Enterprize (1803 ship)
Enterprize was launched in France in 1797. The British captured her in 1803 and new owners sailed on four voyages as a slave ship. Circa 1808 she left the slave trade and new owners sailed her to South America, where she was wrecked in 1810. Career. Messrs. Thomas Leyland, Thomas Molyneux, and Robert Bullin acquired "Enterprize" and outfitted her as a slave ship. They also engaged Caesar Lawson to be her master. Captain Caesar Lawson acquired a letter of marque on 16 July 1803. "Enterprize" first appeared in "Lloyd's Register" ("LR") in 1803. 1st slave voyage  (1803–1804). "Enterprize" sailed from Liverpool on 20 July. On 26 August, at , "Enterprize" detained the Spanish brig "St Augustin", Captain Josef Antonio de Ytuno, master. "St Augustin" had been sailing from Malaga to Vera Cruz. "Enterprize" sent her into Holylake, where she arrived on 25 October. The authorities released "St Augustin" on 6 December. On 10 September "Enterprize" recaptured , of Liverpool. "John" had 261 slaves aboard that she then delivered to Dominica on 2 November. The French privateer "Vengeance", of 14 guns and 140 men, had captured "John" in August off the coast of Africa. On 23 September "Enterprize" arrived  at Bonny. She gathered her slaves and arrived at Havana on 9 January 1804. She sailed from Havana on 27 March and arrived at Liverpool on 26 April. She had sailed from Liverpool with 65 crew men and suffered four crew deaths on the voyage. "Enterprize" brought back with her a cargo that consisted of one puncheon and one chest of "East India good", two elephant teeth (ivory tusks), 906 boxes of sugar, 30 tons of logwood, an 30 bundles of sarsaparilla. Voyage profitability: Outfitting "Enterprize" cost £8,148 18s 8d. Her trading cargo cost £8,896 3s 9½d. The  total cost was £17,045 2s 5½d. She delivered to Joaquin Perez de Urria, at Havana, 412 slaves. The slaves included 194 men, 32 men-boys, 66 boys, 42 women, 36 women-girls, and 42 girls. Nineteen slaves died, and one proved unsalable. The profit on the round trip consisted of the proceeds from the sale of the 392 slaves, salvage for "John", and profit on the back-haul cargo of ivory, logwood, sugar, etc. There was an additional cost arising from the detention of "St Augustine". The total profit on the voyage was £24,430 8s 11d. Leyland's  share was one half; the two other partners each received one quarter. 2nd slave voyage (1804–1805). Captain Lawson sailed from Liverpool on 5 July 1804. "Enterprize" gathered her slaves at Bonny and landed 387 at Kingston, Jamaica, on 19 December. "Lloyd's List" reported on 25 January 1805 that "Enterprize", Lawson, master, had passed Barbados on her way to Jamaica. She had had a "severe Engagement" with a privateer. "Enterprize" sailed from Kingston on 22 April 1805, and arrived back at Liverpool on 5 July 1805. She had left Liverpool with 49 crew members and she suffered 11 crew deaths  on the voyage. 3rd slave voyage (1805–1806). Captain Lawson sailed from Liverpool on 18 September 1805. "Enterprize" gathered her slaves and landed 368 at Montego Bay, Jamaica, on 29 January 1806. She sailed from Kingston on 29 March, and arrived back at Liverpool on 14 June. She had left Liverpool with 52 crew members and she suffered eight crew deaths on the voyage. 4th slave voyage (1806–1807). Captain Lawson sailed from Liverpool on 27 September 1806. "Enterprize" gathered her slaves at Bonny and arrived at Montego Bay, Jamaica, on 29 January 1806. She landed 231 there, 31 elsewhere. She sailed  from Kingston on 26 June, and arrived back at Liverpool on 13 August. She had left Liverpool with 57 crew members and she suffered 16 crew deaths on the voyage. The Slave Trade Act 1807, officially "An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade" was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the slave trade in the British Empire. Thomas Leyland and the other co-owners of "Enterprize" then sold her Merchantman. "Lloyd's Register" for 1809 gave "Enterprize"s master as W. Bateman, her owner as Clarke & Co., and her trade as London–. William Bateman had  acquired a letter of marque on 24 May 1808. On 26 October 1809, the French privateer "Revenge" captured , Bristow, master, at . "Sarah" was returning to Britain from the South Seas. The British privateer "Enterprize", Bateman, master, recaptured "Sarah" on 10 November and sent her to Cadiz or Lisbon. Fate. On 25 May 1810 "Lloyd's List" reported that a large vessel, believed to be "Enterprize", Bateman, master, had been lost at the River Plate. A second report, four days later, confirmed that the vessel was "Enterprize". It added that the crew and a large part of her cargo had been  saved. Notes, citations and references. Notes Citations References