Sir John Sherbrooke (Halifax)
Sir John Sherbrooke was a successful and famous Nova Scotian privateer brig during the War of 1812, the largest privateer from Atlantic Canada during the war. In addition to preying on American merchant ships (she captured 18 between her commissioning on 11 February 1813 and her conversion to a merchant vessel in 1814), she also defended Nova Scotian waters during the war. After her conversion to a merchantman she fell prey to an American privateer in 1814. She was burnt to prevent her reuse. Origins. She was originally the American privateer brig "Thorn", Asa Hooper master , and was armed with eighteen long 9-pounder guns. "Thorn" was from Marblehead, Massachusetts, and she was on her first cruise when the British captured her. At the time of her capture she had already taken as prizes the brig "Freedom", loaded with salt, and the American vessel "Hiram", with a cargo of flour and bread on a voyage to Lisbon and traveling with a British license (safe conduct pass) that asked all British naval vessels and privateers to let her pass, provided that she was on a "bona fide" passage to Spain or Portugal with flour. This capture, on  15 October, gave rise to a US Supreme Court court case in which the court ruled that "Hiram", although an American vessel, was a legitimate prize. The British naval vessels , , and captured "Thorn" on 31 October 1812. "Thorn" was sold at Halifax as a prize and renamed after the former colonial administrator Sir John Coape Sherbrooke. Privateer. She had three letters of marque issued to her: 27 November 1812 (Captain Thomas Robson); 15 February 1813 (Captain Joseph Freeman); and 27 August 1814 (Captain Wm Corken). "Sir John Sherbrooke's" primary captain was Joseph Freeman, an experienced privateer officer from Liverpool , Nova Scotia, who was a veteran who did everything in navy fashion. (Freeman was eventually buried in the Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia)). Freeman co-operated with the navy, which treated him with the same respect as a naval officer. On 7 April "Betsey", which had been sailing from Newport to Havana, arrived at Halifax, a prize to "Sir John Sherbrooke". On 19 May "Sir John Sherbrooke" recaptured the brig "Paragon", of 213 tons (bm), J. Gorden, master, which an American privateer had captured as "Paragon" was sailing from Aberdeen to New Brunswick. "Paragon" arrived at Halifax on 24  May. The records of the Vice admiralty court give the name of "Paragon"s master as "J. Gardner". "Sir John Sherbrooke" also sent into Halifax "Columbia", which had been sailing from Savannah. "Sir "Sir John Sherbrooke" had captured "Columbia", a brig of 98 tons (bm), S.Holland, master, on 15 May. "Columbia" had been sailing from Savannah to Boston with a cargo of 173 bales of cotton and a quantity of reeds. On 24 May "San Gabriel" arrived at Halifax. She had been sailing from Havana to New York when the American privateer "Alexander" had captured her. "Sir John Sherbrooke" recaptured "San  Gabriel" on 19 May and sent her into Halifax. The Vice admiralty court restored "San Gabriel", A. Drummond, master, to her owners. On 18 December 1813, the prize agents advertised the distribution of prize money for the following captures: as well as salvage for the recapture of the ship , brig "Paragon", and sloop "General Hodgson". Next, "Sir John Sherbrooke" sailed in company with and the schooner . Together the three captured 11 American vessels between 7 and 9 April. "Sir John Sherbrooke" provided reinforcements for "Shannon" prior to her famous victory over the USS "Chesapeake", although "Sir John Sherbrooke" was not  present at the battle. "Sir John Sherbrooke" had gathered 50 Irish volunteers when on 26 May 1813 she recaptured "Duck", which was transporting them as laborers from Waterford to Newfoundland. "Duck" had been the prize of the American privateer "General Plummer", which "Sir John Sherbrooke" had captured two days latter. Twenty-two of the laborers agreed to transfer from "Sir John Sherbrooke" to "Shannon". "Sir John Sherbrooke" also began the chase of the notorious American privateer schooner "Young Teazer", which British naval ships, including and then took up. The chase ended with "Young Teazer's" destruction at the hands of  a member of her own crew who feared capture because he had violated his parole resulting from a previous capture. Merchantman. Far larger than most colonial privateers, "Sir John Sherbrooke" required a constant supply of American captures to pay for her large crew. Following the destruction of most American shipping during the war, "Sir John Sherbrooke" became unprofitable to operate as a privateer and her owners sold her in 1814. Her new owners then employed her as a merchant ship. "Lloyd's Register" ("LR") for 1815 showed her with J. Duncan, master, Ewing & Co., owners, and trade Greenock–Newfoundland. The  entry carried the annotation that she had been captured in 1814. Fate. In the autumn of 1814 "Sir John Sherbrooke" was outward bound from Halifax with a cargo of oil and dried fish. She encountered the American privateer "Syren", which captured her and put a prize crew aboard her. "Lloyd's List" ("LL") reported on 21 October 1814 that "Sir John Sherbrooke", Lester, master, was one of four merchantmen that American privateers had captured. (The other three were "James", McNeil, master, "Emulation", and , Lester, master. Their crews were landed at Viana.) However, a British squadron came along and chased the  captured "Sir John Sherbrooke" ashore. The American prize crew managed to get away with all the valuables on board despite the fire of the British frigate's guns. The frigate sent her boats to attempt a recovery, but gunfire from a nearby fort drove them off. Salvage was impracticable, so the cutting-out party from the frigate set "Sir John Sherbrooke" on fire; she then burned to the water's edge. On 16 November 1814, boats from ] and , herself a former American privateer, ran "Syren" ashore under Cape May, where her crew destroyed her. Other information. "Sir John Sherbrooke" was  not as famous as her smaller and more successful counterpart, the schooner "Liverpool Packet". However some believe that "Sir John Sherbrooke" inspired the line "I wish I was in Sherbrooke now", from the Stan Rogers song "Barrett's Privateers", because the town of Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia did not yet exist, as the song takes place in 1778. The "Sherbrooke" also significantly postdates the American Revolution as it was commissioned only two years before the town, a full 35 years after the song's setting. Notes, citations, and references. Notes Citations References