Success

Posted by Tony Perry on Saturday 27th of October 2018 16:39

Is this the same Success, led by Captain Thompson, who took General James Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia, back to London in 1743? The journey I'm trying to find left the United States (likely Georgia) on 23 July 1743 and arrived in London on 25 September.

My source (listed below) describes the Success I'm looking for as a "guard-ship", with Thompson as the Captain and included a Colonel Heron and a subengineer named Mr Eyre.

Is it possible that this Capt Thompson led this particular voyage, or that there's another Captain Thompson on another boat called Success in 1743? (I searched threedecks.org and viewed the other records for Success, but none seemed to match as closely as this one).

It's important to me to learn more, as one of the passengers on this journey was a chief in the Chickasaw Nation, a Native American tribe (I am a citizen of this tribe, and am trying to help my tribe find this Chief).

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide!

Best regards,

Tony Perry

Source: "Biographical Records of James Oglethorpe" by Thaddeus Mason Harris, 1841, p273. Obtained on Google Books.

Posted by Brian Stephens on Tuesday 29th of April 2014 22:04

The Gentleman's magazine. v. 11 (1741).
Letter from Boston, in New England, dated Nov. 3.
Capt. Thompson in his Majesty's ship Success, on the 23d of October last, about 80 leagues to the eastward of Cape Anne, met a sloop from Belfast in Ireland, bound to Philadelphia, with 108 passengers, but having been out 17 weeks, about 30 died for want, among whom were the master, and all the sailors but one, so that they could neither manage the sails or steer the vessel. They had eat up all their tallow, candles, etc. and for several weeks had fed upon the bodies of those that died; and the people from the Success found the body of a man partly cut up, and his arm and shoulder then boiling in a pot of salt water and so eager were the poor famished people for the flesh of their dead companions, that many of them had concealed pieces of it in their pockets to eat as they had opportunity. Capt. Thompson behaved toward them with the utmost humanity and compassion, he put on board hands to navigate the vessel and gave them beef, bread, water, wine and many other necessities, at the same time directing them to steer for this Port. The arrived Nov. 1 but reduced to 62 and several to week, tis feared they will not recouver.