Details of some of the ships built by William Cortney at Chester, compiled from various sources.
HMS Contest Gun-brig 14, Archer-class, laid down February 1804, launched 10 June 1804, completed
27 September 1804 at Plymouth. Lost, presumed foundered with all hands, in the North Atlantic,
December 1809, on passage from America.
"On Monday se'nnight was launched from Mr. Courtney's yard, in this city, for his Majesty's service, a
beautiful gun brig, called the CONTEST : six months were allowed for completing the contract, which,
by the superior activity of Mr. Courtney has been accomplished in four. A second has been agreed
for, which is likely to be finished in less time : had orders been given eight months ago to the different
dock yards, we should now have had a fleet of gun brigs able to contend with the whole Flotilla of
France." Chester Chronicle 22 June 1804
HMS Defender Gun-brig 14, Archer-class, laid down March 1804, launched 26 July 1804, completed 4
October 1804 at Plymouth and commissioned August 1804.
"Yesterday was launched from Messrs. Carson, Forbes, Courtney & Co.'s yard, in this city, a fine gun-
brig named the Defender, built for his Majesty's service, under the inspection of Mr. Hawkes of
Woolwich. This is the second vessel that has been launched from this yard in the space of five weeks,
and which are complete models for symmetry and neatness of execution. Same day was launched
from this yard, a galliott, for J. Fletcher of this city." Chester Chronicle 27 July 1804
"A gun-brig was a small brig-rigged warship that enjoyed popularity in the (British) Royal Navy during
the Napoleonic Wars, during which large numbers were purchased or built. In general these were
vessels of under 200 tons burthen, and thus smaller than the more common Cherokee-class brig-
sloops or the even larger Cruizer-class brig-sloops. The gun-brigs generally carried 12 guns,
comprising two long guns in the chase position and ten carronades on the broadsides. [...] The
second HMS Defender was a 12-gun Archer-class gun-brig built in Chester in 1804 and employed in
the English Channel. On 14 December 1809, she was wrecked near Folkestone" - Wikipedia.
“The Second HMS Defender. The second Defender was another brig-rigged gun-vessel, one of 58
built to the ‘Archer’ Class design. She was launched at Chester in July 1804, 80 ft. overall, 177 tons,
armed with ten 18 pdr. carronades and two 12 pdrs in the bows. The 50 men of her crew were no
more comfortable than the earlier ‘Defenders’, but the ‘Archers’ were more seaworthy vessels than
the more experimental ‘Courser’ Class; indeed, they were shortly redesignated and uprated from gun-
vessel to brig – a small step, but significant. In June 1807, while with the Inshore Squadron
blockading Cherbourg, HM Brig Defender and the 38-gun frigate HMS Uranie chased the more
powerful French frigate La Manche and her consort the 16-gun brig Cygne back into harbour, but
without coming to close action. HM Brig Defender was lost off Folkestone on 14th December 1809
when her anchor cables parted and she was driven ashore. All her crew and most of her stores were
saved, but her hull was beaten in and she became a total wreck.”
http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/operations-and-support/surface-fleet/future-ships/air-defence-
destroyer-type-45/defender/history/
Corpach, January 1805
"Wm Courtney & Co. (of Chester) for building and rigging the Sloop Corpach, January 1805 (still in use)
£568 17s 6d". General Account Commissioners Caledonian Canal, 25th report, May 1829.
George, a Guineaman, launched 1 July 1805, built by Carson, Forbes, Cortney & Co.
"Monday two remarkably fine vessels were launched from the building-yards adjoining the river Dee.
The first, called the George, of 250 tons burthen, finely coppered, and intended for the Guinea trade,
built by Carson, Forbes, Courtney & Co. for Messrs. T. Mather & Co. of Liverpool : the other, the Fame,
built by Mr. Troughton, for Richie & Co. of Greenock. - The day was very fine, which enticed a great
number of spectators to the spot; and what greatly added to the hilarity of the scene, the band of the
Wigan Rifle Corps was on board the George, who previously to her going off the slip, played God Save
the King, and when she went into the water Rule Britannia, Britons Strike Home, &c. &c. which had a
most pleasing effect." Chester Chronicle 5 July 1805
Lady Warburton 390 tons, launched 2 Feb 1809
Earl of Chester, launched 24 Oct 1809
Charles Mills 580 tons, an East Indiaman, launched 26 Dec 1810
HMS Cyrus 6th Rate 20, Cyrus-class, launched 26 Aug 1813, completed by 11 March 1814 at
Plymouth. Sold to S. Bennet & Son (for £1,550) at Plymouth 23 May 1823.
Clarendon, for the West India trade, 800 tons, launched 27 Aug 1813
HMS Levant 6th Rate 20, Cyrus-class, ordered January 1813, launched 8 Dec 1813, completed by 22
April 1814 at Plymouth, broken up at Chatham by 9 October 1820.
"HMS Levant was a 20-gun Cyrus-class sixth rate of the Royal Navy built by William Courtney, of
Chester. She was one of five British warships that were captured or destroyed by USS Constitution in
the War of 1812. She was soon recaptured, and after 1817 was reclassified as a sloop of war ... The
Cyrus-class sailing sixth rates of the Royal Navy were a series of sixteen post ships built to an 1812
design by Sir William Rule. The first nine ships of the class were launched in 1813 and the remaining
seven in 1814. The vessels of the class served at the end of the Napoleonic War" - Wikipedia.
HMS Mersey 6th Rate 26, Conway-class, laid down March 1813, launched 23 Mar 1814, completed 26
April 1814 at Plymouth Dockyard, broken up at Portsmouth in July 1852.
HMS Eden 6th Rate 24, Conway-class, laid down March 1813, launched 19 May 1814, completed 20
June 1814 at Plymouth (for ordinary), broken up at Portsmouth in May 1833.
"The Eden, sloop of war, was launched on the 19th inst. from Mr Cortney's yard, Chester. This is the
last of four vessels of a similar class, built by contract by him, for Government. She has sailed for
Plymouth, where she will be laid up in ordinary". The Lancaster Gazette and General Advertiser, for
Lancashire, Westmorland, &c. (Lancaster, England), Saturday, May 28, 1814.
"The Conway class sailing sixth rates were a series of ten Royal Navy post ships built to an 1812
design by Sir William Rule. All ten were ordered on 18 January 1812, and nine of these were launched
during 1814, at the end of the Napoleonic War; the last (Tees) was delayed and was launched in 1817.
These ships were originally designated as "sloops", but were nominally rated as sixth rates of 20 guns
when built, as their 12-pdr carronades were not included in the official rating. When this changed in
February 1817, they were rated at 28 guns" - Wikipedia.
Lord Nelson February 1816 "Two very fine vessels were launched from the ship-yards, in this city, on
Saturday last: one from the yard of Mr. Troughton, full rigged, called The John Troughton, and the other
from Mr. Courtney's yard, called Lord Nelson. A great number of people, assembled to view the
pleasing sight, crowded the adjacent quays, and the opposite shore, several of whom were rewarded
with a liberal ducking, when the vessels glided into the river." Chester Courant 5 March 1816
Liverpool, 400 tons, launched 31 May 1821 from the yard of the late Mr Cortney, Chester
Online sources: 19th century newspapers, London Gazette, GoogleBooks, Lancashire online parish clerk,
Lancashire Archives, National Archives, British History online, Wikipedia.
Hughes, Herbert. Chronicle of Chester: the 200 years, 1775/1975. Macdonald and Jane, 1975.
Morriss, Roger. The Royal Dockyards during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Leicester University
Press, 1983.
Colledge, J.J. Ships of the Royal Navy: a complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy from the
15th century to the present. Revised ed., Casemate 2010. Use the search inside feature on Amazon; the
author however insists on spelling our William's name as Courtney.
Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817: design, construction, careers and fates.
Seaforth Publishing, 2008.
Craig, Robert. Shipping and shipbuilding in the Port of Chester in the eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries. Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. Vol. 116, pp39-68.
A Collection of interesting and important reports and papers on the navigation and trade of Great Britain,
Ireland, and the British colonies in the West Indies and America, with tables of tonnage and of exports and
imports. Printed by order of the Society of Ship-owners of Great Britain, 1807.
Knight, Roger. Devil bolts and deception? Wartime naval shipbuilding in private shipyards, 1739-1815.
Journal for Maritime Research, April 2003. Excellent background and a really useful collection of
references.
Tales around the tree
William Cortney, shipbuilder of Chester 2
