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the island, Santo Domingo, which came to re ...

when she struck a sunken rock off the

Formigas Formigas Islets ( ; literally, ''Islets of the Ants''), sometimes referred to as the Formigas Bank, are a group of uninhabited rocky outcroppings in the eastern group of the Azores archipelago, an autonomous region of Portugal. The bank is loca ...

, Western Islands. She was in a sinking states with seven feet of water in her hold when her crew abandoned her the next day. They saw her sink some hours after they had left her. ''Morley'' rescued ''Zyllah''s crew and brought them to England.''Nautical Magazine, Volume 1'' (1832), p.217. ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1836 shows ''Morley''s master as Douglas, changing to Evans, her owner as Heath & Co., and trade London–

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 ...

Fate

''Morley'' is last listed in ''Lloyd's Register'' in 1855 with J.R.Myhill, master, Heath & Co., owner, but without a trade.

Notes

Citations

References

* * *{{cite book , last=Hackman , first=Rowan , year=2001 , title=Ships of the East India Company , location=Gravesend, Kent , publisher=World Ship Society , isbn=0-905617-96-7 *''English Reports, Vol. 36, Chancery 16, containing Merrival Vol. 3; and Swanston Vols. 1-3.'' (1904). (Edinburgh: William Green & Sons). 1811 ships Captured ships Convict ships to New South Wales Convict ships to Tasmania Ships of the British East India Company Age of Sail merchant ships of England