Astrea was launched at Stockton in 1812. She served as a transport for the British government until about 1819. Thereafter she traded with the Baltic, the Caribbean, and Quebec. She was wrecked, with great loss of life, on 8 May 1834 while carrying migrants to Quebec.
Astrea first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1812.[1]
Although Astrea is listed among vessels sailing east of the Cape of Good Hope under a licence from the British East India Company, there is no evidence that she ever did so. Also the same source has her being lost near the Cape of Good Hope, which is incorrect.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1812 | Grayham | Grayham | London | LR |
| 1818 | J.Wilson | Grayham | London transport London–CGH | LR |
| 1819 | J.Wilson | Grayham | London–CGH London–Jamaica | LR |
| 1821 | J.Wilson | Grayham | London–Virginia | LR |
| 1822 | J.Wilson Sanderson | Grayham | London–Petersburg | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1824 | Sanderson | T.Old | London–Petersburg London–Quebec | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1826 | Sanderson | T.Old | London–Riga | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1827 | Sanderson | T.Old | London–Bermuda | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1828 | Sanderson Head | T.Old | London–Bermuda | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1829 | Head | T.Old | London–Saint Lucia | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1830 | Head Ridley | T.Old | Belfast–Saint Lucia | LR; damages repaired 1822 |
| 1831 | Ridley | Ridley | London–Elsinor | LR; damages repaired 1822 and small repair 1831 |
| 1832 | W.Ridley | Ridley | London–Quebec | LR; damages repaired 1822 and small repair 1831 |
| 1833 | Kidley Ridley | Ridley & Co. | London–Bermuda London–Quebec | Register of Shipping; large repair 1831 |
On 8 May 1834 Astrea, Ridley, master, was wrecked 5nmi east of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia. Astrea was on a voyage from Limerick to Quebec City.[2] [3]
She was carrying 13 crew members and 211 passengers, consisting on 104 adult males, mostly farmers and agricultural labourers from Limerick, Clare, and Tipperary, and their wives and children. The three survivors consisted of her surgeon, who was emigrating to Canada, and two crew members.[4]
Not all the bodies were recovered, and the people on shore were to few to bury properly all that they found. The loss of Astrea, and a few days later, of Fidelity, a few days later, resulted in 1834 in assistance being provided for ship-wrecked marinners, and the construction in 1839 of lighthouses at St. Paul's Island and Scatari.