Archduke Charles (1809 ship)

History
England
Name: Archduke Charles
Namesake: Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Owner:
  • M. Lindsay
  • (Henry) Moore & Co.
Builder: Temple, Jarrow
Launched: 20 September 1809[1]
Fate: Wrecked June 1816
General characteristics
Tons burthen: 525, or 521,[2] or 521 30⁄94[1] (bm)
Sail plan: Ship rig
Complement:
Armament:
  • 1810:18 × 12 & 6-pounder guns[2]
  • 1812:4 × 6-pounder guns + 8 × 12-pounder carronades[2]

Archduke Charles was built in Newcastle, England in 1809. She was sheathed in copper in 1810 and partially resheathed with copper in 1812. She made one voyage transporting convicts from Ireland to New South Wales, and on her return voyage to Britain she carried a cargo from China for the British East India Company (EIC). She was wrecked in 1816 while carrying troops from Quebec to Nova Scotia.

Career

Her first master was a Captain Simpson.[1]

She was twice issued a letter of marque, which authorized her captain to take offensive action against French vessels, not just defensive action, should the opportunity arise. The first was issued on 20 March 1810 to Henry Moore, as master of Archduke Charles.[2] Between 1810 and 1812, Archduke Charles was a whaler on the South Seas fisheries.[3]

Her second letter of marque was issued to John Paul Jeffreys on 20 March 1812.[2]

In 1813, she transported convicts from Ireland to Australia while under the command of J.P. Jeffries [sic]. She departed Cork on 15 May 1812, with 147 male and 54 female convicts. She was one of only two convict transports after 1811 to carry both men and women convicts; after 1815, no vessel did.[4]

She called at Rio de Janeiro where Indefatigable and Minstrel joined her. The three vessels left Rio together on 11 August, but Archduke Charles parted the next day. Six days after they left Rio, a gale separated Minstrel and Indefatigable. Archduke Charles lost her rudder in a gale on 8 September, which delayed her. She reached the Cape on 25 September. There she effected repairs and did not depart until 19 December.[5][6]

Archduke Charles arrived on 16 February 1813 in Port Jackson, New South Wales; two male convicts had died during the voyage.

Archduke Charles then again engaged in whaling, before returning to Port Jackson.[3] She left Port Jackson on 17 September bound for China.[7] There were eight stowaways aboard. When Archduke Charles arrived at China the authorities apprehended the stowaways and returned them to Australia in 1815 on the Frederick.[5]

Archduke Charles left Whampoa anchorage on 24 January 1814. On 26 February she was at Linton (probably Lintin Island). She left China on 1 March with the fleet returning to Britain, but separated the next day.[8]

By 19 June she had reached the Cape, and by 6 September St Helena. On 24 November she arrived at Blackwall.[9]

Loss

Archduke Charles sailed to Canada. On 29 May 1816 she embarked half of the Nova Scotia Fencibles regiment, some 210 officers and other ranks, together with 48 wives and children. The Regiment had marched from Kingston to Quebec and had embarked there for Nova Scotia. Archduke Charles wrecked on 10 June 1816 off Green Island on the Jeddore Ledges, having cleared the Saint Lawrence River.[10] Four soldiers, two wives, and two children lost their lives; all others were saved.[5][Note 1]

Notes, citations and references

Notes
  1. ↑ Contemporary accounts referred to the regiment as the Royal Nova Scotia Regiment, which had, however, been disbanded some years earlier. Also, some reports give the date of wrecking as 28 June.
Citations
  1. 1 2 3 Hackman (2001), p. 222.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Register of Letters of Marque against France 1793-1815"; p.50
  3. 1 2 Clayton (2014), p.60.
  4. ↑ Damousi (1997), p. 17.
  5. 1 2 3 Convict or Felon?: Convict Ship Archduke Charles 1813 - accessed 4 August 2015.
  6. ↑ Lloyd's List, no.4762 - accessed 4 August 2015
  7. ↑ "Arrival of Vessels at Port Jackson, and their Departure". Australian Town and Country Journal, Saturday 3 January 1891, p.16. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  8. ↑ Lloyd's List, 9 August 1814 - accessed 4 August 2015
  9. ↑ "ARCHDUKE CHARLES". The National Archives. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "Narrative of the Wreck of the Archduke Charles". The Living Age, (1848), Vol. 17, pp.550-7.
References
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