Abraham Bristow
Abraham Bristow | |
---|---|
Born | c1771 Begbroke, Oxfordshire |
Died | October 1846 |
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Mariner |
Years active | 1793-1820 |
Known for | Discovery of the Auckland Islands |
Abraham Bristow (c1771-1846) was a British
Life and early maritime career
Bristow was baptised 22 March 1771 at
Abraham Bristow was in command of Speedy on its next whaling voyage, that began in 1796.
His next command was the Enderby-owned whaler Ocean (243 tons) which departed Britain in May 1800. He called at Sydney on 7 April 1801, with 270 barrels of sperm whale oil aboard, plus casks of salt for salting seal skins.[9] After a few weeks there he departed Port Jackson for the eastern Pacific, returning to London in November 1802.[10]
On 27 April 1797, Bristow married Elizabeth Jones at Bermondsey in London.[3] He departed soon after on another whaling voyage in command of the Ocean, returning in January 1805.
Discovery of the Auckland Islands
After three months at home he sailed again for the South Seas as master of the same vessel, departing London 2 April 1805. By 13 August they were at
... being the first discoverer, I shall call the island or islands Lord Auckland's (my friend through my father). They are situated in latitude 50 degrees 48 minutes South, and longitude 166 degrees 42 minutes East ... The land is of moderate height, and from its appearance I have no doubt but it will afford a good harbour in the north end ... This place I should suppose abounds with seals, and sorry I am that the time and the lumbering state of my ship do not allow me to examine them.[13]
The "lumbering state" of Ocean meant the vessel did not reach London till February 1807.
Bristow's next commanded the Enderby-owned whaler Sarah. She departed London in April 1807 and arrived at the Auckland Islands in October, for a more detailed examination, and to claim the islands for Britain.[14] The group consisted of six separate islands with a total area of 240 square miles (620 km2).
I arrived at them in the Sarah the 20th October 1807. The mountains were then covered with snow, the weather exceptionally cold, with almost continual storms of wind. The atmosphere was uncommonly thick and heavy, and until the end of October much snow fell. November produced heavy rain, and in fact till I left the island on 19th December scarce a day passed without wet and the most tempestuous weather for a continuance I ever experienced in any port. Although the seasons appeared to be late, yet vegetation is very rapid ...Animals I saw none but the amphibious kind, such as hair seals and elephants [seals], and they are not very numerous ... For the benefit of future navigators, I left a breed of hogs on Enderby Island.[13]
Although Bristow took possession of the Auckland Islands for the British Crown they proved of little value during the 19th century. Charles Enderby, whose father owned the ship on which Bristow discovered the islands, established a whaling settlement that lasted from 1849 to 1852. Another attempt to colonize the islands, by a mixed group of Maori and Moriori natives from the Chatham Islands, lasted a little longer (1843 to 1856).[15]
Later maritime career
After leaving the Auckland Islands in December 1807, Sarah resumed sperm whaling, calling at Norfolk Island for provisions. Captain Bristow seems to have formed a friendship with the commandant of the
Bristow's next command was the Yarmouth brig Minerva (101 tons). She was a twenty-year-old vessel in poor condition and he remained in charge for a year, in the coasting trade.
His next command was the 377-ton vessel Thames, a South Sea whaler owned by William Mellish & Co. of London.
His next command seems to have been another Mellish-owned South Sea whaler, Sir Andrew Hammond (302 tons). This vessel departed London in 1816 and by January 1818 was reported at Timor.
A vessel called the Minstrel left London for the South Seas under a Captain Bristow in December 1819 and was reported sealing at the New South Shetland Islands, but by then under the command of a Captain McGregor.[26] A Captain Bristow commanded the Venus which sailed for South America in October 1822. And a Captain Bristow was in command the whaler Duke of Argyll when it was spoken off the Cape of Good Hope in October 1834. But there is no certainty any of these last three reports relate to Abraham Bristow.
References
- ISBN 0-312-22809-0.
- .
- ^ a b "Grono Family Association Research". freepages.rootsweb.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ J.S. Cumpston, Shipping arrivals and departures, Sydney, 1788-1825, Roebuck, Canberra, 1977, p. 29.
- ^ Richards, p. 316.
- ^ Richards, p. 318.
- ^ British Southern Whale Fishery (BSWF) web site
- ^ Richards, p. 319.
- ^ Cumpston, p. 38.
- ^ a b c BSWF
- ^ Ian Hawkins Nicholson, Shipping arrivals and departures Tasmania, Volume 1, 1803-1833, Roebuck, Canberra, 1983, p. 16.
- ^ Nicholson, p. 18.
- ^ a b c Richards, Vol II, p. 321.
- ^ Conon Fraser, The Enderby Settlement; Britain's whaling venture on the subantarctic Aucklands 1849-52, Otago University Press, Dunedin, 2014, p. 16.
- ^ a b Richards, p. 322.
- ^ Anne-Maree Whitaker, "From Norfolk Island to Foveaux Strait; Joseph Foveaux's role in the expansion of whaling and sealing in early nineteenth century Australasia," The Great Circle, 26 (1) 2004, p. 54.
- ^ Cumpston, p. 63.
- ^ J. Purdy, The Oriental Navigator, London, J. Purdy, 1826, p. 10.
- ^ Richards, p. 324.
- ^ Jane Clayton, Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775-1815, Chania, 2014, p. 232.
- ^ Nicholson, p. 29.
- ^ Richards, p. 325.
- ^ Richards, p. 327.
- ^ A.G.E. Jones, Ships employed in the South Seas Trade, 1775-1861, Roebuck, Canberra, 1986, p. 51.
- ^ Jones (1970) p. 371.
- ^ Richards, p. 328.