Mary Ann

The ship that became Mary Ann (or Mary Anne) was built in 1772 in France and the British captured her c. 1778. Her name may have been Ariadne until 1786 when she started to engage in whaling. Next, as Mary Ann, she made one voyage transporting convicts to New South Wales from England. In 1794 the French captured her, but by 1797 she was back in her owners' hands. She then made a slave trading voyage. Next, she became a West Indiaman, trading between London or Liverpool to Demerara. It was on one of those voyages in November 1801 that a French privateer captured her. Whaling Mary Ann entered Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1786 with J. Calwell, master. Her owner was Stephens, and trade London—Greenland. Under Captain Stewart she was in the Greenland Fishery. Alternatively, in 1786 her owners were Hattersley & Co., and her master was Captain Stephen Skiff. That year she engaged in whaling in the South Seas Fishery. Lloyd's Register for 1787 had her master changing to Stewart, and then Stephen Skiff. It showed her trade changing from London—Greenland to London—South Seas.