Alceste

Posted by Jon Miller on Tuesday 7th of July 2026 06:43

Portsmouth, 18 November 1815: The Alceste, Captain Maxwell, is ordered to be established as a 32-gun frigate, and manned with 215 men. [Hampshire Chronicle, 20 November 1815]

Posted by Jon Miller on Monday 6th of July 2026 19:46

Portsmouth, 4 November 1815: The Alceste frigate is preparing at this port with all possible dispatch for the reception of an Ambassador, and it is said that Lord Amherst, with a numerous suite, goes out in her, on an embassy to the Emperor of China. She is fitting on a similar scale as the Lion was for the late Earl Macartney, who went out some years ago in that ship when commanded by the late Sir Erasmus Gower. [Hampshire Chronicle, 4 December 1815]

Posted by Jon Miller on Saturday 27th of June 2026 18:39

Embassy to China. On Thursday the Alceste, Capt Murray Maxwell; Lyra, Capt Basil Hall; and the Hon Company’s ship General Hewett, Capt Campbell, sailed for China, from Portsmouth, with the Ambassador, Lord Amherst, and his suite. His Excellency is instructed to assure the Emperor of the amity and good will towards him, that subsists in the breast of the Prince Regent; and to explain the nature and object of our late war with the Nepaulese. The magnificent presents which are intended to give weight to assurances of consideration and esteem for the Emperor, consist wholly of British manufactures. The ships will proceed to Canton, and from there immediately to the Yellow Sea, and there land the embassy. Sir George Staunton will join the embassy at Canton. It is expected they will be absent from England about two years. He embassy hope to obtain permission to to return from Pekin to Canton through the Chinese territory, which will give them an opportunity of passing the great wall of China and Tartary, and viewing the internal appearance of 1500 miles of that vast, and almost unknown country. This route appears the more necessary, as the ships which wait for their return, cannot, for fear of the typhus, remain in the Yellow Sea, whilst the embassy is at Pekin. It is expected the ships will reach Canton in July. The expenses of the embassy (estimated at £150,000) are defrayed by the East India Company. [Exeter Flying Post, 22 February 1816]

Posted by Jon Miller on Saturday 27th of June 2026 18:27

The dispatching of the General Hewett, which was fixed at the India House for Thursday, is postponed till to-day. The Alceste frigate, after undergoing a thorough repair is just come out of dock at Portsmouth, and is receiving from her consort, the General Hewett, a portion of the costly articles conveyed round from the river, and intended as presents to the Emperor of China. Lord and Lady Amherst and suite are expected to leave town today and to embark on Sunday or Monday. The Hewett is a teak ship of about 900 tons, built at Calcutta, and though rather a dull sailer, is reckoned one of the most compact and commodious of her class in the company’s service. These ships are expected to get under weigh as soon as the Embassy shall have embarked, and after touching at some of our Indian settlements for such necessaries as may be required, will proceed to Canton, and thence to the northern extremity of the Yellow Sea, where the Embassy and presents will be disembarked, and conveyed by land, a distance of about 80 miles to Pekin, the residence of the Emperor. [Exeter Flying Post, 1 February 1816]

Posted by Jon Miller on Saturday 27th of June 2026 12:54

Henry Hayne, Esq, (eldest son of the Rev W Hayne, of Plympton, Devon,) is about to accompany Lord Amherst, the Ambassador to China, as his Excellency’s Private Secretary. The embassy will sail shortly from Portsmouth in the Alceste frigate, Capt Murray Maxwell, the Lyra gun-brig, Captain Hall, and an East Indiaman, containing the magnificent presents intended for the Emperor of China. Lord Amherst will be attended by a guard of honour, and a fine band of music, suitably dressed. His Lordship will likewise be accompanied by a chaplain, an artist, some medical gentlemen, and a mathematician and astronomer. The secretary to the embassy is henry Ellis, Esq. [Exeter Flying Post, 18 January 1816]

London, 20 January 1816: The Lyra brig of war, Capt Basil Hall, is expected at Portsmouth from Deptford, to proceed with the Alceste, Captain M Maxwell, to China. Lord Amherst takes about 60 persons in his suit. Sir Geo Staunton will join the Embassy at Macoa. The superb and costly presents for the Emperor of China , are shipping in the river, in an East Indiaman, which will likewise sail in company with the Alceste. [Exeter Flying Post, 25 January 1816]