| Summary : 1782 wreck of British or Dutch cargo vessel said to have stranded at Little Smith, Isles of Scilly, homeward-bound from Demerara to London with coffee, sugar, cotton, cocoa, and rum. She was then broken up in situ. She had earlier been reported as having arrived safely at the Isles of Scilly, suggesting that she was awaiting departure for London when she was lost. Constructed of wood, she was a sailing vessel. |
More information : Additional cargo of cotton and rum. The cargo was saved, but the wreck was sold and broken up. Position of loss cited as Little Smith, and nationality cited as British. (1)(4)
'The MARY, Hooking, and UNION, Gibson, from Scilly, are arrived at Plymouth with the cargo of the LADY JOHANNA.' (5)
'February 2d. 1782, the ship LADY JOHANNA, Daniel Giston, master, from Demerara bound to London, with coffee, sugar, cotton, cocoa, and rum, was by stress of weather forced upon the rocks, and so much damaged that her cargo was obliged to be taken out. The vessel was sold here and ripped up.' (6)
Suggested as possibly a Dutch vessel in origin. (7)
Her arrival at Scilly was reported in a Dutch newspaper of 2nd February, 1782:
' . . . Te Scilly, 't Schip de JUFFROUW JOHANNA, Capt. Gillion, van Demerary.' (8)
She appeared in an undated arrivals list at Scilly, published on 22nd January, 1782:
'LADY JOHANNA, Gillion, [arrived from] Demerara'. (9)
The form of the name LADY JOHANNA sounds more Dutch than English at this period. The vessel is reported in (4) as British without justification, since no port of origin is revealed in the contemporary sources. It was common at this period for names of Dutch and German vessels to follow the formula 'JUFFRO(U)W' or 'VRO(U)W' (Dutch) or 'JUNGFRAU'/'FRAU' (German) + first name, and it was equally common for contemporary English-language sources to translate such names into English (based on profiling vessel names 1750-1800 in this database (10)) by substituting the word LADY for VROUW or FRAU. However, these terms are equivalent to Miss or Mrs, rather than the title of Lady used in English.
English names of the formula LADY + first name in this period, while not unknown, are more unusual and the formula LADY + surname, reflecting an actual title, is more common (also based on profiling vessel names 1750-1800 in this database (10)).
As the vessel was reported in a Dutch newspaper as JUFFROUW JOHANNA without prefacing her with a nationality, as was the case with vessels of foreign origin in the same report, it is likely that the vessel was Dutch in origin. Demerara was at the time a Dutch colony, but in 1781 the colony was taken by the British, then by the French in 1782, before being restored to the Dutch in 1783. (11). This may, then, explain the master's name being Gillion, which is more commonly a French name, although also reported in England (12), and the fact that the vessel was bound for London, rather than a port in the Netherlands. (13)
Master: David Giston (1)(4); Daniel Giston (6); Gillion (8)(9)
Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss
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