John Bull was a French prize captured in 1798 that was lost on a slave trading voyage in 1802.
Career
She may have been the John Bull of 203 tons (bm), that received a letter of marque on 19 May 1798. Her master was Thomas Goodall. He had changed vessels by 1800.[3]
M'Dowell and Twemlow outfitted John Bull c.1801 as a slaver. Captain Thomas Wright sailed her from England on 24 August 1801 to the Bight of Biafra and Gulf of Guinea islands.[4]
She was wrecked at the Portuguese island of Saint Thomas's (probably São Tomé and Príncipe) around June 1802.[5][6] The Register of Shipping for 1802 carried the annotation that she was "lost".[1][a]
Captain Hugh Crow sailed Will in November 1801 for Africa from Liverpool. She was delayed for some time at Cape Palmas due to an absence of wind. After collecting a cargo of slaves at Bonny, Crow sailed for Saint Thomas to resupply. There Crow found Wright, his crew, and slaves from John Bull. Crow took them aboard, including some 60 slaves. Disease broke out among the rescued men and after Crow landed them some time later at Barbados, most died.[9]
Notes
^She had been out an estimated 194 days,[7] and was one of only 12 British slave vessels lost in 1802.[8]
Crow, Hugh (1830). Memoirs of the late Captain Hugh Crow, of Liverpool; comprising a narrative of his life, together with descriptive sketches of the western coast of Africa; particularly of Bonny ... To which are added, anecdotes and observations illustrative of the Negro character. Compiled chiefly from his own manuscripts, etc. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green.
Inikori, Joseph (1996). "Measuring the unmeasured hazards of the Atlantic slave trade: Documents relating to the British trade". Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer. 83 (312): 53–92.
