William was born in Nantucket MA on November 25, 1753. He was the son of William (1726-1769) and Mary (Russell) (1764-1798) Bunker, also of Nantucket. On February 22, 1774, he married a Nantucket woman, Priscilla Gardner, daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth Gardner, in Nantucket. A family tree for William, not authenticated, shows that William and Priscilla had three daughters, Harriet, Elisa, and Amelia.
Bernard Colby’s For Oil and Buggy Whips states (p. 3) that “Although there is evidence that the Blackstone of Stonington departed New London in 1790, the first well-documented [whaling] voyage [from New London] was made by Captain Rawson in the brig Commerce…. The Commerce made two whaling voyages from New London to southern climes, one in 1794 and another in 1797.”
AOWV records that these two voyages were made by two different ships named COMMERCE, both with New London as home port:
COMMERCE (AS2885): (ship, 177 tons, lost at Cape Henry on December 25, 1799). She sailed on February 6, 1794, probably for Brazil, and returned in October 1795. William was master of this voyage. Decker shows Stephen Rawson as master of this voyage and shows a 1797 sailing with no master shown. (AM4006), AV03126.
COMMERCE (AS1131): (brig ship, 223 tons, built in Bath, ME in 1795, lost at Cape Henry on December 25, 1799). She sailed July 6, 1798 for Brazil, returned in 1798. Two masters are shown in AOWV: Henry Deshon (AM1751) and Rawson each with a + after his name, indicating records are not clear or one may be a temporary master. AV03127.
Colby’s listing on New London Whaling Masters shows William as master of COMMERCE’s 1794 voyage and Stephen Rawson as master of her 1797 voyage. He makes no mention of the possibility of two ships. Note that the second COMMERCE was built in 1795, the year following the departure of the first COMMERCE. Starbuck does not help, not reporting voyages of either vessel. Absent other information, the confusion must remain.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw (Mystic Seaport Museum) July 2024