Antelope was launched at Nantes in 1805 under another name. She was taken in prize c.1807 and appears in Lloyd's Register in 1807 with Le Pelley, master, Lehou & Co., owner, and trade London–Madeira. Captain John Le Pelley acquired a letter of marque on 28 August 1807. The size of Antelope's crew and the scale of her armament suggests that the intent was to employ her as a privateer. On 29 March 1810 Antelope, Le Pelley, master, was off Dover, having come from Rio de Janeiro and the River Plate. She arrived in Guernsey from London in May, having made that transit in 38 hours.