Fishburn

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Specifications

24 October 1786 – Deptford Officers to Navy Board:

Fishburn, Thomas Longridge, 378 26/94, 6 years, 6’1” 5’9” 7’1” (ADM 106/3321/96; ADM 106/3314/78)

14 November 1786 – Navigation Act Pass:

Fishburn, 349 tons, 4 guns, Robert Brown, 17 crew (TNA ADM7/104, No.3456)

26 May 1789 – According to the Accounts of the Receiver of Sixpences for Greenwich Hospital for 1789, this was the date when the last of the crew was discharged. She was listed as a new ship on this voyage. 318 tons, usual crew of 22. Robert Brown listed as the Master. (AD68/206)

Owner at First Fleet

William Leighton – The family was from County Durham. William was the son of George Leighton of Bishop Wearmouth, a merchant, and the grandson of William Leighton of Ryhope. He was born around 1750.

His father died in October 1774, and he seems to have moved to London around 1779, and in that year he seems to have lived in Wapping. He is listed among the subscribers following a fire at St John of Wapping. (Morning Chronicle & London Advertiser, 19 April 1779)

1786 is the first year in which we presently have a record of his home address at Charlton, Kent, a community close to the river at Greenwich. Throughout the 1780s and 1790s, his name in the ships’ registers is almost always ‘William Leighton of Charlton in the County of Kent, Merchant’. In 1800, Leighton acquired the lease of Kemnall House at Chislehurst in Kent, which had been the residence of Lord Chief Baron Macdonald of the Court of Exchequer. (Daniel Lysons, ‘The Environs of London’, 1811, p 443)

He was evidently deeply involved in the coal trade. His ships regularly sailed to and from Newcastle. Many of them were built at Whitby. In 1787, he was joint owner of the Arnold Polly with Benjamin Kennett, Junior, a coal merchant. And in 1790, Leighton’s address in the register for the William, was given as ‘The Coal Exchange, London’.

Leighton took up five Navy Board contracts for transportation to New South Wales, and after 1793, seems to have had several military transportation contracts with the Board.

23 April 1826 – William Leighton died at his residence, Kemnall House, in Kent, aged 74.

History of the Ship

Built at Whitby about 1780. 378 tons. 6’1”, 5’9”, 7’1” between decks. Master at time of surveying in October 1786 was Thomas Longridge. (TNA ADM106/3321, 1786)

From 1780 to 1784, the ship appears to have been hired as a naval transport.

10 August 1780 – The Fishburn, Gill, sailed from Cowes for Spithead to join a convoy to Quebec. (Hampshire Chronicle, 14 August 1780, p.2)

13 September 1780 – The Fishburn, Gill, arrived at Cork from Portsmouth, part of the fleet for Quebec. (Lloyds Evening Post, 27-29 September 1780) They had sailed under convoy of the Ephesus and Garland, and been separated by a storm on the 6th. (Caledonian Mercury, 27 September 1780, p.3)

6 September 1781 – The Fishburn, Gill, sailed from Cowes for America. (Hampshire Chronicle, 10 September 1781, p.2)

27 January 1784 – Sailed from Portsmouth, the Fishburn, Gill, for London. (Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, 29 January 1784)

7 June 1784 – William Leighton wrote to the Victualling Board concerning the Fishburn, Joseph Jells. (TNA ADM111/98, 30 June 1784)

15 June 1784 – Arrived in the Port of London, a collier, the Fishburn, Joseph Gill, from Newcastle. (Public Advertiser, 18 June 1784)

30 June 1784 – The Victualling Board considered Leighton’s letter of the 7th of June and Mr Henshaw’s report. Ordered that the victualling the 5240 men for a day mentioned in the said report be allowed on the said ship’s account agreeable to Commissary Ross’s instructions, as well as the pork issued in lieu of butter. (TNA ADM111/98, 30 June 1784)

11 March 1785 – The Fishburn, Woodcock, was driven ashore on Jarron Slake (or Jarrow’s Lake), near North Shields, but it was hoped she would get off with little damage. In the same squall, the Golden Grove, Thompson, carried away her bowsprit. (Public Advertiser, 16 March 1785) The Fishburn wound up losing three anchors. (London Chronicle, 19-22 March 1785)

22 May 1785 – The Borrowdale, Reed, the Fishburn, Woodcock and the Golden Grove, Thompson, entered into the Port of London from Newcastle. (Public Advertiser, 25 May 1785)

9 November 1785 – The Fishburn, Woodcock, arrived at Portsmouth from Newcastle. (Whitehall Evening Post, 8-10 November 1785)

c.10 December 1785 – The Fishburn, Woodcock, arrived at Shields from Portsmouth with ‘Trinnails’(?). (Newcastle Courant, 10 December 1785, p.4)

1786 – Lloyd’s Register. Whitby, 1780. Sheathed in 1780. Owner: Leighton & Co. Master: Woodcock, replaced by T. Longridge. Surveyed in 1784. (Lloyd's Register, 1786)

25 August 1786 – The Fishburn, Longridge, arrived at Portsmouth from Riga. (Hampshire Chronicle, 28 August 1786, p.2)

24 October 1786 – Deptford Officers to Navy Board:

Fishburn, Thomas Longridge, 378 26/94, 6 years, 6’1” 5’9” 7’1” (TNA ADM 106/3321/96; TNA ADM 106/3314/78)

30 October 1786 – According to the Accounts of the Receiver of Sixpences for Greenwich Hospital for 1789, this was the date when the first of the men came on board. (TNA ADM68/206, 26 May 1789)

14 November 1786 - Navigation Act Pass:

Fishburn, 349 tons, 4 guns, Robert Brown, 17 crew (TNA ADM7/104, No.3456)

13 May 1787 – Sailed from the Mother Bank with the First Fleet.

1788 – Lloyd’s Register. Built at Whitby in 1780. 400 tons. Sheathed in 1786. Owned by Leighton & Co. Master: R. Brown. (Lloyd’s Register, 1789)

19 November 1788 – The Fishburn sailed from Sydney Cove in company with the Golden Grove.

22 May 1789 – Moored at Deptford. (Journal of the Fishburn, TNA ADM 51/4375)

25 May 1789 – Received orders from the Navy Board that the ship was discharged from service. Last entry in log. (Journal)

26 May 1789 – According to the Accounts of the Receiver of Sixpences for Greenwich Hospital for 1789, this was the date when the last of the crew was discharged. She was listed as a new ship on this voyage. 318 tons, usual crew of 22. Robert Brown listed as the Master. (TNA ADM68/206)

17 October 1789 – Newcastle Courant:

"Last week the Fishburn, Brown, of London, laden with coals, from this port to the Thames, was wrecked upon the Gun-fleet. The crew were saved, but the vessel totally lost." (Newcastle Courant, 17 October 1789, p.4)

October 1789 – The Fishburn was lost on the Gun Fleet Sand. The registration papers were ‘Lost with the ship on the Gun Fleet Sand in Octor 1789. . .’ (Navigation Pass, No.3456, 13 November 1786, TNA ADM7/104)