DOVE was built in 1774 with a burthen tonnage of 60 tons. Little
is known of this vessel except that in 1801 she was owned by
Bibby & Hall and was the first recorded venture into shipping
by a member of the family.
Burthen was an old term used to express a
ship's tonnage or carrying capacity. It was based on the number
of tuns of wine that a ship could carry in her holds, the total
number giving her burthen. The term remained an expression of
a ship's size until the end of the 18th century when it gradually
fell into disuse after a new system of measurement of ships,
known as the Builders Old Measurement was adopted by Act of
Parliament in 1773. A tun was a large cask used for the transport
of wine with a capacity of two pipes, or four hogsheads or 252
old wine gallons and is the origin of the word ton. The Builders
Old Measurement was a formula devised to calculate the tonnage
of a ship for the purposes of charging harbour and port dues.
MARGARET (1) was built in 1800 at Liverpool with a tonnage of
117 burthen, a length of 69ft and a beam of 20ft 4in. She was
built in wood, with a Galliot rig, to a Dutch design for a common
North Sea trader with a large rudder. Acquired in the spring
of 1801 by John Bibby & Co. she was named after John Bibby's
wife Margaret, nee Mellard. Trading between Parkgate in the
Wirral and Dublin she was lost on the Irish coast in October
1801.
A Galliot was originally a small galley rowed by sixteen or
twenty oars with a single mast and sail used in the 17th and
18th centuries to chase and capture enemy ships in wartime by
boarding, the entire crew being armed to form a boarding party.
During the 18th century it became the accepted term for a small
Dutch trading vessel, the hull built in barge fashion with a
bluff rounded bow, fitted with leeboards, and fore and aft rigged
on a single mast, often with a sprit. They are still used in
Holland and North Germany almost entirely for local coastal
trade in much the same way that sailing barges are used in Britain
FRIENDS was built in 1793 at Frodsham with a tonnage of 63 burthen,
a length of 67ft 4in and a beam of 14ft 6in. Built in wood with
a Galliot rig she was acquired by John Bibby & Co. in 1805
for coastal trading and was lost in the following year on the
north Welsh coast while approaching the River Mersey.
MENTOR was built in 1799 at Aberdovey with
a tonnage of 150 burthen, a length of 73ft and a beam of 22ft
5in. Built in wood with a snow rig she was acquired in 1802
and served until 1818 when she foundered during a voyage from
Liverpool to Dublin.
A snow rig had a stump mast to carry the rings of the spanker/tri-sail
which simplified the mainmast rigging and also made the hoisting
of sail easier.
L'HARMONIE was built in France with a tonnage of 124 burthen,
a length of 79ft and a beam of 26ft. Built in wood and snow
rigged she was a Napoleonic prize captured in 1803. She was
put up for auction by the Admiralty Marshall and acquired by
John Bibby and John Highfield. Formerly a West Indies trader
with a copper bottom for protection against the teredo worm
she was deployed on the Liverpool to the West Indies to carry
rum and sugar; the partners first venture into that trade. In
1806 she was lost when she grounded in the West Indies.
SALLY was built in France with a tonnage of
130 burthen, a length of 71ft and a beam of 21ft 1in. Built
in wood and snow rigged she was taken as a prize in 1799 during
the French Revolutionary War of 1793 - 1802. She was acquired
by John Bibby & Others in 1806 and placed on the West Indies
service. In 1827 she was posted missing in the Atlantic.
EAGLE was built in Spain with a tonnage of
186 burthen, a length of 76ft 1in and a beam of 24ft 10in. Built
in wood and brigantine rigged she was a Spanish ship taken as
a prize in 1805 during the Napoleonic War. Spain had become
an ally of France in January 1804. When she was acquired by
the partners at the end of 1805 her condition was somewhat poor
and she was repaired in the following year with timbers from
another ship. She was given a new keel and the hull was sheathed
with copper in readiness for trading to the West Indies. In
1808 she was the only ship to be used as a slaver when she made
a voyage from Liverpool to the Cameroons from where she sailed
to the Southern USA with a cargo of slaves. She was lost of
the African coast in 1909.
THAMES was built in 1798 at New York with
a tonnage of 171 burthen, a length of 76ft and a beam of 23ft
4in. Built in wood and snow rigged she was equipped with 2 guns.
She was acquired by John Bibby & Co. in 1807 and made the
partners' first sailing to Brazil in 1810. Captured by the Americans
in 1811 she was sold to the Danes who then re-sold her back
to Bibby. In March 1812 she was arrested again by the American
Navy but released and returned to her owners. In the following
year she voyaged to the Gabon for Bibby but thereafter, all
trace of her was lost.
BENJAMIN & ELIZABETH was built
around 1798 at Whitby, Yorkshire with a tonnage of 283
burthen, a length of 93ft 4in and a beam of 27ft 1in.
Built in wood and ship rigged and acquired in 1807 she
was Bibby's first three masted ship and their largest
vessel to date. At the time the ship rig was comparatively
rare as it took more men to handle three square rigged
masts than the more common barque. The ship rig only
became more popular when sailing ships got bigger but,
because the mizzen mast sails deprived the forward masts
of wind, the barque rig was more efficient. In 1807
the Abolition of Slavery Act was passed in the United
Kingdom and all known slave ships were declared 'pirates'.
Although there is no record of her ever being engaged
in the slave trade the Benjamin & Elizabeth was
captured by the American Navy in that year and sold
to the Swedes who then re-sold her to British owners.
In 1809 she was wrecked off New Jersey.
MARY (1) was built in Denmark with a tonnage
of 208 burthen, a length of 80ft 11in and a beam of 25ft. A
wooden barque she was built in Denmark as the Laurentza Maria
in the early 1800's. In 1808 she was detained at Liverpool as
a prize in retaliation for the seizure by Denmark of British
Baltic traders which came about when Prussia joined the war
against Napoleon at the time she was at war with Denmark. She
was acquired by Bibby and in 1810 was captured by the French
in the West Indies. Sold to Jamaican owners as a prize all trace
of her was subsequently lost.
PROVIDENCE was built in 1789 in France with
a tonnage of 123 burthen with unknown dimensions. Built as a
wooden warship and snow rigged she had two decks with a large
central hatch-like opening in the upper deck traversed by stout
beams. She had 6 guns located on the main deck firing through
gun ports. In June 1803 she was captured by the Royal Navy as
a prize. Six years later, in 1809, she was acquired by Bibby
and records show that she was used on the Parkgate - Dublin
route. Nothing more is known about her but her heavily timbered
construction would have made her unsuitable for commercial service
and she may have been used as a storage hulk in the West Indies.
SARAH was built in 1788 at Lancaster with
a tonnage of 176 burthen, a length of 80ft 4in and a beam of
22ft 11in. She was built in wood, brigantine rigged and acquired
by John Bibby & Co. in 1809. In 1810 she was seized by the
French at St. Croix in the West Indies and sold as a prize.
Her subsequent career is not known.
LUNE was built in 1807 at Lancaster with a
tonnage of 105 burthen, a length of 72ft 2in and a beam of 18ft
3in. Built in wood and galliot rigged she was acquired by Bibby
in 1809 for the Parkgate to Dublin service. In 1832 she was
sold at Whitehaven for use as a collier trading to Ireland.
Her subsequent career is not known.
VENUS was built in 1799 by W. N. Wright at
Liverpool with a tonnage of 113 burthen, a length of 67ft 5in
and a beam of 19ft 11in. Built in wood and sloop rigged she
was acquired by Bibby in 1809 and sold to London buyers in the
following year. Her subsequent career is unknown.
CERES was built in 1796 at Barmouth with a
tonnage of 138 burthen, a length of 71ft in and a beam of 21ft
10in. Built in wood and snow rigged she was acquired by Bibby
in 1809 for the Parkgate - Dublin service which by this time
included calls at Welsh ports. In 1827 she was lost in the Irish
sea.
LUCRETIA was built in 1796 at Hull with a
tonnage of 242 burthen, a length of 88ft 10in and a beam of
25ft 8in. Built in wood and ship rigged she was acquired by
John Bibby & Co. in 1809. She was given new side planking
with iron bolts and copper sheathed for service on the West
Indies trade to Trinidad. In 1810 she was sold to Mullin &
Co. of Liverpool and was later lost.
BERESFORD was built in 1796 at Liverpool with
a tonnage of 104 burthen, a length of 66ft and a beam of 19ft.
Built in wood and brigantine rigged she was acquired by Bibby
in 1810 and sold in the same year at Liverpool for further trading.
Her subsequent career is not known.
MARGARET (2) was built in 1802 by J. Fisher
at Liverpool with a tonnage of 222 burthen, a length of 84ft
4in and a beam of 25ft 4in. Built in wood and brigantine rigged
she was acquired by Bibby in 1811 but sold at Poole in the same
year. Her subsequent career is not known.
WILLIAM was built in France with a tonnage
of 90 burthen, a length of 61ft and a beam of 18ft 10in. Built
in wood and snow rigged she was captured as a prize in 1807
during the Napoleonic war and acquired by Bibby in 1811. She
was sold in 1815 and her subsequent career is unknown.
HIGHFIELD was built in 1812 by W. Cortney
at Chester with a tonnage of 142 burthen, a length of 76ft 10in
and a beam of 21ft. Built in wood and brigantine rigged she
was the first ship to be built for Bibby & Highfield with
John Bibby & Co. as managers. She was sold for breaking
in 1839 with the rare distinction of having served with one
owner for her entire 27 years.
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