The Thomas Ship

Formally the Sally the Thomas was a ship of the 1700s. It was known to have connections to the Bristolian Slave trade. The ship was captured by the french in 1794 just 9 years after It was renames from sally to Thomas. This was an armoured ship it had 14 4&6 pounder guns. It was known to have had 7 slave voyages whilst sailing under the name Thomas. Sickness might not have been an uncommon thing on a 1700s slave ship, but three of the sailors that had become sick on this ship were visited by a man known to be Thomas Clarkson whom had published two volumes in relation to the abolition of the slave trade. They also had a murdered shipmate, prehaps why this ship has played a significant role in history. 

Interestingly, the artist W.Turner was inspired to create a painting called the slavr ship. He had read Thomas Clarkson's works about the abolition of slavery. His paining was first exhibited in 1840. The image below can be seen in the book Turner, Masters of Art



There is a more modern ship known by the name Thomas also, apparently in private use. It was once know as Destiny, prehaps this is because it was not desired to be a slave ship or meet a cruel fate like the Thomas of the 1700s.


This is the brith of this webspace's second post. It begins details that I stumble upon throughout my historical studies about the ship. Although a snippet of a starting point, slave ships were a part of the coastal history that I'm studying, such details may als be relevant to this post as the overall projects progress.

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