Hillsborough (1782)

For other ships of the same name, see Hillsborough (East Indiaman).
Career (United Kingdom)
Name: Hillsborough
Owner: Robert Preston[Note 1]
Builder: Perry & Co., Blackwall Yard
Cost: £600 for 1⁄32 share in 1781[Note 2]
Launched: 1782
General characteristics
Tons burthen:764[2] (bm)
Length:143 feet 9 inches (43.8 m) (overall)[2]
116 feet 9 1⁄2 inches (35.6 m) (keel)[2]
Beam:35 feet 1 inch (10.7 m)[2]
Depth of hold:14 feet 10 inches (4.5 m)[2]
Complement:1793: 99[3]
1801:70[3]
Armament:1793: 26 x 4 & 9-pounder guns[3] 1801:22 x 9-pounder guns[3]

Hillsborough was a three-decker merchant ship launched in 1782. She made seven voyages to India and China as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company.[4] In 1798 she then transported convicts from England to New South Wales.

East Indiaman

Voyage #1

Captain William Hardcastle left the Downs on 27 January 1784 for Madras and Bengal. Hillsborough reached Simon's Bay on 24 April and arrived at Madras on 11 July. She then arrived at Kedgeree on 8 August. For her return voyage she passed Saugor on 8 February 1785, reached the Cape on 5 May and St Helena on 5 June, and arrived at the Downs on 17 August.[2]

Voyage #2

Captain William Hardcastle left the Downs on 13 March 1786, bound for Bengal, Bombay, and China. Hillsborough was part of a convoy that also included the East Indiamen Prince William, Lord Thurlow, William Pitt, Barwell, Earl of Oxford, Osterley, Fort William, London, Glatton, Houghton, Marquis of Landsdown, Pigot, Ceres, and Earl of Abergavenny, amongst numerous other vessels, merchant and military, most of the non-Indiamen travelling to the Mediterranean.[5]

Hillsborough reached Simon's Bay on 10 June and Diamond Point on 14 August. From there she sailed to Batavia, which she reached on 30 December. On 23 May 1787 she was at Bombay. She reached Malacca on 24 August and Whampoa on 11 October. For her homeward voyage she crossed the Second Bar, some 20 miles down the river from Whampoa, on 19 February 1788. She reached Benkulen on 23 May and St Helena on 2 October, and arrived at the Downs on 7 February 1789.[2]

Voyage #3

Captain Edward Coxwell left the Downs on 17 April 1790 for China, and arrived at Whampoa on 27 August. Hillsborough crossed the Second Bar on 19 December, reached the Cape on 9 April 1791 and St Helena on 28 April, and arrived at the Downs on 27 June.[2]

Voyage #4

The French Revolutionary Wars having broken out, Captain Edward Brown received a letter of marque on 17 April 1793.[3] He left Portsmouth on 22 May 1793 for Madras and Bengal. Hillsborough arrived at Madras on 13 September, and Diamond Harbour on 3 November. On her return voyage she passed Saugor on 27 December, and reached Madras on 31 January 1794. By 1 May she was at St Helena. On 20 July she reached Galway, and on 27 August she arrived at the Downs.[2]

Voyage #5

Captain Richard Hutt left Portsmouth on 24 May 1795, bound for Madras and Bengal. Hillsborough arrived at Madras on 2 September and Diamond Harbour on 6 October. On 4 December she passed Saugor, reaching Madras on 7 Feb 1796 and St Helena on 7 May, and arriving at the Downs on 3 August.[2]

Voyage #6

Hutt left Portsmouth ion 18 March 1797, bound for Madras. Hillsborough reached the Cape on 4 June and arrived at Madras on 7 August. By 24 December she was back at the Cape. She reached St Helena on 3 February 1798 and Cork on 24 June. She arrived at the Downs on 7 July.[2]

Convict transport

The EIC apparently sold Hillsborough as she disappears from the list of their ships. Unfortunately, she does not appear in Lloyd's Register, making it difficult to determine her new owner.

Nevertheless, under the command of William Hingston, Hillsborough sailed from Gravesend via Portland Roads, England on 23 December 1798, with 300 male convicts. She arrived at Port Jackson on 26 July 1799. Ninety five convicts died on the voyage. Governor Hunter wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Colonies:[6]

The Hillsborough has just arrived with a cargo of the most miserable and wretched convicts I ever beheld. Were you, my dear Sir, in the situation in which I stand, I am convinced all the feelings of humanity, every sensation which can occasion a pang for the distresses of a fellow creature, would be seen to operate in you with full force.

Hillsborough left for England under Rhodes in October 1799 and eventually reached Gravesend on 15 April 1801.

Subsequent appearance

Captain Thomas Pittman received a letter of marque for the Hillsborough of 781 tons (bm), on 17 July 1801.[3]

Notes, citations, and references

Notes
  1. ↑ Preston had been captain of the previous Hillsborough when a Spanish and French fleet had captured her in the Action of 9 August 1780.
  2. ↑ The investor received a return in dividends of £2390 spread over six voyages from 1784 to 1798, a return of about 20% per annum.[1]
Citations
  1. ↑ Bowen (2005), p. 284.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 National Archives: Hillsborough (2), - accessed 21 November 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Register of Letters of Marque against France 1793-1815"; p.68. Accessed 13 April 2013]
  4. ↑ "Hillsborough". East India Company Ships. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  5. ↑ Gentleman's magazine (May 1793), Vol 63, part. 1, p. 474.
  6. ↑ Clune, Frank (1965). Bound for Botany Bay: A Narrative of a Voyage in 1798 Aboard the Death Ship, Hillsborough. Angus and Robertson. p. 40.
References

External links