William Scott in Penang: Missing Material, Maritime Matters, and More

Abstract

Abstract:William Scott, a relative of James Scott, lived in Penang between 1795 and 1798 and between 1800 and 1805. His handwritten diaries have been transcribed by Marcus Langdon and published in JMBRAS (2019). Two pages missing from the copy used by Langdon are transcribed here from another copy. They cover Scott's first departure in 1798 and the eventful voyage to Cape Town in a frigate of the Royal Navy commanded by Samuel Hood Linzee. William Scott's unpublished papers include detailed logs that describe this and other voyages. Events on the voyage to Cape Town are described here and Linzee's life before his premature death after a highly successful naval career is summarised. Also summarised are the maritime career of Robert Scott, William's brother and a commander of private trading vessels, and the later death by piracy of another ship's commander, Hugh Drysdale, with whom William travelled in a voyage from Calcutta to Penang. William's later life in Scotland is also summarised.