Ceres

Ceres was launched at Whitby in 1794. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). Thereafter she remained a London-based transport. She was last listed in 1816. Career Ceres enters Lloyd's Register in 1795 with T. Hedley, master, Leighton, owner, and trade London—Botany Bay. EIC voyage #1 (1795-1797): Captain Thomas Hedley sailed from Portsmouth on 9 August 1795, bound for New South Wales and China. Ceres reached Rio de Janeiro on 18 October and left on 22 October. On her way Ceres stopped at Île Amsterdam. There she rescued two English and two French sailors, (the leader being Pierre François Péron), who had been marooned there three years earlier. The French brig Emélie had left them there to gather seal skins. (This was after the outbreak of war between Britain and France, something of which Emélie was unaware.) captured Emélie before she could retrieve them. Hedley rescued the men, but left the skins behind. Ceres arrived at Sydney Cove on 24 January 1796 with her cargo of provisions. On 24 January 1796, the American vessel , Captain Ebenezer Dorr, arrived from Île Amsterdam with a cargo of skins that he had found there. When Péron found out about this, he took Hadley with him as witness and met with Dorr to lay claim to the skins. Péron and Dorr came to an agreement that included Péron joining Otter as First Mate, and sailing with her until she would reach China. There they would sell the skins and divide the proceeds.