Thomas (1785 ship)
Thomas was "Sally" that James Jones acquired in 1785. She made seven voyages from Bristol as a slave ship before the French captured her in 1794 as she was on her way for her eighth voyage. Career. "Thomas" first appeared in "Lloyd's Register" ("LR") in 1786, the volume for 1785 being unavailable online, if it even exists. Her entry noted that she had been "Sally". Unfortunately, it is not unambiguous as to which "Sally" she was. 1st slave voyage (1785–1786): Captain William Vicars sailed from Bristol on 27 April 1785, bound for West Africa. "Thomas" acquired  slaves at New Calabar and then at Bonny. She arrived at St Vincent on 20 December. She had embarked 415 slaves and she arrived with 373, for a 10% loss rate. She sailed for Bristol on 4 February 1786 and arrived there on 22 April. The owner, James Jones, testified to Parliament that on her first voyage "Thomas" had acquired 414–415 slaves, and had buried some 10 or 12. She had left Bristol with 35 crew members and had returned with 15. She had arrived at St Vincent with 30 crew members and discharged 15 there. She enlisted one more  crew member and had one crew member die on the voyage home. 2nd slave voyage (1786–1787): Captain Vicars sailed from Bristol on 1 June 1786. She acquired her slaves at Bonny, and arrived at Tobago on 8 March 1787. She had embarked 410 slaves and she arrived with 401, for a loss rate of 2%. "Thomas" arrived back at Bristol on 1 May. "Thomas" had sailed from Bristol with 37 crew members and arrived at Tobago with 30. There she discharged three crew members. 3rd slave voyage (1787–1788): Although Captain Vicars was mentioned on the sailing clearance, Captain Thomas Phillips  sailed from Bristol on 13 June 1787. "Thomas" acquired her slaves at New Calabar. She embarked 409 slaves and sailed to Barbados and St Vincent, arriving at St Vincent on 22 February 1788 with 402 slaves, for a loss rate of 2%. She sailed for Bristol on 25 March and arrived there on 16 May. "Thomas" sailed from Bristol with 35 crew members and arrived at Barbadoes with 16. There she discharged 14 and enlisted four. She arrived at St Vincent with 20 crew members. At St Vincent she discharged three crew members and enlisted three before sailing for Bristol . She arrived at Bristol with 20 crew members. 4th slave voyage (1788–1789): Captain Thomas Phillips sailed from Bristol on 8 July 1788. "Thomas" arrived at Cape Coast Castle on 29 August and sailed two days later for Calabar. She acquired slaves at New Calabar and arrived at St Vincent on 28 February 1789 with 349 slaves. She sailed for Bristol on 24 March and arrived there on 15 May. "Thomas" had left Bristol with 36 crew members and she returned with 25. She had reached St Vincent with 27 of her original crew, discharged three there, and enlisted one additional  man before sailing for Bristol. 5th slave voyage (1789–1790): Captain Phillips sailed from Bristol on 28 October 1789. "Thomas" acquired slaves at New Calabar. She arrived at St Vincent and then Jamaica, with John Smith, master, on 25 May 1790, with 305 slaves. She sailed for Bristol on 13 July and arrived there on 30 August. "Thomas" had left Bristol with 33 crew members. She had taken on three crew members at Anamoboe on 5 January 1790 after six crew members had mutinied and had been transferred to "Pomona" on 1 January. She arrived at St Vincent with 21 crew  members, and discharged two for mutiny. She took on two more men before she left Jamaica, and arrived at Bristol with 20 men, one having died on the return voyage. She underwent lengthening in 1790–1791. 6th slave voyage (1791–1792): Captain Thomas Phillips sailed from Bristol on 26 February 1791. "Thomas" started acquiring slaves at New Calabar on 23 April. "Thomas" acquired 463 slaves, 237 males and 226 females. Five men and four women died on the coast. Phillips relanded ten men and one woman were relanded, and trans-shipped 150 slaves. "Thomas" sailed from Africa on 7 September, and arrived  at Kingston, Jamaica, on 9 November. "Thomas" had had left Africa with 293 slaves and landed 280, for a loss rate of 4%. She sailed from Kingston on 20 December, and arrived at Bristol on 8 February 1792. On her way back "Thomas" took on board the crew of , of Liverpool, which had been foundering. She had left Bristol with 35 crew members and arrived at Kingston with 30. Fourteen men were discharged at Jamaica and five new crew members were signed on. She arrived back at Bristol with 21 crew members. 7th slave voyage (1792–1793): Captain Phillips sailed from  Bristol on 19 June 1792. "Mentor" began gathering slaves at Bonny on 4 August. She left Africa on 25 December and arrived at Kingston on 27 February 1793. She had embarked 368 slaves and she arrived with 227, for a loss rate of 8%. She sailed from Kingston on 15 June and arrived back at Bristol on 3 August. On her way home, "Thomas" fell in with "Roehampton", which had become dismansted on her way to join a convoy. "Thomas" towed "Roehampton" into Grand Camanes (Caymans). She had left Bristol with 33 crew members and arrived at Kingston with 25 . Sixteen men were discharged at Jamaica and seven new crew members, all French, were signed on. She arrived back at Bristol with 16 crew members. On this voyage Phillips, together with five other captains of slave ships, bombarded Calabar for more than three hours to force the local native traders to lower the prices they were charging for slaves. The bombardment by some 66 guns killed and wounded 50 or so of the local inhabitants and resulted in the traders agreeing to the prices the captains offered. Fate. Captain Edward Mentor acquired a letter of marque on 19 April 1794 . He sailed from Bristol on 10 June to gather slaves. In July "Lloyd's List" reported that the French had captured three Bristol ships on their way to Africa and taken the ships to France. The three were "Thomas", Mentor, master, "Catherine", Wilson, master, and "Nancy", Wilcox, master. Citations and references. Citations References