Captain Thomas Melvill

Witnesses William Ross, Margraite Thomas(or Thomes) =South Leith, Midlothian, Scotland 04.05.1755

• Christening: Oct 19 1758 - North Leith, Midlothian, Scotland
• Parents: Thomas Melvil, Margaret Melvill ( nee Reid)
• Married on 21st November, 1780 St. George in the East, London,.by Rodk. MacLeod, Curate: to Janet Melvin, born Leith, Scotland 1755

Thomas Melvill was a Scot, a master mariner. He was at sea for nearly 30 years and, as an experienced commander, had become a valuable man, He rounded Cape Horn a number of times and was a whaling captain reputed to know most of the new whaling opportunities in the Pacific, off Peru and New South Wales. During the course of his travels he passed the Cape of Good Hope several times bound for the South American whaling grounds.

In 1790 he rounded the Cape and 55 days later he reached Port Jackson Bay, New South Wales.

In 1791 Thomas Melvill, then Commander of the Britannia, working for Enderby and Sons, carried convicts to Australia departing 27 March 1791. Britannia, one of 11 ships that departed from Plymouth in the United Kingdom as part of the 3rd Fleet, was bound for the New South Wales penal settlement. She carried 150 male convicts to Port Jackson, with 21 deaths being recorded for her voyage. 14th October, 1791 Arrived in Sydney Cove carrying 129 convicts. 1 in 7 convicts died on the voyage and many were in poor health on arrival. The voyage had taken 201 days. Henry Townsend , convicted for committing an armed robbery, was one of those convicts who died within 2 months of landing at Sydney leaving behind a wife and 6 children of whom there are many descendants. I have made contact with Walter Townsend who has given me fresh insight (Tessa)

On arrival in Sydney they found the Colony was starving due to poor harvests and when Melvill reported to the Governor that they had seen many whales, he was given every assistance to go whaling as soon as possible. The Governor, Arthur Phillip had begun his maritime career on the British northern whaler Fortune in 1753.

A letter dated 29 November 1791, written to his employer, Sam Enderby and Sons, is attached as two documents to this profile - see the handwritten and typed versions of this letter.

Details of Samuel Enderby and Sons can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Enderby_%26_Sons#History_of_th... https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/enderby-samuel-2026

Capt Thomas Melvill was presented with a Silver Cup with the inscription: The gift of His Excellency, Arthur Phillips, Esq.,Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of His Majesty's Territory of New South Wales and its Dependencies, to Thomas Melvill, Commander of the Britannia, for killing a Spermaceti Whale on the 26th October 1791. Being the first of its kind taken on this coast since the Colony was established.

This cup was in the possession of Mrs Lionel V Melvill of Johannesburg in 1977. It is now in the possession of her grandson Mr Christophe Josef Melvill Zweigenthal, who lives in the USA. An interesting paper was written in April 2023 about Thomas Melvill's voyages, and the Cup and its history, and is attached as a document to this profile. It was written by Gary Sturgess and is entitled 'A Fine Passage': Insights into Early Australian Convict Transportation. Issue 5: The Melvill Cup.'

Manuscript land document, Sydney, 1794 [WEBB, Robert; MELVILLE, Thomas] # 516 Manuscript land indenture for the sale of 90 acres for 5 shillings. Sydney, 28 July 1794. Robert Webb, of Parramatta,settler; to Melvill(e), Thomas master of the ship Speedy now riding in Sydney Cove. [See Title Register Book vol. 524 Fol. 39). Single sheet, 320 x 400 mm (folded). Robert Webb had obtained this land through two earlier government grants, dated 22 February 1792 and 25 July 1794 (three days before this sale), respectively. The land is referred to in the document as “Webb’s Farm” and is described as “laying on the North side of the Creek, leading to Parramatta”, in the County of Cumberland. Although James Ruse had begun cultivation at Parramatta in late 1789, Robert Webb was the first settler to cultivate land in the area known specifically as “the Creek leading to Parramatta” (A Return of Land in Cultivation at the Different Settlements,16th October 1792).

Between 1791 and 1796 Thomas Melvill was whaling on board the Britannia and then the Speedy off the coast of Chile and Peru. A ship’s diary, written by the ship's surgeon, is in the Mitchell Library in Sydney.

With the outbreak of war with France, Melvill applied for the authority to attack French vessels off Nova Scotia 1793 July 10. A commission granted by Wentworth, to Britannia in 1793 was the first of about thirty given to armed trading ships in Halifax during the wars with France.

Thomas Melvill master of the ship Britannia burthen 301 tons bound for England did apply to me for a Letter of Marque and Reprisal against the French which I would have granted, but that the authority to me from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty for that purpose has not yet arrived. In the meantime I have assured the said Thomas Melvill...that His Majesty will consider him as having a just claim to the Kings share of all French ships and property which he may make prize of." Wentworth was well within his right to issue these "commissions in lieu," as they came to be called Spain.

These were not privateers in the strict sense, as their primary purpose was still to carry cargo. Moreover, they are easily distinguished from privateers by their relatively small man-ton ratios & making voyages to stated destinations and paying crews wages rather than shares.

1794: Speedy (1). Owned by Samuel Enderby Snr. - Captain Thomas Melville. 8 Jun 1794-2 Aug 1794. Delivers food supplies to Sydney and thence whaling

In 1797 Thomas Melvill signed his will on the 8th June in London. In February 1800 with his wife Janet (born in Leith, Scotland) he left England to go into business at the Cape of Good Hope. He had with him his family - his son John and daughter Jennett and they arrived at Simons Bay in May 1800. His daughter was married to George Evans, who was also with them.

Shortly after this, Thomas bought a small schooner of 20 tons which he named the Saldanha Bay Packet, and they embarked for Saldanha Bay where he had bought a share in the farm Geytenbergsfontein (now Langebaan) where he intended to carry on the Whale Fishing in partnership with some other Masters of ships. He used his life savings amounting to some two or three thousand pounds sterling to this end. After a month John was sent to Cape Town to school, but after 9 months Thomas' partners withdrew and John came back to Saldanha Bay to help with the farm, burning lime and fishing, by which they barely gained a livelihood. John worked hard with with 1 Mozambican slave, and learned some seamanship. This was a financially draining venture and Thomas lost most of his money in this undertaking.

An incident that was reported at that time (January 1801) was the following (see attached Document too):
Extract from the 23rd edition of the Cape Gazette and African Advertiser dated 17 Jan 1801. The writer of a letter from Saldana Bay dated 11 Jan 1801 describes how during a trip on Capt Thomas Melvill's vessel from the Cape to Saldanha Bay, he spotted a distress signal coming from Dassen Island. Upon closer enquiry, they found that six of the crew of a vessel owned by Messrs Tieleman and Roos had been shipwrecked there. They had been stranded for 26 days, living off rabbits and penguin eggs. Capt Melvill changed course and landed at the island and rescued them. It is noted by the writer of the letter that Capt. Melvill's son (John) was also present on the trip. He would have been 13 years old.

With the signing of the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802, their farming enterprise at Langebaan ended when France and England declared war on each other, and the Dutch took control of the Cape. Many English residents were told to leave. It was at this time that Melvill's daughter Jennett and her husband left South Africa and went to live in Australia. The remaining English inhabitants were all British subjects and were expected swear allegiance to the Dutch crown, or ordered to go to Stellenbosch as prisoners of the Dutch. Thomas and his son John chose the latter and remained at Stellenbosch for the duration of the Dutch occupation of the Cape. It was during this time that they constructed a wooden boat.

Much of this information is from the Journal of John Melvill, collated by JM Marquard.

Circa 1807 after the second British Occupation, Thomas opened the ships-chandler store "Melvill and Johnson" in Strand street Cape Town and in 1808 they bought the premises and conducted business together until 1813. The partnership dissolved on 15th March 1814 when he died in Cape Town (aged 56), leaving an estate valued at 1106 Rix dollars.

Mr Thomas Melvill in a will previously executed before 3 persons on the 8th June 1797 in London, left his possessions to his only surviving adult relatives, namely his 2 children, Jenet Melvill married to George William Evans living in New South Wales and John Melvill.

In his inventory MOOC 8/32 .14 (translated from Dutch). The following possessions were found to exist of: Two pieces of land with buildings thereon. Lastly the deceased left to Housewife Jennet Melvill by testament to her legacy a hundred pounds sterling is listed at the aforementioned. John Melvill still has an open company account with Joseph Johnston. The inventory has one outstanding debt. Outstanding was in one letter to hand from JHM Kock of the 4th June 1812 for tea that was bought for 50 Rix dollars. The servant named Mamsie, a servant for the last 15 years, given by the Government to the clerk C Blair as payment; given a girl (unnamed) younger than 12 years, left behind by the previous incumbent, by Captain Mackey. The estate values by The Board of the Community at Rix dollars 1106.

Included in these terms and conditions of the Westminster resolution of the 15th day, by us the undersigned committee at Westminster on 24th March 1814.

More detailed information on the SHIPS that Capt Thomas Melvill commanded prior to settling at the Cape of Good Hope:

BRITANNIA I was built 1783 at Bridgeport. She was a fully rigged wood ship of 301 Tons, built for and owned by Le Messurier in 1790, her master at that time was Captain T. Pace. She was sold to S. Enderby for whaling and use as a store ship. After this, Enderby's ships Speedy, Britannia and Ocean frequently sailed from Port Jackson whaling. Eventually, she was taken over by Captain Robert Turnbull who had her for her second voyage to Sydney with convicts in 1798. The Indian And Pacific Oceans were forbidden to any British ship that was not of the Royal Navy or the East India Company; The Elizabethan charter forming this company forbade any other British shipping from going East of Cape Of Good Hope. The whalers led by Samuel Enderby said that the charter did not say anything about going west of Cape Horn, which of course leads to the same places as going east of Cape Town. This led the British Government to give three bonuses to the first to third ships that sailed into the pacific by going west of Cape Horn and returning to London with oil- the bonuses were 800,700,& 600 pounds.

The first was granted to Enderby ship Emelia which rounded the Horn in 1788,The first vessel that conducted whaling operations in the Southern Ocean was the 270-ton British Emilia owned by Samuel Enderby and Sons. The vessel departed London in Australia's Founding year, on September 1788 and went west around Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean. In 1788, Archelus Hammond, a Nantucketer and first mate on the English whaler Emilia, harpooned the first sperm whale taken off the coast off Chile in March 1789, which is considered the starting year of ‘Classical Whaling’ by foreign countries in Chile. The Emilia returned to London in March of 1790.

Emelia returned to England too soon, to qualify she had to await down river until qualifying time, The Enderby ship Friendship captained by Thomas Melvill was second collecting the 600 pounds

By 1789 Enderbys had further researched the waters by Peru with Emilia, followed for them, by Friendship. The stranglehold the East India Trading company had, which would need an Act of Parliament to change, was amended to allow the whalers access to the trade zones.

Britannia, became the first ship to take sperm whales on the Australian coast; though hampered by bad weather the master reported that 'if a voyage can be got upon this coast, it will make it shorter than going to Peru' . List of ships commanded by Thomas Melvill BRITANNIA OF LONDON No 245 in 1790 Appointed master 31 December 1790 and in command until 16th October 1793 Owners Samuel and Charles Enderby of Paul's Wharf, Thames Street, London. Under the command of Nathaniel Goodspeed the ship was wrecked at 0200 on the morning of 25 August 1806. It was wrecked on either Middleton Reef or Elizabeth Reef some 297 miles East of the Clarence River Heads in New South Wales, off Lord Howe Island. The ship struck the reef several times before being lifted onto the reef where its back was broken. The lifeboats were lowered. One was immediately smashed but two others with nineteen men aboard got away. Five men stayed aboard. Two were rescued the next day while the other three found another boat and launched it with water and biscuits in it. The three boats with 24 men aboard headed for Newcastle. On the 29th of August one of the boats carrying eight men was separated from the other two by a gale. It was never seen again. The survivors reached Newcastle on 8 September and Port Jackson on 13 September 1806 Vessel Lost in 1806 in New Zealand.

SPEEDY OF LONDON No 220 in 1793 Appointed Master at London 12th November 1793, in command until April 1797. Vessel reported to have been captured by a French Privateer - registry closed Jan 1807.

TOBAGO OF LONDON No 138 in 1797. Appointed Master London 3rd June 1797 and in command until some time in 1799. Owners James & Thomas Mather and John Anderson, Merchants of Mark Lane, London

SCARBOROUGH OF LONDON, No 274 in 1798 Appointed master 18th December 1799 and in command until 2nd December 1800. Owner Charles Kensington and William Wiggen, Merchants, of Bishopsgate Street, London.

The Samuel Enderby Book Whaling Documents 1775-1790. (Originals held at the Pennsylvania Historical Society, 1300 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA. USA. Canberra, Australian National Library, Petherick Collection of Manuscripts, Ms 1701. Used by permission).

Scarborough Convict Transport – 430 Tons, 111 ft. (33.8m.) long, 30 ft. (9.1m.) beam: Owners: Thomas George & John Hopper Built at Scarborough in 1782. For the First Fleet voyage she carried 30 Crew plus 50 Marines, and with 201 male Convicts (1dv).

The "Scarborough" sailed back to England and arrived back in the UK on 28 May 1789 when it sailed into the Downs. Upon return the vessel underwent repairs to make her suitable for a new voyage to Australia The Scarborough, again under the command of John Marshall, also took part in the Second Fleet. In November 1789, many of the 259 male convicts coming aboard were in poor health and did not survive the voyage; this combined with an attempted seizure of the ship by the convicts, deterred Marshall from any further voyages of transportation but 73 convicts had died by the time Scarborough arrived in Sydney Cove on 28 June 1790.

She was the only ship of the First Fleet to return to Australia apart from the "Sirius" and the "Supply" which sailed to Cape Town and back. The Scarborough sailed for Canton on 8th August, arriving safely in London some-time between August and October 1791

Fate of Scarborough: Under a new master and with major repairs Scarborough was employed on the London to St Petersburg route. With changes in ownership and masters, Scarborough was employed on the London to St Vincent (Caribbean) run and the London-West Indies /St Vincent run. In that year the vessel suffered a major accident (partially broke up) and underwent 'good repair' including resheeting. It was then employed on the London to St.Petersburg route. The rebuilt and resurveyed vessel had its formal tonnage reduced from 600 to 411, a figure which is close to that determined by the Admiralty in 1786. From 1793 it was given a new master, M. Hodgson, and employed on the London to St.Petersburg route. In 1795 it underwent repairs and was hereafter listed as 'London Transport." In the following year the ship was sold to S.Wharton, who took off two of the guns. In 1798 the command was handed to a G. Fryer. Later that year the ship was sold to G.Blakey, who appointed P.Levitt as master. The Scarborough had some damages repaired and was partly resheeted and then, armed with 6 four-pounder guns, employed on the London to Jamaica run under the command of P.Levitt.

In 1800 the vessel was owned by a Kensington, now employed on the London to St.Vincent (Carribean) run with a J.Scott as new master. During that year the ship was almost rebuilt and completely resheeted. Under the command of T. Melvill the Scarborough was employed on the London-West Indies / St. Vincent run in 1801 to 1803, by which time it still carried six guns. In 1804 and 1805 the vessel was used in the London to Tobago run. This would be after the time Thomas Melvill was living in South Africa.

The last entry for the vessel can be found in Lloyd’s Register for 1805, twenty-three years after it was built.

1786...below...... 1786..... 1786......Stainforth, London, Phoenix, Capt. T. Melville, Samuel Enderby Book, 1788 Yorke, Bristol, New Hope, Capt. T. Melville 1789... S. Enderby and Sons, London, Friendship, Capt. T. Melville,

Select Bibliography

http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/2/5/6/12565/12565.htm

An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Volume 1 With Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners, Etc. of The Native Inhabitants of That Country. to Which Are Added, Some Particulars of New Zealand; Compiled, By Permission, From The Mss. / Collins, David, 1754-1810

http://www.whales.org.au/published/whalemen/chapter1.html

Whalemen adventures

http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010340b.htm

Historical Records of New South Wales, vols 4-7; Historical Records of Australia, series 1, vols 2-7; J. Colnett, Voyages to the South Atlantic and Round Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean (Lond, 1798); J. Horsburgh, India Directory, 4th ed (Lond, 1836); E. A. Stackpole, The Sea-Hunters (Philadelphia, 1953); W. J. Dakin, Whalemen Adventurers (Syd, 1963); manuscript catalogue under Enderby and whaling (State Library of New South Wales); Board of Trade papers, vols 1-2 (National Archives of the United Kingdom); Chatham papers 30/8 (National Archives of the United Kingdom). More on the resources

Thomas *Scotland 10.10.1758 =Leith North 19.10. Thomas * = Leith North Scotland 10/10/1758 19:10. 1758 †Cape Town - witness at 1758 † Cape Town - witnesses at baptism James Melvill and William Adam.

Original Dutch wording for anyone who might be able to improve the translation of the above: 'MOOC 8/32.14 alle zodanige goederen al er op Dinsdag den vyftienden dag dezer lopende maand Maart in den jaare een duyzend acht honderd en veertien 's morgens de klokke omtrend zes uuren met er dood zyn ontruymd ende nagelaten door mnr Thomas Melvill, en na alvorens by testament onderhandsch voor drie perzonen in dato 8 Junij 1797 in London gemaakt tot zyne eenige en universeele erfgename te hebben benoemd zyne twee kinderen, met namens Jenet Melvill gehuwed met George William Evans woonachtig in New South Wales en John Melvill mondig. Invoegen als heteen en ander ingevolge Heeren Weesmeesterend resolutie van den 15 deezer door ons ondergeteekende gecommitteerde Weesmeesterend is opgenoemen in en geschrifte,mitsg:s bevonden te bestaan in het volgende te weeten. Twee stukken land met de daarop geconstrueerde gebouwen, waarvan door den Raad der Gemeente nog transport moet worden gedaan. Crediten des boedels aan contantetn Rds 1106; van J.H.M. Kock op een onderh. briefje van den 4 Juny 1812 over koop van thee Rds 50. Lastenaan des overl: huysvr: Jennet Melvill over een by testament aan haar bespreken legaat een honder ponden sterling. wordende alhier pro memoria genoteerd at voglensopgaaf van voorm: John Melvill, den overleedenen nog heeft eene openstaande maatshcappy reekening met Joseph Johnston. deeze apprentice Mamsie genaamd den 24 Maart 1814 en dat in den boedel nog is gevonden een apprentice door het Gouvernement aan den klercq C. Blair te rug aan den overleedenen voor veertien jaaren gegeeven, als meede gegeeven. een meid (unnamed) door zekere Captain Mackeij voor circa twaalf jaren by den overleedenen agter gelaten, en eyndelyk dat den inventarient heeft eene openstaand reek: g met den overleedenen'

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THOMAS MELVILL

• Last Name: Melvill
• First Name: Thomas
• Date of Birth: Nov 1757
• Place of Birth:
• Parents – Father:
• Parents – Mother:
• Name of Spouse: Janet, b. Leith, Midlothian, d. 24 Dec 1814 age 59
• Marriage Date:
• Marriage Place:
• Date of Death: 15 Mar 1814 age 56y 9m
• Place of Death: Cape Colony
• Notes: “British Residents at the Cape 1785-1819,” p. 274. Master mariner. Children:
• Janet
• John Melville, q.v. http://www.southafricansettlers.com/?p=30847

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When Thomas Melville was born in November 1757 in Perth, Perthshire, his father, Thomas, was 25 and his mother, Margaret, was 22. He married Janet Melvil on 21 November 1780 in England. They had one child during their marriage. He died on 15 March 1814 in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, at the age of 56.