Arequipa

Official Number 24228

The Arequipa was a barque launched on the 5th June 1841 by Lumley Kennedy & Co. at Whitehaven. She was registered at Liverpool (see Source 1).
 

In 1866 the English barque Arequipa picked up two boats with part of the crew of the Severn, of London, that had sunk on the 15th June, and carried them into Pernambuco (see Source 7). A subsequent court case convicted four men, including the owners of the Severn and her mate, of attempting to defraud the vessel's insurers by deliberately scuttling her by boring holes in her hull. The owners of the Severn, Holdsworth and Berwick, were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, the mate Webb to 10 years, and his accomplice to a lesser term (from the Times, see Source 8). The master of the Severn, Capt. Leyland, had been part of the conspiracy, but by informing and giving evidence had avoided prosecution.

Sources :

1. "Shipbuilding in Whitehaven - A Checklist" by Harry Fancy, Whitehaven Museum (1984) - 257 tons.
2. 1857 Mercantile Navy List gives port of registry as Liverpool, official number and signal letters NVWD, tonnage 282.
3.  New York Marine Register, 1858 - Capt.Cowper, owned Napier & Co., registered Liverpool, 255 tons.
4. American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping, 1859 - Capt.Cowper, owned Napier & Co., registered Liverpool, 282 tons.
5. American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping, 1861 - Capt.G.Cowper, owned Napier & Co., registered Liverpool, 255 tons.
6. American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping, 1862 - Capt.G.Cowper, owned Napier & Co., registered Liverpool, 255 tons.
7. The Times, Tuesday, 21st August, 1866, page 10.
8. Court case reported in The Times, Tuesday, 5th February, 1867, page 11, and editorial (page 8).
9. Photo of painting provided by Nicholas Davidson. It is annotated "Barque Arequipa of Liverpool, Henry Banks, Master, leaving Marseilles  (June ????)"