John Dawson | |
|---|---|
| Died | 1812 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Ship's captain and owner of slave ships |
John Dawson (died 1812) was a Liverpool slave trader.[1]
Captain John Dawson, in Mentor, captured the French East Indiaman Carnatic. When Carnatic came into Liverpool, she was said to be worth £135,000 and the richest prize ever taken and brought safe into port by a Liverpool privateer. Part of the value was due to a box of diamonds that had been found on her.[2] Dawson married the daughter of Peter Baker, the shipbuilder who owned Mentor, and became a partner in the firm of Baker and Dawson.[3]
In the period between 1783 and 1792, Dawson and his partner Peter Baker, were the largest firm of slave traders in Great Britain.[4] In 1790, Dawson owned 19 slave ships, with an average value of £10,000[5](about £1.5 million today). By the early 1790s, the partners' vessels had completed over 100 voyages. Baker & Dawson became one of the biggest slave-trading partnerships in late 18th-century Liverpool.
In 1786, Baker and Dawson, had a contract with the Spanish Government to supply slaves to Spanish America. Their vessels delivered more than 11,000 slaves.[3] It was estimated that the captives they provided had a value of £350,000.[6]
Baker and Dawson were the largest firm of slave traders in England. Vessels they owned, individually or together, included:
In January 1782 Dawson employed James Irving as a surgeon on his slave ship Prosperity, captained by James Murphy and based in Liverpool.[9]
Baker and Dawson often re-employed the same captains for their slave voyages. From 1785 to 1795 Thomas Molyneux captained six voyages, Joseph Withers and William Forbes five voyages, and Joseph Fayrer four.[4]
The contract that Baker and Dawson with the Spanish government to supply slaves to Spanish America caused the partners to over-reach themselves.[3] During the credit crisis of 1793,[10] Dawson was declared bankrupt in 1793, owing £500,000 (about £74 million today).[3][11]
After bankruptcy, Dawson returned to enslaving.