'A Journall Off our Intending Voyage By God Permission in the Ship Britannia CapPhineas Frognall from London Towards Commencing From October the 4. 1735 to.'

Content

Journal of the voyage of the East India Company ship Britannia from England to Mocha and Bombay [Mumbai], and back (Captain Phineas Frognall), 5 October 1735-19 May 1737 (dates given are for arrival unless otherwise indicated): left the Downs, 11 December 1735; 22 February 1735 [Old Style]/22 February 1736 [New Style], Cape [of Good Hope]; 5 May 1736, Mocha; 9 September 1736, Bombay; 18 October 1736, Cochin [Kochi]; 25 October 1736, Anjengo [Anchuthengu]; 18 January 1736 [Old Style]/18January 1737 [New Style], St Hellena [Saint Helena]; 28 April 1737, the Downs.

The ship was at Mocha from 5 May to 16 August 1736.

Inscribed: 'This is my Origanall Journall, Fran[Francis] King [listed as First Mate The sailor subordinate to the Captain. on folio 6]' (folio 2).

Marked: 'Rec. [Received] 25. May 1737' (folio 2).

The journal contains regular entries in seven columns: Var [variation]; H [hour]; K [knots]; F [fathoms]; Courses; Winds etc. [or winds and weather]; and [date and remarks]. When the ship is in harbour, or close to shore, entries consist of remarks only.

The journal records: navigational information; weather; winds; sea conditions; the ballasting, provisioning and maintenance of the ship; contact with other Company ships; sightings of other vessels; commodities carried, especially coffee from Mocha; and the death of Captain Frognall at Mocha on 21 July 1736 (folio 35).

The journal also includes: a list of the ship's company in 1735, giving number, names, quality [rank or occupation], and details of those men who had died, run [deserted], or been discharged, with dates (folio 6); a supplementary list of seamen taken on, with dates (folio 6); and a list of soldiers for the factory An East India Company trading post. at Bombay, giving number and names (folio 7).

Entries for 1735/6 (where indicated) are mainly New Style (Gregorian calendar); entries for 1736/7 are double-dated, giving both Old Style (Julian calendar) and New Style dates.

Extent and format

1 file (95 folios)

Arrangement

The entries in the journal are recorded in chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at 1, and terminates at 95; it is part of a larger physical volume of different shelfmarks in which every shelfmark has been given its own separate foliation sequence, i.e. non-consecutive; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Archival file

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/L/MAR/B/285BB

History of this record

Date(s)

5 Oct 1735-25 May 1737 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Ships logsTrade (practice)WeatherMarine navigationCoffee

Places

Mocha

People & organisations

Britannia

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'A Journall Off our Intending Voyage By God Permission in the Ship Britannia CapPhineas Frognall from London Towards Commencing From October the 4. 1735 to.', British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MAR/B/285BB, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000001513.0x0000c6> [accessed 23 July 2026]

Link to this record

https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100000001513.0x0000c6

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