Luke Collingwood
Encyclopedia
Captain Luke Collingwood (estimated birth circa 1733 - died before 1783) was a British sailor and the captain of the slave ship
Zong
. Prior to the Zong's fateful voyage he had served as Ship's Surgeon on at least one voyage.
Collingwood had never commanded a ship before the Zong. It was his first and last command. He took the command in the hope of making enough money for retirement. The captain and likely some or most of the crew, were not particularly experienced; shown by the middle passage of the voyage taking double the usual time.
After the Zong incident it appears, he went back to the life of a general practitioner
. He died before the court case for the Insurance loss took place in March 1783. There is a posthumous entry in a Directory (most likely a Liverpool Town Directory) of 1784 as "surgeon, medicine".
A married man, he had at least four children, born in Liverpool. It's estimated he was married in the early-mid 1760s. The notorious incident would be the subject of a painting by British artist J. M. W. Turner
many decades later.
Slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves, especially newly purchased African slaves to Americas....
Zong
Zong Massacre
The Zong Massacre was a mass-killing of African slaves that took place on November 29th, 1781, on the Zong, a British slave ship owned by James Gregson and colleagues in a Liverpool slave-trading firm....
. Prior to the Zong's fateful voyage he had served as Ship's Surgeon on at least one voyage.
Collingwood had never commanded a ship before the Zong. It was his first and last command. He took the command in the hope of making enough money for retirement. The captain and likely some or most of the crew, were not particularly experienced; shown by the middle passage of the voyage taking double the usual time.
After the Zong incident it appears, he went back to the life of a general practitioner
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
. He died before the court case for the Insurance loss took place in March 1783. There is a posthumous entry in a Directory (most likely a Liverpool Town Directory) of 1784 as "surgeon, medicine".
A married man, he had at least four children, born in Liverpool. It's estimated he was married in the early-mid 1760s. The notorious incident would be the subject of a painting by British artist J. M. W. Turner
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
many decades later.