Essex

Official Number
none

The Essex was a  full-rigged built by John Brockbank at Lancaster. She was launched on Saturday, 13th October 1810 and at 554 tons burthen was one of the largest vessels that had been built at Lancaster up to that date. She was intended for the London-Jamaica trade.

The Essex seems to have been owned in London, and survived the French and American wars operating in the trade to the Caribbean. She then became a licensed ship of the East India Company, sailing to Calcutta. After about 1821 or thereabouts, the Essex seems to have returned to Lancashire, and was operating from the Mersey in the trade to North America.

The Essex left New Orleans on the 24th July 1833, bound for Liverpool. Her master, Capt.Nathaniel Vaughan, became ill from yellow fever, and died on the evening of the 12th August. A passenger, Mr.Hobson, was also ill and confined to his cabin. At 3.30 am on the morning of the 13th August, when the ship was in 29.45N, 75.35W (South of Bermuda) , fire was discovered in the after hold. Attempts to contain it were unsuccessful and the crew, 21 in number, abandoned the ship in two boats when the fire reached the sails and rigging. The passenger could not be saved, the cabin being too full of smoke to allow access. The crew were picked up by an American brig and were landed at New Providence.

Name
Year Built
Gross Tons
Length (feet)
Breadth (feet)
Depth (feet)
Masts
Figurehead
Stern
Lloyd's Classn.
Essex
1810
554
 
 
 
3
 
 
 

Sources :

  1. Launch date given in Lancaster Gazette, Saturday, 20th October 1810.
  2. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (Shipowners' Red Book) 1810-11 (Supplement): Essex, coppered ship, 554 tons, built Lancaster 1810, owner, master and armament illegible, voyage London - Jamaica.
  3. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (Shipowners' Red Book) 1812-3: Essex, coppered ship, 554 tons, built Lancaster 1810, owner Wildman, master Capt.Muirhead, then Capt.G.Ford, armed with 20 x 12 pounder carronades, voyage London - Gibraltar.
  4. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (Shipowners' Red Book) 1817-8: Essex, coppered ship, 554 tons, built Lancaster 1810, owner Wildman, master Capt.Mahon, voyage London - Calcutta.
  5. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (Shipowners' Red Book)  1820-1: same details as 1818 (listed as a Licensed East India Ship).
  6. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (Shipowners' Red Book) 1824-5: Essex, ship, 554 tons, last coppered 1819, owned by Taylor, master Capt.Appleton, voyage London - Quebec.
  7. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (Shipowners' Red Book) 1829-30: Essex, ship, 554 tons, last coppered 1828, owned and commanded by  Capt.W.Brice, voyage Liverpool - New York.
  8. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (Underwriters' Green Book) 1832-3: Essex, ship, 554 tons, last coppered 1831, owned by Swainson, commanded by  Capt.N.Vaughan, voyage Liverpool - New Orleans.
  9. Loss described in the Liverpool Mercury newspaper, Friday, 18th October, 1833 and Freeman's Journal, 17th October 1833 (which includes a report from the mate, quoted from the Liverpool Guardian newspaper).