Grant
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UnclaimedGrant was a British merchant ship launched at Whitby in 1798 or possibly 1799, known for an East India Company rice voyage and later service as a West Indiaman and transport vessel.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Grant was a British merchant vessel associated with the port of London and built at Whitby at the end of the eighteenth century. Sources place her launch in 1798, although some records give 1799. She entered the surviving shipping registers around 1800, when Peacock was recorded as master and Rucker & Co. as owner in Lloyd's Register. The Register of Shipping for the same year instead identified G. Faith as owner and listed a Whitby–Shields trade, later changing the vessel's route to London–St Vincent. These inconsistencies reflect the changing ownership, registration, and trading descriptions common in contemporary maritime records. Grant's most clearly documented employment was a single voyage for the British East India Company. Messrs. Princip and Saunders tendered the vessel to carry rice from Bengal to England. Grant was among a group of vessels dispatched during the East India Company's shipping season between November 1800 and February 1801. Under Captain Peacock, she left England on 28 November 1800, was reported off the English coast on 16 December, and reached Calcutta on 30 April 1801. After loading for the return journey, she departed Bengal on 25 July and reached the waters near Dungeness by 18 January 1802. She returned to her moorings on 24 January 1802. This voyage placed Grant within the commercial network connecting British ports with Bengal and demonstrated her use in the transport of bulk commodities rather than as a naval or passenger vessel. After the East India Company voyage, Grant appears to have operated primarily as a privately managed merchant ship. Contemporary records describe her as a West Indiaman or as a London-based transport, suggesting work in Atlantic commerce and government or commercial transport rather than continued regular East India Company service. One later account stated that she was used extensively as a convict transport, but the available evidence does not identify the routes or convict movements involved. In particular, Grant does not appear in the known lists of ships carrying convicts to Australia, so the claim remains uncertain. The vessel continued to appear in scattered maritime reports during the 1810s. In May 1816, Grant, under Captain Moffat, was reported at approximately 15°30′N, 27°30′W, fifty-four days into a voyage from London to Batavia. In February 1817, HMS Orontes reported having spoken with Grant at approximately 1°32′N, 17°15′W while Grant was about 110 days out on a voyage from Madras to England. These reports indicate that the ship remained active on long-distance routes across the Atlantic and Indian Ocean during this period. Grant's final fate is unresolved. A March 1821 report in Lloyd's List stated that she had sailed from Cadiz in June 1820 with Edward Ellice and Lord Suffield and had allegedly been seized by Spanish authorities off the coast of Peru. A later report, dated 14 August 1821, said that Grant had left Gibraltar for San Blas on 30 July 1820 and had not been traced, while expressly noting that the earlier seizure report had not been confirmed. A letter from Lima dated 17 April 1821 offered another possibility, reporting that a vessel named Grant of London had been off Pisco about five months earlier, in November 1820. Grant remained in the Register of Shipping through 1821 and in Lloyd's Register through 1825, but the later entries did not materially update her information. The surviving record therefore establishes neither a definite loss nor a confirmed seizure.
History
Grant was a British merchant ship launched at Whitby in 1798 or, according to some accounts, 1799. The vessel first appears in shipping records around 1800. Lloyd's Register listed Peacock as master, Rucker & Co. as owner, and London–St Vincent as the trading route. The Register of Shipping gave a different ownership attribution, naming G. Faith, and initially described the vessel's trade as Whitby–Shields before recording a change to London–St Vincent. The conflicting entries indicate that Grant's commercial registration and ownership changed or was reported differently across contemporary registers. In 1800, Messrs. Princip and Saunders tendered Grant to the British East India Company for a rice-carrying voyage from Bengal to England. Under Captain Peacock, the ship sailed from England on 28 November 1800 and was reported off the English coast in December. She reached Calcutta on 30 April 1801. Grant left Bengal on 25 July with a homeward cargo and was near Dungeness by 18 January 1802, returning to her moorings six days later. The voyage is recorded in Lloyd's Register for 1801, although it was not included in the Register of Shipping for that year. Following this voyage, Grant appears to have returned to privately managed merchant service. She was described as a West Indiaman or as a London-based transport, implying employment in Atlantic trade and transport operations. A later source claimed that the vessel was used extensively as a convict transport. The routes and destinations connected with that claim are not established, and Grant does not appear in the available lists of ships that transported convicts to Australia. Grant remained active on overseas routes during the 1810s. In May 1816, Captain Moffat was reported with the ship at 15°30′N, 27°30′W, fifty-four days into a voyage from London to Batavia. On 18 February 1817, Lloyd's List reported that HMS Orontes had spoken with Grant at 1°32′N, 17°15′W. Grant was then about 110 days out from Madras on a voyage to England. These sightings show the ship continuing to cross major ocean routes more than fifteen years after her launch. The end of Grant's career is uncertain. One Lloyd's List report from March 1821 claimed that she had sailed from Cadiz in June 1820 alongside Edward Ellice and Lord Suffield and had been seized by Spanish authorities off Peru. Another report, published on 14 August 1821, stated that Grant had departed Gibraltar for San Blas on 30 July 1820 and had subsequently disappeared; it also indicated that the alleged seizure had not been confirmed. A letter from Lima dated 17 April 1821 reported that Grant of London had been off Pisco approximately five months earlier, in November 1820. The vessel was last listed in the Register of Shipping in 1821 and in Lloyd's Register in 1825, with later information apparently unchanged from the 1821 entry. No definitive account of her loss or seizure has survived.
- 1821
Conflicting disappearance reports
[1]Lloyd's List carried conflicting accounts concerning a possible Spanish seizure near Peru and Grant's disappearance after leaving Gibraltar.
- 1817
Spoken by HMS Orontes
[1]HMS Orontes reported contact with Grant during the ship's voyage from Madras to England.
- 1816
Reported on a London–Batavia voyage
[1]Grant was reported under Captain Moffat in the Atlantic while sailing from London toward Batavia.
- 1802
Return from Bengal
[1]After leaving Bengal in July 1801, Grant reached the vicinity of Dungeness in January 1802 and returned to her moorings on 24 January.
- 1801
Arrival at Calcutta
[1]Grant reached Calcutta on 30 April during her East India Company voyage.
- 1800
First recorded appearance in shipping registers
[1]Lloyd's Register recorded Grant with Peacock as master and Rucker & Co. as owner, while another contemporary register supplied different ownership and route information.
- 1800
Departure for the East India Company voyage
[1]Grant sailed from England on 28 November to carry rice from Bengal to England under Captain Peacock.
- 1798
Launch at Whitby
[1]Grant was launched at Whitby, although some sources place the launch in 1799.
Products and positioning
An eighteenth-century British merchant vessel used for long-distance commodity transport, East India Company service, and later Atlantic and intercontinental trading voyages.
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