In August 1833 "Amphitrite" broke up in a great storm just outside the French port of Boulogne sur mer. She was one of hundreds of vessels destroyed or disabled in that powerful gale.
All but three aboard drowned in the shipwreck--convicts, their children and most of the crew. A third or so of the convicts and several of the crew (including the master, Captain John Hunter, and the Royal Navy surgeon-superintendent, Lieutenant James Forrester) were Scots.
I am writing a book about the wreck, and searching for information about these two. The court records of the convicts from Scotland are quite complete, and I have extracts thanks to generous help from a colleague. So far I believe I have found Hunter's will (filed in Paisley Sheriff's Court) and have learned that Forrester passed his surgeon's examination in London in October 1813. Forrester was married, but besides what I have found in RN records I know little about him.
I would be grateful for any suggestions on how I should proceed to learn more about these men. I plan to be in Edinburgh to do research in person during the first week of August.
Female Convict Transport "Amphitrite"
Moderator: Global Moderators
-
AJampoler
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:24 pm
Female Convict Transport "Amphitrite"
Andrew C. A. Jampoler
Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Leesburg, Virginia, USA
-
LesleyB
- Posts: 8184
- Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:18 am
- Location: Scotland
Hi Andrew
And welcome to Talking Scot
A couple of thoughts came to mind:
You may already be familiar with the NAS online catalogue. It may help you identify items which you may wish to view in person.
http://www.nas.gov.uk/onlineCatalogue/
Have you searched the Scottish newspapers of the time? The Scotsman is online (pay-per-view) http://archive.scotsman.com/ and a search may perhaps turn up some relevant reports. Many other local newspapers can be viewed on Microfilm at the Edinburgh Room in Edinburgh Library.
The newspapers just may give some detail about the two men, with any luck.
A search on the NLS site may also be worth a shot. www.nls.uk
And the online wills at Scotlands People if you have not explored that option yet. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk , but I expect you may have been as the document you mentioned is there:
Hunter John, Capt. 07/01/1834 Shipmaster in Greenock Paisley Sheriff Court SC58/42/7
You probably know of this already in the National Archives at Kew:
ADM 27/1 REGISTER OF ALLOTMENTS
Allotment registers recording the sending of wages to next of kin by warrant officers, ratings and Royal Marines from ships named A-T, as listed below commencing from 1795: HMS Amphitrite: page 129 - does not state a closing date, so may be too early to be of interest.
Best wishes
Lesley
p.s. I've removed the duplicate post so that all replies to your query are in the one place.
And welcome to Talking Scot
A couple of thoughts came to mind:
You may already be familiar with the NAS online catalogue. It may help you identify items which you may wish to view in person.
http://www.nas.gov.uk/onlineCatalogue/
Have you searched the Scottish newspapers of the time? The Scotsman is online (pay-per-view) http://archive.scotsman.com/ and a search may perhaps turn up some relevant reports. Many other local newspapers can be viewed on Microfilm at the Edinburgh Room in Edinburgh Library.
The newspapers just may give some detail about the two men, with any luck.
A search on the NLS site may also be worth a shot. www.nls.uk
And the online wills at Scotlands People if you have not explored that option yet. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk , but I expect you may have been as the document you mentioned is there:
Hunter John, Capt. 07/01/1834 Shipmaster in Greenock Paisley Sheriff Court SC58/42/7
You probably know of this already in the National Archives at Kew:
ADM 27/1 REGISTER OF ALLOTMENTS
Allotment registers recording the sending of wages to next of kin by warrant officers, ratings and Royal Marines from ships named A-T, as listed below commencing from 1795: HMS Amphitrite: page 129 - does not state a closing date, so may be too early to be of interest.
Best wishes
Lesley
p.s. I've removed the duplicate post so that all replies to your query are in the one place.
Last edited by LesleyB on Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
AJampoler
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:24 pm
Lesley, thanks for your quick and helpful response.
I'll follow-up on your suggestions. I was aware of them (all but nls), but your reminder has pushed me to look at The Scotsman on-line. (Earlier I'd decided it was too expensive, but I know they had good coverage of the storm and there might be something else there.)
Sorry about the duplication. I don't know how your site works so I wanted to be certain to catch readers wherever they lurked.
Best wishes, Andy
PS, yes. That's where I found Hunter's will.
I'll follow-up on your suggestions. I was aware of them (all but nls), but your reminder has pushed me to look at The Scotsman on-line. (Earlier I'd decided it was too expensive, but I know they had good coverage of the storm and there might be something else there.)
Sorry about the duplication. I don't know how your site works so I wanted to be certain to catch readers wherever they lurked.
Best wishes, Andy
PS, yes. That's where I found Hunter's will.
Andrew C. A. Jampoler
Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Leesburg, Virginia, USA
-
LesleyB
- Posts: 8184
- Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:18 am
- Location: Scotland
Hi Andrew
A search on the National Archives site (Kew) www.nationalarchives.gov.uk for Amphitrite , which I'm sure you will already have tried, returns quite a number of possible results, but it seems there was more than one Amphitrite from a quick look on the web, so maybe not all relevant.
HO 11/9/215 Home Office: Convict Transportation Registers, Pages 215-222: Transportation register of convicts bound for New South Wales on the convict ship Amphitrite [lost off Boulogne].
Covering dates 1833 August 21
ADM 37/8536 Ships' musters:
Scope and content Ship: AMPHITRITE Type: HTR
Covering dates 1829 June - 1831 June
Best wishes
Lesley
usual awful typos edited!
A search on the National Archives site (Kew) www.nationalarchives.gov.uk for Amphitrite , which I'm sure you will already have tried, returns quite a number of possible results, but it seems there was more than one Amphitrite from a quick look on the web, so maybe not all relevant.
HO 11/9/215 Home Office: Convict Transportation Registers, Pages 215-222: Transportation register of convicts bound for New South Wales on the convict ship Amphitrite [lost off Boulogne].
Covering dates 1833 August 21
ADM 37/8536 Ships' musters:
Scope and content Ship: AMPHITRITE Type: HTR
Covering dates 1829 June - 1831 June
Best wishes
Lesley
usual awful typos edited!
Last edited by LesleyB on Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
-
AJampoler
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:24 pm
Yes, it turns out to have been a common name in the 19thC for ships. A number of merchant ships had the same name early in the century, and those of several navies did, too. The one I run across most often is HMS Amphitrite, but the US Navy had one, too--a post-Civil War monitor.
The name of Neptune's bride for the name of a ship was, it turns out, irresistable: classical, feminine, and nautical, all at once.
The name of Neptune's bride for the name of a ship was, it turns out, irresistable: classical, feminine, and nautical, all at once.
Andrew C. A. Jampoler
Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Leesburg, Virginia, USA
-
Hugh Stevely
- Posts: 491
- Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 6:41 pm
- Location: Newcastle upon Tyne North East Uk
Amphitrite convict ship
A wealth of info out there on the Amphitrite for those who have not seen link. interesting reading good luck with your search.
http://www.nls.uk/broadsides/broadside. ... anscript/1
Orraverybest Hugh.![[scotland-flag]](./images/smilies/scotland-happy.gif "[scotland-flag]")
http://www.nls.uk/broadsides/broadside. ... anscript/1
Orraverybest Hugh.
-
AJampoler
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:24 pm
-
Hugh Stevely
- Posts: 491
- Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 6:41 pm
- Location: Newcastle upon Tyne North East Uk
Amphitrite A True Hero
THIS cappie must take some credit Pierre Hénin this info is in French and English.
http://www.itius.com/boulogne/henin.html
http://www.itius.com/boulogne/swim.html
Hugh.
http://www.itius.com/boulogne/henin.html
http://www.itius.com/boulogne/swim.html
Hugh.
-
Currie
- Posts: 3924
- Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:20 am
- Location: Australia
Hello Andrew,
The odds are you’ve already covered all this.
The British Newspapers 1800-1900 http://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs/ site is cheaper than the Scotsman for 24 hours access and has over 40 newspapers including Scottish ones. There are a great many articles about the Amphitrite, although with much repetition, and you wouldn’t have any difficulty viewing and downloading the 100 limit.
It wasn’t until several months after the event that the news finally reached Australia. There’s an article here about very similar tragedies that occurred soon after.
http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/searc ... decade:183
Here’s an interesting write-up in “Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country” of 1833.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qVb ... J&pg=PA557
And a more detailed account in “The United Service Journal” of 1833.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=jho ... J&pg=PA149
According to the Ship’s agent “The late Mr. John Hunter, master and owner, was full 33 years of age, had been regularly brought up to sea, and captain of a ship as far back as eight years ago”. This was to correct allegations that he was only 25 and inexperienced. He seems to be a bit of a “Mystery Man”.
Was James Forrester the same one as the Surgeon on the H.M. Sloop Alacrity? If so, according to the Caledonian Mercury of Thursday, November 13, 1823, he faced a Court Martial but was acquitted. He also has a later connection to a dying Lord Byron and kept some sort of a journal.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=SNA ... surgeon%22
In “House of Commons Parliamentary Papers” there are copies of Orders and Communications relating to Inquiry of Loss of the Amphitrite. They don’t appear to be very comprehensive and look a bit like a whitewash. I’m not sure they add anything much but if you want a copy just send me a PM with an email address.
Hope that’s useful,
Alan
The odds are you’ve already covered all this.
The British Newspapers 1800-1900 http://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs/ site is cheaper than the Scotsman for 24 hours access and has over 40 newspapers including Scottish ones. There are a great many articles about the Amphitrite, although with much repetition, and you wouldn’t have any difficulty viewing and downloading the 100 limit.
It wasn’t until several months after the event that the news finally reached Australia. There’s an article here about very similar tragedies that occurred soon after.
http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/searc ... decade:183
Here’s an interesting write-up in “Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country” of 1833.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qVb ... J&pg=PA557
And a more detailed account in “The United Service Journal” of 1833.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=jho ... J&pg=PA149
According to the Ship’s agent “The late Mr. John Hunter, master and owner, was full 33 years of age, had been regularly brought up to sea, and captain of a ship as far back as eight years ago”. This was to correct allegations that he was only 25 and inexperienced. He seems to be a bit of a “Mystery Man”.
Was James Forrester the same one as the Surgeon on the H.M. Sloop Alacrity? If so, according to the Caledonian Mercury of Thursday, November 13, 1823, he faced a Court Martial but was acquitted. He also has a later connection to a dying Lord Byron and kept some sort of a journal.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=SNA ... surgeon%22
In “House of Commons Parliamentary Papers” there are copies of Orders and Communications relating to Inquiry of Loss of the Amphitrite. They don’t appear to be very comprehensive and look a bit like a whitewash. I’m not sure they add anything much but if you want a copy just send me a PM with an email address.
Hope that’s useful,
Alan