Boddingtons (1793 ship)

History
Great Britain
Name	Boddingtons
Owner	Boddingtons (1793-1815)
Builder	William Mellish, Limehouse, River Thames[1]
Launched	19 November 1793[1]
Fate	Abandoned at sea November 1840
General characteristics
Tons burthen	298,[2] or 301,[1] or 305[3] (bm)
Armament	1795:6 × 4-pounder guns[3] 1805:6 × 4-pounder guns[2] 1815:2 × 18-pounder + 2 × 12-pounder carronades

Boddingtons, or Boddington, was a merchantman that was launched in 1793 upon the Thames River for Boddingtons. She spent most of her career as a West Indiaman. She did make one voyage to Australia carrying passengers. Her crew abandoned her at sea in November 1840.

Boddingtons enters Lloyd's Register in 1794 with P. Scallon, master, Boddingtons, owner, and trade London—Nevis.^[4]

Boddington, Soal, master, bound for St Vincent, put into Plymouth on 1 February 1804. She was part of a fleet of 43 sail under the escort of the 74-gun HMS Courageaux that had left Portsmouth on 2 January, bound for the West Indies. For some reason, the whole fleet put back into Plymouth.^[5] Still, Boddington reportedly put into Cork, Ireland, on 3 February. The West Indies fleet left Cork the next day under the escort of the frigates HMS Galatea and HMS Topaze.^[6]

On 17 February 1807 Boddingtons was driven ashore between Deal and South Foreland, Kent.

On the morning of 16 December 1821 Boddingtons was in ballast when she caught fire at St. Catherine's Stairs, Wapping. Her crew scuttled her and afterwards her main and mizzen masts were cut away.^[7] Lloyd's Register for 1823 carries the notation that Boddingtons was rebuilt in 1822.^[8]

Her owner, John Marshall, of 26 Birchin Lane, Cornhill, was the most active colonial emigration agent before the formation in 1840 of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission. He arranged for passengers and emigrants to travel on vessels he owned, such as Boddingtons or Doncaster, or had chartered, such as Bussorah Merchant.^[9]

Under the command of J. Taylor, Boddingtons sailed from London on 1 October 1827, stopping at the Cape of Good Hope and arrived at Hobart Town on 14 March 1828, with cargo and passengers.^[10] She left Hobart Town and arrived at Sydney on 22 April, carrying cargo, passengers and a number of convicts.^[a] She left Port Jackson on 2 September bound for London.^[12]

Lloyd's Register for 1840 shows Boddingtons, now with homeport of Whitby, as having been "Abandoned".^[13] The Naval Journal reported that the barque Boddingtons, of Whitby, was abandoned at sea on 14 November 1840. Her crew of 14 was taken off.^[14]

• Bateson, Charles (1959). The Convict Ships. Brown, Son & Ferguson. OCLC 3778075.
• Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-96-7.