Maritime Historical Studies Centre, University of Hull
The Hammonds and David Hartley: Anti-Slavery, Captain Cook’s
Ships, Recognising American Independence and the first British
Ambassador to the United States
FAR HORIZONS – to the ends of the Earth | Robb Robinson
The Hammonds and David Hartley: Anti-Slavery, Captain Cook’s Ships,
Recognising American Independence and the first British Ambassador to the
United States
David Hartley was born in Bath in 1732, the son of the renowned philosopher of the
same name. He attended Oxford University and later became a Fellow of Merton
College. Hartley took a substantial interest in science and during the 1760s became
a close friend and correspondent of Benjamin Franklin. He also pursued a political
career and was MP for Hull on two occasions: 1774 to 1780 and 1782 to 1784. He
was the first MP to speak up against slavery in the House of Commons, moving a
resolution in 1776 which stated that ‘the Slave Trade was contrary to the laws of God
and the rights of men’ and he laid chains used to shackle slaves upon the table of
the House of Commons to emphasise his argument. His motion was seconded by Sir
George Saville, MP for Yorkshire. He also spoke often in Parliament against the war
with the American colonists (The American War of Independence).
William Hammond was a very powerful Hull personality. He became Chairman of
the Hull Dock Company and was one of the Elder Brethren of Hull Trinity House and
also occupied the office of Warden. William Hammond was a successful Hull sea
captain, shipowner and merchant with properties across Hull’s Old Town, including
High Street as well as Kirkella, where his son George was born. William, together
with Sir Samuel Standidge, played a prominent role in the foundation of Trinity
House School and his influence extended far beyond the eighteenth century town.
He was a prominent supporter of David Hartley as MP and was certainly well
acquainted with many leading seafarers of his time including Captain Cook.
A portrait of Captain James Cook
(Source: http://www.gfsnet.org/msweb/explorersweb/pages/Cook_leland.html)
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The Hammonds and David Hartley: Anti-Slavery, Captain Cook’s Ships,
Recognising American Independence and the first British Ambassador to the
United States
In 1771 Cook had returned from his first voyage on the barque Endeavour and was
keen to use similar vessels on his next voyage. William Hammond already owned
two such Whitby built vessels, the Marquis of Granby and the Marquis of
Rockingham and both were less than two years old. Hammond subsequently sold
both ships to the Admiralty after conducting negotiations with Captain Cook::the
Marquis of Granby changing hands for £4,151.00.The two vessels were initially
renamed Drake and Raleigh by the Admiralty but Lord Rockford, the Secretary of
State, thought the two names might offend the Spanish so, after consultations with
King George III and the Earl of Sandwich, they were renamed Resolution and
Adventure. Although today it is perhaps the Endeavour from Cook’s first voyage
which is perhaps the best remembered of his ships, his favourite vessel was the
Resolution which he used on both his second and third voyages. Resolution, just 110
feet in length, thus made two circumnavigations of the globe and on the last of these
voyages explored the Pacific coasts of North America and Siberia before Cook was
killed after an attack by islanders on the Sandwich Islands in the Pacific on the 14th
February 1779.
20 cents US postage stamp in 1996, commemorated the 200th anniversary of the "Treaty of
Paris" [1783], which marked the formal end of the US independence from Great
(Source: http://www.hartleyfamily.org.uk/Fame2AF.htm)
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The Hammonds and David Hartley: Anti-Slavery, Captain Cook’s Ships,
Recognising American Independence and the first British Ambassador to the
United States
In 1778, a few years after selling his ships to Captain Cook, William Hammond
joined David Hartley on a quiet and unofficial visit to Benjamin Franklin and John
Adams in Paris. The visit was very low key as the American War of Independence
was still raging and the Americans in Paris were regarded by the British as rebels.
The Americans were suspicious of the motives behind the visit, John Adams thought
both were probably British government spies and remained on his guard throughout
their stay but noted in his journal at that time that he found George Hammond a
‘plain honest Man’ though he was less enamoured with David Hartley.
However, David Hartley was a friend of Franklin and this was probably a major
reason why he was sent back to Paris by the British Government in 1782 – this time
on an official basis - to act as plenipotentiary in peace talks with the representatives
of the new United States of America. This time he was accompanied by William’s
son, George Hammond. George was just twenty and still a student at Merton College
Oxford. When Hartley returned to Paris in 1782 it was to negotiate with Benjamin
Franklin, John Adams and other US representatives on behalf of the British
government. In 1783 they signed the peace settlement which became known as the
Treaty of Paris. .Benjamin West’s famous painting depicts the event but only
partially: the painting was not finished. Only the American representatives, John Jay,
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens and William Temple Franklin are
shown. The Hull people, Hartley and Hammond, refused to be painted in and their
part on the canvas remains blank to this day. Despite this, young George Hammond
established some firm friendships with the Americans which were to stand him in
good stead in later years. Hartley also retained an interest in politics after his return
to Britain, later writing a sympathetic Argument of the French Revolution in 1794,
and continued his studies in chemistry and mechanics. He died in 1813.
George Hammond completed his degree at Merton after returning to Britain, and was
elected a fellow of the college in 1787. He pursued a diplomatic career, being
appointed Charge d’ Affaires in Vienna for a time and served later in Copenhagen
and then Madrid. In 1791 he was recalled from Spain by the Foreign Minister, Lord
Grenville, and sent out to America as ‘Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States of
America’. He fulfilled this role until 1795 and is now regarded as the first British
Ambassador to the United States. Whilst in America he married a descendant of
William Penn, the founder of the State of Pennsylvania. He continued to use his
diplomatic expertise both in office and on special missions across Europe for many
years and finally died in April 1853 when ninety years of age. His son also pursued a
distinguished diplomatic career and was made Lord Hammond of Kirkella.
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The Hammonds and David Hartley: Anti-Slavery, Captain Cook’s Ships,
Recognising American Independence and the first British Ambassador to the
United States
Benjamin West's Unfinished painting of the Treaty of Paris
The Hull people refused to be painted in!
(Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/)
Today, article one of the Treaty of Paris, which recognises the independence of the
thirteen former American colonies, is still in force. In the Hull area today there are still
a few reminders around of the influential Hammond Family. Portraits of William
Hammond, the man who met with the ‘rebels’, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams,
and also sold the Admiralty the ships for Captain Cook’s second and third voyages,
still hang in Trinity House and the Hull Maritime Museum. William himself died on the
26th June 1793 aged 66 and is buried in St Helen’s Church, Welton where a
monumental inscription still marks his memory..
Robb Robinson November 2008
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The Hammonds and David Hartley: Anti-Slavery, Captain Cook’s Ships,
Recognising American Independence and the first British Ambassador to the
United States
Select Bibliography
Christopher L. Brown, Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism (USA:
University of North Carolina, 2006)
James Cook, The Three Voyages of Captain Cook (UK: Longman, 1821)
James Cook, Archibald Grenfell Price, The Explorations of Captain James Cook in
the Pacific, as Told by Selections of His Own Journals 1768 – 1779 (UK: Dover
Courier Publications, 1971)
Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick The Age of Federalism: the early American
republic 1788-1801 (USA: OUP, 1993)
Benjamin Godwin, The Substance of a Course of Lectures on British Colonial
Slavery (UK: Hatchard and Son 1830)
Gordon Jackson, Hull in the Eighteenth Century (UK: University of Hull, 1972)
Jerome R. Reich, British Friends of the American Revolution (USA: M. E. Sharpe,
1997)
On-line References
http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/aea/cfm/doc.cfm?id=A2_14
John Adams Autobiography, part 2, "Travels, and Negotiations," 1777-1778
sheet 14 of 37, 19 - 21 April 1778 , Adams Family Papers, An Electronic Archive,
The Massachusetts Historical Society
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