Somersetshire, was launched in 1810 on the River Thames as a West Indiaman. She made two voyages to Australia transporting convicts, and one in between with passengers. On the second convict transport voyage some convicts and guards planned a mutiny that her captain was able to foil. Somersetshire is last listed in 1844.
In between convict transport contracts, she made numerous other voyages, including a diarised (by "BJ" Barker Joseph Benson) voyage to Bombay (Mumbai) and back in 1838.
Somersetshire first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in the volume for 1810.[1]
Captain Robert Haly (or Haley, or Hayley) received a letter of marque for Somersetshire on 9 March 1811.[2]On Monday 7 October 1811 Somersetshire arrived in the Downs from Jamaica. The evening before she had warded off an attack near Dover by three French privateers.[3]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1812 | Haly | Gordon & Co. Goodson | London–West Indies | LR |
| 1814 | Haly Scott | Gordon & Co. Goodson | London–Bahia London–Botany Bay | LR; new keel & damages repaired 1812 |
Under the command of Alexander Scott, Somersetshire sailed from Spithead, England on 10 May 1814, and arrived at Port Jackson on 17 October. She embarked 200 male convicts, one of whom died on the voyage. Somersetshire left Port Jackson on 5 December bound for Bengal.[4]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1818 | Scott Smyth | Dawson's Shedden & Co. | London–Jamaica | LR; new keel & damages repaired 1812 |
| 1820 | Smyth C.Parent | Shedden & Co. | London–Jamaica | LR; damages repaired 1812 |
| 1826 | Ross | Dawson & Co. | London–Jamaica | LR; damages repaired 1812, new wales & some repairs 1825 |
| 1836 | Murray Jackson | Chapman | London–Malta | LR; new topsides 1826, new deck 1832, & some repairs 1838 |
| 1838 | Murray Jackson | Chapman | Liverpool–Bombay | LR; new topsides 1826 & new deck 1832 |
1838 - Somersetshire, under Captain John Jackson.
Somersetshire, Captain John Jackson, brought 234 passengers to Port Adelaide. She had left London on 18 April 1839 and she arrived there on 28 August. One of her passengers was Thomas Boutflower Bennett.[5]
Somersetshire sailed from Plymouth on 20 December 1841, under the command of Charles Motley (or Mottley), and arrived at Hobart Town on 30 May 1842. She embarked 219 male convicts; one died on the voyage. One officer and 30 rank-and-file being sent out to join the 51st King's Own Light Infantry provided the guard.
What makes this voyage notable was the mutiny plot that some prisoners developed during the voyage. The mutineers' plan was to murder the officers, place in the ship's boats those who would not join the mutiny, and then sail to South America. The convicts succeeded in getting several of the guard to join their plot.
It is not clear how the officers discovered the plot, but Captain Motley decided to put into Table Bay. There a two-week court martial tried the four soldiers who were part of the planned mutiny, with one of the four testifying against his companions. The court martial sentenced the ring leader to death by firing squad, and the other two to transportation. (picked up six prisoners at the Cape when she stopped there later that year and the two mutinous soldiers may have been among them.) Somersetshire left the Cape on 12 April and encountered no further issues on her voyage.
Somersetshire arrived in Sydney on 28 June, having sailed from Hobart in ballast.[6]
Somersetshire, with Mottley, master, is last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1844.