''Surprize'' was a three-deck merchant vessel launched in 1780 that made five voyages as a

packet ship Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed mainly for domestic mail and freight transport in European countries and in North American rivers and canals. Eventually including basic passenger accommodation, they were used extensively during t ...

under charter to 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 also participated in the notorious Second Fleet, 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 to

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 ...

. A French frigate captured her in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

in 1799.

First EIC voyage (1783)

Under the command of Captain David Asquith, ''Surprize'' left

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 ...

on 22 April 1783 and reached the River Shannon on 11 September. She arrived at The Downs on 17 October.

Second EIC voyage (1785)

Captain Asquith sailed for Bengal, leaving Britain on 23 January 1784. She may have left as late as 29 April. She arrived 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 ...

by 9 September, bringing with her "a variety of articles, as well useful as curious". ''Surprize'' arrived back in Britain on 16 May 1785.

Third EIC voyage

Captain Asquith left the Downs on 10 July 1785. He was sailing to

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. ''Surprize'' was then to remain there.

Second Fleet and fourth EIC voyage (1790–91)

It is not clear when ''Surprize'' returned to Britain. She was in Britain in 1789, being repaired by Calvert (her owner). At that time her measurements were taken. Her entry in ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1789 has an addendum showing that she would be sailing for

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...

. Camden, Calvert & King were contracted to transport, clothe and feed convicts for a flat fee of £17 7s. 6d per head, whether they landed alive or not. In company with ''Neptune'' and ''Scarborough'', she sailed from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

with 254 male convicts on 19 January 1790. Her master was Nicholas Anstis, formerly chief mate on ''Lady Penrhyn'' in the

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

, and surgeon was William Waters. At 394 tons (bm), ''Surprize'' was the smallest ship of the fleet, and was an unsuitable vessel for so long a voyage, proving to be a wet ship even in moderate weather. In rough seas and heavy gales the convicts "were considerably above their waists in water", according to the commander of the guards. She 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 ...

on 13 April 1790, and spent sixteen days there, taking on provisions. She was parted from her consorts in heavy weather and came in sight of Port Jackson on 23 June. Contrary winds blew her out to sea again and she did not make port until 26 June 158 days after having left England. During the voyage 36 convicts died (14%), and 121 (48%) were sick when landed. From Port Jackson ''Surprize'' first sailed to

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

, arriving there on 28 August in company with . ''Surprize'' then sailed to Canton, to load tea for the EIC for the return journey to Britain. On the way Anstis sighted, identified as an island, and named Montague Island () after

George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (6 October 1716 – 8 June 1771) was a British statesman of the Georgian era. Due to his success in extending commerce in the Americas, he became known as the "father of the colonies". President of the B ...

. She left Whampoa on 4 February 1791 and reached

Anger Anger, also known as wrath ( ; ) or rage (emotion), rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong, uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt, or threat. A person experiencing anger will often experie ...

on 29 April. She did not reach

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 ...

until 8 July, but arrived at The Downs on 6 September. Australian statesman

William Wentworth William Charles Wentworth (August 179020 March 1872) was an Australian statesman, pastoralist, explorer, newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and author, who became one of the wealthiest and most powerful figures in colonial New South Wales. He ...

was born onboard ''Surprize'' to convict mother Catherine Crowley and surgeon

D'Arcy Wentworth D'Arcy Wentworth (14 February 1762 – 7 July 1827) was an Irish-Australian surgeon and the first paying passenger to arrive in the new colony of New South Wales. He served under the first seven governors of the Colony, and from 1810 to 1821 ...

just off Norfolk Island.

Slaver (1791–93)

In 1791 and 1793, ''Surprize'' attempted two voyages as a

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting Slavery, slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea ( ...

. Her owners for both voyages owners were Anthony Calvert, Thomas King, and William Campbell, and her master was J. Martin, though "Cambell" succeeded him during the second. On the first voyage she sailed 13 December 1791 but a nautical mishap caused her to end the voyage before she had embarked any slaves.Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database Voyages: ''Surprize'' (1791-93).
/ref> On ''Surprizes'' second voyage she left London on 2 July 1792, bound for the Gold Coast. She gathered her slaves at

Cape Coast Castle Cape Coast Castle () is one of about forty slave fort, "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast (region), Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or Factory ( ...

, which she left on 1 April 1793. She transported the slaves to Kingston, Jamaica, where she arrived on 20 May with 518 slaves. She arrived back at London on 11 October. ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1794 provides the following information:''Lloyd's Register''
(1794), Seq. №S454.] Also, ''Lloyd's Register'' indicates that ''Surprize'' underwent a thorough repair for damages in 1792.

Second convict transport and fifth EIC voyage (1794–96)

Captain Patrick Campbell received 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 ...

on 20 January 1794. ''Surprize'' left England on 2 May with 33 male and 58 female convicts. The guards consisted of an ensign, a sergeant, and 23 privates of the

New South Wales Corps The New South Wales Corps, later known as the 102d Regiment of Foot, and lastly as the 100th Regiment of Foot, was a formation of the British Army organised in 1789 in England to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, which had accompanied ...

. Among the privates were six men who were deserters from other British regiments and who chose the Corps over remaining in gaol; one was a mutineer from Quebec. On the vessel were four Scottish Martyrs, the political prisoners Thomas Muir, Thomas Fyshe Palmer, William Skirving, and Maurice Margarot. The surgeon for the voyage was James Thompson."Free settler or Felon" - accessed 6 September 2015.
/ref> ''Surprize'' sailed with a convoy of

East 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 under the escort of , Captain Peter Rainier. One of the Indiamen was the '' General Goddard'', which would participate in a noteworthy capture of several Dutch East Indiamen in 1795 while on her return voyage to England. The convoy also included and . On 31 May a convict reported to Captain Campbell that the six deserters, all Irish, had been plotting in Gaelic to kill Campbell and take over the ship once it had separated from the convoy. Campbell put the men in chains, together with his first officer, Mr. Macpherson, whom Cambell suspected of knowing of the mutiny. On 30 June ''Surprize'' parted from ''Suffolk'' and the East Indiamen. ''Surprize'' arrived at Rio de Janeiro on 2 July, in company with . Due to problems obtaining fresh water, ''Surprize'' remained at Rio until 2 August. ''Surprize'' arrived at Port Jackson on 25 October. Campbell then sailed for Bengal. ''Surprize'' left

on 16 November 1795. ''Surprize'' reached St Helena on 16 February 1796 and Kinsale on 21 April, before arriving at The Downs on 9 May.

Later career and capture

''Lloyd's Register'' for 1799 shows that she underwent a repair in 1796. Then in 1799 her master was S. Moore, her owner was Calvert & Co., and her trade was London - India. ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1800 noted that ''Surprize'' had been captured.''LR'' (1800), Seq.№400.
/ref> ''Lloyd's List'' further reported that the had captured ''Surprize'', , and a number of other East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal.''Lloyd's List'' 2 August 1799, №3087, accessed 6 September 2015.
/ref>

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Surprize (1780 ship) Ships of the Second Fleet Ships of the British East India Company Individual sailing vessels 1780 ships Age of Sail merchant ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom London slave ships Ships in art