James Lucas, Captain of the Richard and Mary
The Richard and Mary was built in Dartmouth, Devon in 1801 and appears in the Society of Merchants register for 1804, rated as A1, 211 tons. The information I have is from A.G.E. Jones, who transcribed all the entries relating to the Southern Fishery. I’m not sure where to consult the originals for the Society of Merchants register. In Lloyd’s Register for 1802 and 1803 she is owned by Codner & Co., master Hannaford, destination London to Malta.
In 1804 (must be the records for 1803…sort this all out), there is a double entry for the Richard and Mary. Codner & Co sells the ship to Spencer & Co. The ship is reinforced with a copper bottom, and in additiona is armed with 2 9 pounders and 8 6 pounders. And the new captain is our J. Lucas (James Lucas) and the destination is London to the South Seas. I have to get the Lloyd’s Register years sorted out. The year on the front of the book is the year of publication for the vessels that were insured the previous year. I think that is how it must work, and in that case all my years are incorrect and I have to go back and do a lot of sorting out. Here is the entry for the 1805 edition of Lloyd’s Register showing James Lucas.
Lloyd’s Register entry for Richard and Mary
This is the entry in Lloyd’s for the Richard and Mary. I’ll add a few words of explanation as there are many abbreviations. On the left is the entry number in the book, 227. A shortening of the entries is used in Lloyd’s, so that if there is more than one vessel beginning with the word “Richard” a dash is used to carry the information down. The ship on line 226 is called Richard Caton, and our vessel on the next line is then Richard & Mary. The capital “S” indicates it is a Ship as opposed to a Brig, etc. Under that is s.C 04, which means that in 1804 it had a copper bottom added. The next column is the name of the Master, in this case J. Lucas. Then follows the deadweight the ship can carry, which is 211 tons. The location the ship was built is Drtmh, or Dartmouth. The “4” gives the age of the ship in years. Then comes the owner, Spencr&Co, or Spencer& Co. If the vessel is armed it is indicated under the name of the owner. They were carrying 2 9 pounders and 8 6 pounders. The destination is Lo.S.Sea., or London to South Seas. And finally, the rating is A1.
Go back and compare the number and size of guns over the years. How did they increase or change the number of guns for a vessel that did not return for a number of years? How did the insurance actually work then?
To the South Seas, 1804-1807
The Richard and Mary is mentioned four times in Lloyd’s List as indexed by A.G.E. Jones. I’d like to go back and confirm these, and also see what other mention there is in other newspapers as there are gaps that don’t make sense or are difficult to understand.
-7.2.1804, 13.9.1805, 6.6.1806, 17.4.1807 /
They left Deal on the 7th February, 1804, bound for the South Seas. Accompanying the Richard and Mary were the Elizabeth and Mary, and the Perseverance, Irish. The next mention is confusing. On the 13th September 1805 the Richard and Mary again is departing from Deal to the South Seas, this time accompanied by the Favourite, Fraser, and the Elizabeth and Mary. On the same day in the Lloyd’s List the Perseverance is reported off Timor so all this needs to be checked out again.
On the 6th June 1806 the Richard and Mary is reported well at New Zealand as of the end of January 1806. So it looks like another vessel arrived in London on 6th June with news from the previous January.
Finally, on the 17th April 1807, the Richard and Mary arrives in Gravesend from the South Seas.
There is more information on this voyage from newspaper reports in Australia, and also a book that I have a home that I can’t remember the title of! Author is Anne Salmond. It was quite a voyage, with sickness amongst the crew, and adventures in New Zealand as well.There are quite a few mentions of the Richard and Mary in the newspaper in Australia.