View source for Jenny (1783 ship)

{{Short description|Merchant vessel, 1783–1797}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2019}}
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| Ship country=Great Britain
| Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|civil}}
| Ship name = ''Jenny''
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| Ship owner =*1783:John Clements{{sfnp|Cass|1996|p=325-335}} 
*1788:S.Teast & Son
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| Ship builder =[[Harbour Grace]], Newfoundland{{sfnp|Cass|1996|p=325-335}} 
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| Ship launched = 1783<ref name=LR1784/>
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| Ship fate = Wrecked 1797
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| Ship tons burthen=*1783:50<ref name=LR1784/> ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]]) 
*1791:78<ref name=LR1796/> (bm)
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| Ship sail plan =*1783: Two-masted [[Schooner]]{{sfnp|Cass|1996|p=325-335}}
*1791: Three-masted schooner{{sfnp|Cass|1996|p=325-335}}
*1794:[[Full-rigged ship]]{{sfnp|Cass|1996|p=325-335}}
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'''''Jenny''''' was built at [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] in 1783. She sailed to Britain and traded between Britain and Newfoundland and then between [[Bristol]] and Africa until 1790 when [[Sydenham Teast]] (or Sidenham Teast) purchased her. Between 1791 and 1794 she made two voyages exploring the [[Pacific Northwest]] and gathering [[Sea otter#Fur trade|sea otter]] pelts. In 1796 she returned to trading with Africa but was lost in January 1797 as she was returning to Bristol from Africa.

==Career==
''Jenny'' entered ''[[Lloyd's Register]]'' (''LR'') in 1784 with J. Parsons, master, Clements, owner, and trade Bristol–Newfoundland.<ref name=LR1784>[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015065522776?urlappend=%3Bseq=179 ''LR'' (1789), Seq.№J789.]</ref>

{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Master
! Owner
! Trade
! Source
|-
| 1784
| J. Parsons
| Clements
| Newfoundland–Bristol
| ''LR''
|-
| 1786
| J.Parsons<br/> Wm.Fowlers
| J. Clements
| Bristol–Newfoundland
| ''LR''
|-
| 1787 
| Arch. Hill<br/>W.Fowler
| Clements
| Bristol–Newfoundland
| ''LR''
|-
| 1790
| D.Prosser<br/>C.M'Carthy
| S. Teast & Son
| Bristol–Africa
| ''LR''
|-
|}

===Trading with Africa===
Records exist for three voyages to Africa for ''Jenny'', none of which involved [[History of slavery|slave trading]]. She carried no [[cannon]]s on any of these voyages, and her crew numbered from eight to ten.

'''Voyage #1 (1788–1789):''' Captain William Byrne sailed from Bristol on 22 March 1788. He died on 5 October and it was Captain David Prosser who returned ''Jenny'' to  Bristol on 5 June 1789.{{sfnp|Richardson|1996|p=140}}

'''Voyage #2 (1789–1790):''' Captain Prosser sailed from Bristol on 3 July 1789. ''Jenny'' returned direct from Africa on 15 March 1790.{{sfnp|Richardson|1996|p=152}}

'''Voyage #3 (1790):''' Captain Prosser sailed from Bristol on 26 March 1790. (He died at some point on the voyage before ''Jenny'' returned to Bristol.) In June ''Jenny'' took on [[ivory]] and [[wax]] from ''African Queen'' at Cape Lahou. ''Jenny'' sailed for Bristol on 7 July and returned to Bristol on 9 September.{{sfnp|Richardson|1996|p=169}}{{sfnp|Howay|Elliot|1929|p=206}}

===Trading with the Pacific Northwest===
Clements went bankrupt in 1790 and was forced to sell ''Jenny'', which Sydenham Teast then purchased. Some sources state that Teast employed ''Jenny'' as a [[History of slavery|slaver]], carrying slaves between West Africa and Barbados.{{sfnp|Pethick|1980|pp=127 127–128, 201–202, 205}} The most complete database of trans-Atlantic slave voyages does not support that assertion. There was a ''Jenny'' that carried slaves to Barbados, but that occurred some two decades before the launch of the ''Jenny'' of this article.<ref>[http://www.slavevoyages.org/voyages/ZQMzYdnu Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Voyages: ''Jenny''.]</ref>

Teast had ''Jenny'' lengthened and rebuilt in 1791, including the addition of a third mast.{{sfnp|Cass|1996|p=325-335}} Her master changed from M'Carthy to James Baker.<ref name=LR1792>[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015004281252?urlappend=%3Bseq=174 ''LR'' (1792), Seq.№J183.]</ref>

'''Voyage #1 (1791–1793):''' Captain James Baker sailed ''Jenny'' for the Pacific in the first week of October 1791, bound for Cape Verde and the South Seas.<ref name=bswf/>

During her voyage ''Jenny'' was at Tahiti. There she picked the captain, two men, and two boys, survivors from the wrecking of {{ship||Matilda|1790 ship|2}}. Two young Tahitian women also came on ''Jenny''. ''Jenny'' took them with her to [[Nootka Sound]].{{sfnp|Documents...|1915|pp=56–58}} In addition to Tahiti Baker also visited [[Easter Island]], [[Kiritimati]] (Christmas Island), and the Hawaiian Islands, before sailing to the Pacific Northwest Coast.{{sfnp|Pethick|1980|pp=127 127–128, 201–202, 205}}

In June or July of 1792, Baker entered a harbor at 43°50' and "stayed trading either the natives ten or twelve days" naming the harbor "Port Sidenham" after his employer.{{sfnp|Howay|Elliot|1929|p=201}} The "Jenny" is therefore the first known Euro-American vessel to enter the [[Umpqua River]] and trade with the Quuiich (Lower [[Umpqua people]]). A copy of Baker's chart of "Puerto Sidman" was retained in Spanish archives through [[Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra]].

In early August 1792, ''Jenny'' was in [[Clayoquot Sound]] where, with the [[Butterworth Squadron]], Baker was involved in a violent conflict with [[Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations|Tla-o-qui-aht]] people of chief [[Wickaninnish]]. After that Baker took ''Jenny'' north to trade for [[sea otter]] furs in [[Haida Gwaii]], collecting a cargo of about 350 otter skins. Then Baker sailed to Nootka Sound, arriving in early October, 1792.{{sfnp|Pethick|1980|pp=127 127–128, 201–202, 205}}

Baker did not have a license that would permit him to go to [[Guangzhou]] (Canton) to sell his cargo of furs. He therefore decided to sail back to England. He did not want to return to Tahiti and so was pleased that [[George Vancouver]], who was going back, would take the two Tahitian women.{{sfnp|Documents...|1915|pp=56–58}}

In mid October Baker left Nootka Sound to return to Bristol, stopping at the [[Columbia River]]. In December 1792 [[William Robert Broughton]], captain of {{HMS|Chatham|1788|6}}, part of the [[Vancouver Expedition]], encountered Baker in the Columbia River. The ''Jenny'' and ''Chatham'' left the river and crossed the [[Columbia Bar]] together, then parted ways. Broughton named the bay where he found ''Jenny'' [[Baker Bay (Columbia River)|Baker Bay]], after James Baker.{{sfnp|Pethick|1980|pp=127 127–128, 201–202, 205}}

''Jenny'' returned to Bristol on 25 June 1793.<ref name=bswf>{{cite web|title=British Southern Whale Fishery database – Voyages: ''Jenny''|url=https://whalinghistory.org/bv/voyages/}}</ref>

Teast prepared ''Jenny'' for her next voyage to the Pacific. He had her converted from a three-masted schooner to a square-rigged ship. He acquired trade goods that would appeal to the indigenous inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest. He arranged with the British [[East India Company]] (EIC) for a license that would permit her to bring back a cargo from China after selling her furs there. Third, he appointed a new captain, John William Adamson.{{sfnp|Howay|Elliot|1929|p=203}}

'''Voyage #2 (1793–1795):''' Captain Adamson sailed from Bristol in October, 1793. She was at California in April 1794. Between May and September she gathered otter skins, mostly in Haida Gwaii. Adamson then sailed to Nootka Sound, arriving on 29 Sept 1794.{{sfnp|Ogden|1975|pp=155–182}}{{sfnp|Pethick|1980|pp=127 127–128, 201–202, 205}} There he encountered Vancouver, who noted that he had gathered some 2,000 sea otter skins.{{sfnp|Howay|1915|p=88}} ''Jenny'' then sailed to Canton, arriving on 25 December 1794.{{sfnp|Ogden|1975|p=156}}{{sfnp|Ogden|1975|pp=155–182}}{{sfnp|Pethick|1980|pp=127 127–128, 201–202, 205}} Captain Adamson and ''Jenny'' returned to Bristol on 22 July 1795,{{sfnp|Howay|Elliot|1929|p=205}} or 25 July.{{sfnp|Ogden|1975|p=156}}

===Africa again===
''Jenny'' did not appear in ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1795, but she reappeared in 1796 with E. Buckle, master, Teast, owner, and trade Bristol–Africa.<ref name=LR1796>[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015004281229?urlappend=%3Bseq=193 ''LR'' (1796), Supple. pages "J".]</ref>

Captain Edmund Buckle sailed ''Jenny'' for Africa on 29 February 1796 on a voyage not intended for the slave trade.{{sfnp|Richardson|1996|p=249}} She was reported to have passed Sierra Leone on 7 April.<ref>''[[Lloyd's List]]'' [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.c3049068?urlappend=%3Bseq=311 №2827.]</ref>

==Loss==
''Lloyd's List'' reported on 27 January 1797 that ''Jenny'', Buckle, master, had been lost on [[Lundy]] Island as she was returning to Bristol from Africa.<ref>[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.c3049069?urlappend=%3Bseq=23 ''Lloyd's List'' №2893.]</ref> The only survivor was the first mate. Teast and the underwriters attempted to salvage what they could.{{sfnp|Cass|1996|p=332}}

The place where ''Jenny'' was lost is now known as Jenny's Cove ({{coord|51|10.87|N|4|40.48|W|display=inline,title}}).{{sfnp|Cass|1996|p=333}}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite journal |last1=Cass |first1=Alan D. |year=1996 |title=The Schooner Jenny |journal=The Mariner's Mirror |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=325–335|doi=10.1080/00253359.1996.10656605 }}
* {{cite journal|title=Documents:A New Vancouver Journal|journal=Pacific Northwest Quarterly|date=1915|volume=6|number=2 (April)|pages=50–68|ref={{SfnRef|Documents...|1915}} }} 
* {{cite journal|last1=Howay|first1=F.W.|date=1915|title=Some Remarks on the New Vancouver Journal|journal=Pacific Northwest Quarterly|volume=6|number=2 (April)|pages=83–89}} 
* {{cite journal|last1=Howay|first1=F.W.|first2=T.C.|last2=Elliot|date=1929|title=Voyages of the 'Jenny' to Oregon, 1792-94|journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly|volume=30|number=3|pages=197–206}}
*{{cite book|last=Ogden|first=Adele|title=The California Sea Otter Trade, 1784-1848|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mlU37uRbvmcC&pg=PA167|accessdate=30 October 2020|year=1975|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-02806-7}}
* {{cite book |last= Pethick |first= Derek |title= The Nootka Connection: Europe and the Northwest Coast 1790-1795 |url= https://archive.org/details/nootkaconnection0000peth |url-access= registration |year= 1980 |publisher= Douglas & McIntyre |location= Vancouver |isbn= 0-88894-279-6 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/nootkaconnection0000peth/page/127 127–128, 201–202, 205]}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Richardson |editor-first=David |year=1996 |title=Bristol, Africa, and the Eighteenth-Century Slave Trade to America, Vol. 4 The Final Years, 1770-1807 |publisher=Bristol Record Society, c/o Department of Historical Studies, Univ. of Bristol |isbn=0-901538-17-5}}

{{1797 shipwrecks}}

[[Category:1783 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Newfoundland and Labrador]]
[[Category:Age of Sail merchant ships of England]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1797]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Bristol Channel]]