Betsey was launched in Bermuda in 1791. She never appeared in Lloyd's Register. On 11 April 1793 Captain William Doyle acquired a letter of marque. The size of her crew indicates that the intent was to sail her as a privateer. Lloyd's List for 1793 and 1794 makes no mention of a privateer Betsey.
Because Betsey is a common name and she did not appear in Lloyd's Register it had not yet been possible to discover what she did between 1793 and 1798.
Captain Daniel Hayward acquired a letter of marque on 13 March 1798. Two weeks later, on 27 March 1798, Captain James Barrow acquired a letter of marque. Barrow, or Hayward, sailed from Liverpool on 22 April 1798, bound for the Windward Coast. Betsey was a slave ship, engaged in the triangular trade in enslaved people. However, the French captured Betsey before she had embarked any slaves.
Lloyd's List reported that on 3 June, the French frigate Convention had captured Betsey, Hayward, master, off the coast of Africa. Betsey had been on her way from Liverpool to Africa.