Blanche Gallery

Official No. 29471: Code Letters QFSP.

Owners: 1863 William Gray, John Punshon Denton, Jens Christian Nielsen, James Douglas (Presbyterian minister) Robert Gray (Blyth) Henry Taylor (Liverpool) & James Monks (Durham) Hartlepool: 1873 Robert Gray (Stockton-on-Tees) Hartlepool: 1875 William Newman junior (Bondican Terrace, Blyth) Hartlepool

Masters: 1863 J Smith. 1863-71 Mossman: 1871-74 P Bartols: 1875-76 Jasper Tate: 1877-80 J Smith: 1880 J Wandless.

Voyages: 8 October 1863 arrived at Shanghai from Hartlepool: 29 November 1866 bound from Hartlepool for Alexandria proceeded to Ramsgate in tow to restow her cargo.

Bound from St Ubis for Rotterdam with a cargo of salt the Blanche was stranded at Needlestone Point, Isle of Wight on 14 September 1880 & broken up in 1881.  Notation in 1881/82 Lloyds Register

As well as being a shipbuilder John Punshon Denton kept ownership of some of the ships he built and also owned and had shares in ships that were registered but not built in Hartlepool. Records that survive show vessels he at least partly owned from 1839. Some would have been for repair which he would then have sold on.

Other shareholders included: George Denton (John’s brother) Robert Elstob Hutton (master mariner & shipowner); John Elstob Hutton (insurance agent); George Wilkinson; Robert Wilson; Edward Lowden; James Winks; William Gray; Robert Gray; Thomas Rowell (bank agent); Thomas Sanderson (grocer); William Garrick (shipowner); Henry and James Proctor (master mariners); John Meldrum; (sailmaker); Jane Eden; Thomas Appleby; Robert Ropner; George Moon (shipowner, Sunderland); Thomas Belk; Robert Lawson Watson; William Huntingdon & Thomas Bell (Sunderland); Robert & William Ord (Sunderland); Elizabeth Hutton Wilkinson &  John Wilkinson (Craythorne); William Marsingdale Wilkinson (Manchester)

Brief Family Histories of some of the above mentioned shipowners:

George Denton was born on 6th September 1804 at Bishopwearmouth to parents Barbara (nee Punshon) and Richard Copeland Denton. He married Susanna Robinson (daughter of John Robinson) at Great Driffield, Yorkshire on 16^th October 1849 and they had five children:  George Robinson born 16^th August 1852; Arthur Copeland born c1853; Alfred born c1855; Ida Preston born c1857; Ernest born c1859. By 1861 the family were living at St Hilda Street, Hartlepool and by 1871 Victoria Place, Hartlepool.

George died aged 73 at Hartlepool on 30^th December 1877 leaving effects of under £300. His widow, Susanna, died in 1908.

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James Winks was born on 19^th April 1800 at North Shields to parents Margaret (nee Fenwick) and John Winks.  He married Alice Allen at Tynemouth in 1824 and they had one daughter. James was a shipwright and the family lived at Middleton.

James died aged 66 at Hartlepool on 28^th July 1866 leaving effects of under £300. His widow, Alice, died in 1888.

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Edward Lowden (also spelt Lowdon) was born in 1810 at Gosforth, Northumberland to parents Elizabeth (nee Nicholson) and Edward Lowden. He became a butcher and was also a lay-preacher.  By 1851 he was recorded as being a widower and in that year and 1861 he was boarding with James Winks and his wife at Middleton. In 1881 he was retired and living at Hanover Street, Stranton. Alice, James Winks widow, was living with him as a servant.

Edward died aged 78 on 28^th August 1888 at Farndale Terrace, Hartlepool.

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George Moon was born 21^st January 1812 at Sunderland to parents Elizabeth (nee Yule) and Henry Moon. He married Mary Ann Ord at Sunderland in 1842 and they had three daughters. In 1849 the family were living at Marine Terrace, Hartlepool. By 1861 they had moved to Hampstead.

George died age 81 at Windsor on 4^th November 1893 leaving effects of £19,676.

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Thomas Rowell was born c1808 at Weetslade, Northumberland to parents William and Catherine Rowell. He married Elizabeth Rowley and they had one daughter, Catherine, born in 1837. Thomas was a bank agent and was mayor of Hartlepool from 1842 to 1843. In 1851 the couple and their daughter were living at Southgate, Hartlepool with Thomas listed as a landed proprietor.

Thomas died aged 48 on 27^th March 1859 at Sedgewick House, Hartlepool leaving effects of under £100.

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John Meldrum was born on 10^th April 1794 at Sunderland to parents Mary (nee Pearson) and John Meldrum. He became a master sailmaker. John married Margaret White in 1842 at Sunderland and by 1851 the couple were living at Hartlepool.

John died aged 65 on 22^nd November 1859 at Hartlepool leaving effects of under £2,000.

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William Garrick was born on 17^th November 1798 at Orkney, Scotland to parents Margaret (nee Matteson) and John Garrick. He married Elizabeth Porteous on 14^th October 1828 at Sunderland. William became a shipping agent and shipowner.

William died on 1^st December 1847 at Hartlepool.

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Henry Proctor was born on 22^nd July 1822 at Lynn, Norfolk to parents Mary (nee Rudland) and James Proctor. He married Bell Watson on 31^st March 1846 at Bishopwearmouth. Henry first went to sea in 1836 and worked his way up to become a master mariner. He was mate of the Margaret of Hartlepool from 1843 to 1845 and was then master of several Sunderland registered ships.

Henry died aged 49 at Sunderland in 1871.

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Thomas Sanderson was born 21 January 1812 at Sunderland to parents Ann (nee Sandal) and Joseph Sanderson. He went to sea in 1823 as an apprentice and worked his way up to become a master mariner.  Thomas married Margaret Mary Sanderson in 1840 at Sunderland. Margaret died in 1847 and he married for the second time to Mary Wayman in 1854 at South Shields. When Thomas retired he became a grocer and provision Dealer.

Thomas died aged 66 on 24^th December 1878 at Sunderland.

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Joseph Nixon Eden was born 30^th April 1806 at South Shields to parents Jane Nixon and John Eden. He went to sea in 1819 as an apprentice and worked his way up to become a master mariner. Joseph married Jane Rennoldson on 1^st September 1831 at Devon.

Joseph died in 1855 at Stockton leaving his shares in the Voyager of Hartlepool to his widow, Jane Eden.

Middleton Shipyard. MV Blanche on stocks on the day of her launch in May 1864. Windmill to the left.

Jens Christian Nielsen established his business in 1852 as a coal exporter and timber merchant so it was a natural progression to purchase shares in sailing vessels from about 1862. Some of the shares were owned by William Gray and John Denton. In 1872 he formed his company C. Nielsen & Co., with the purchase of his first steamer, Saint Hilda, built by Withy, Alexander & Co. By 1882 the company had become C. Nielson & Son then in 1888 C. Nielsen & Sons. After his death the company became Hans C. Nielson & Co. The Luis was lost in 1918 and no further ships were registered at West Hartlepool. As most of their ships traded to the Scandinavian countries they were registered in those ports.

Family History:

Jens Christian Nielson was born in 1824 at Nordby, Fano in Denmark. He moved to England and by the 1851 census was living at Picton, Place, Newcastle-on-Tyne with his wife, Fanny/Fannie, and his son, Hans Christian. The family moved to Hartlepool soon after and Jens, usually known as Christian, established his business. Fanny passed away at Hartlepool in early 1866 and Christian was remarried in 1867 at Hartlepool to Eliza Frances Taylor. The couple had two sons and two daughters. By the 1881 census Christian had become a naturalised British Subject and the family were living at 15 Cliff Terrace, Hartlepool. During his lifetime Christian was Danish vice-consul and was created a Knight of Danneborg by the King of Denmark. He was also a consular agent for the U.S.A., a Justice of the Peace and a mayor of Hartlepool in 1870-71. He was a vice-chairman of the Hartlepools Shipowners Society, chairman of the Hartlepool Pilotage Board and a representative on the Port and Harbour Commission. Christian was also a warden of St Hilda’s Church for many years.

Christian died aged 76 at ‘Nordby’, Norton-on-Tees on 23 December 1896 leaving effects of £22,367. He was interred at St. Hilda's.

Hans Christian was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1851 to parents Jen Christian Nielsen and Fanny/Fannie. He was married at Stockton in 1877 to Elfrida Julia Hay. They had one son, Hans Rupert, who was born at Norton-on-Tees in 1885. Elfrida Julia Nielsen died at Hartlepool in 1914. After his father’s death Hans became Danish vice-consul. He was also a member of the Port and Harbour Commission the Hartlepool Pilotage Commission, and was a Justice of the Peace for Hartlepool. The family lived at 12 Cliff Terrace, Hartlepool until the outbreak of the war when Charles moved to Norton-on-Tees. Hans spent his summers at Norton and his winters in Denmark.

Hans died at the age of 88 while visiting one of his daughters at Birkerod, Denmark on 28 January 1939 leaving effects of £58,010.

Charles Nielson was born at Hartlepool in 1858 to parents Jen Christian Nielsen and Eliza Frances (nee Taylor).  In 1871 he and his brother Frederick were pupils at a boarding school in Knaresbrough. Charles became a timber merchant and was married at Wakefield in 1886 to Margaret Luis Fernandes.  They had a son and a daughter. In 1901 the family were living at 15 Cliff Terrace. By 1911 they were living at Billingham Hall, Stockton-on-Tees and later moved to ‘Hartburn Lodge’, Stockton-on-Tees. Margaret Luis Nielsen died in 1934.

Charles was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Charles died aged 81 at Stockton-on-Tees on 7 June 1939 leaving effects of £79,699.

William Gray established a woollen & linen drapery business in Hartlepool in 1843. Also having an interest in shipping he acquired shares in sailing vessels from 1844.

Some of the other shareholders included: Robert (draper) & John Gray (Blyth); Matthew Gray (North Blyth); James Robson (Newcastle-on-Tyne); Henry Taylor (Liverpool); James Monks (Durham); Alexander Robertson (solicitor, Peterhead.

Henry Taylor Purvis; John Callender (draper); Phillip Howard (master mariner); James McBeath (master mariner); James Smith (master mariner); Jane Hall; John Fothergill; Jens Christian Nielsen; William Coward; William Horner; Frederick & Joseph Edward Murrell; all of Hartlepool.

William also had shares in sailing vessels along with John Punshon Denton. Eventually the two formed a partnership in shipbuilding with their first ship, Dalhousie, laid down on 4 July 1863. In December 1871 John Denton died. A dispute arose over the company’s profits which was eventually resolved in 1874 with the firm becoming William Gray & Company. In August 1874 the company’s first ship, Sexta, was launched.

William Gray was born on 18 January 1823 at Blyth, Northumberland to parents Anne Jane (nee Bryham) & Matthew Gray. He married Dorothy Wilson Hall on 15 May 1849 at St. Mary, Lewisham, Kent. In the 1851 census the couple were living at 2 Marine Terrace, Hartlepool. By 1861 the census recorded William as being a linen & woollen draper & shipowner & by 1871 as a shipbuilder. The couple had five daughters and two sons. Their eldest son, Matthew, died suddenly of pneumonia in June 1896 aged just 41.

William died aged 76 on 12 September 1898 leaving effects of £1500422. His widow, Dorothy died aged 81 on 7 September 1906.

William Cresswell Gray was born in 1867 at Tunstall Manor to parents Dorothy (nee Hall) & William Gray. He married Kate Casebourne in 1891 and they had four daughters and one son.

William took over as chairman of the company after the death of his father. He was created a baronet in 1917 and was given the freedom of Hartlepool and West Hartlepool in 1920.

William died aged 57 on 1 November 1924 at Bedale, Yorkshire leaving effects of £417347.

William Gray (3^rd generation) was born on 18 August 1895 at Hartlepool to parents Kate (nee Casebourne) & William Cresswell Gray. He was educated at Loretto School in Scotland, and passed direct from the school in 1914 to the Green Howards, where he rose to the rank of captain. He was several times mentioned in despatches, but was subsequently wounded and taken prisoner in 1915. He returned safely in 1918 following the Armistice. He married Mary Leigh at London in 1929.

Following the death of his father William took over the company in 1925. The recession and interest on money borrowed for development had left the company in financial difficulties but this was overcome and shipbuilding continued. The company made a substantial contribution to the war effort during WW2. After the war the company held its own with shipbuilding and repair work. In 1956 William Talbot Gray, the third William Gray’s son, became a joint managing director. He was killed in a car accident in 1971 aged 40. The company went into voluntary liquidation in 1962 and closed completely in 1963. William retired to Orchard Cottage, The Drive, Egglestone, Barnard Castle.

William died aged 82 on 28 January 1978 at Barnard Castle leaving effects of £116121.

Ships owned by William Gray & Co. that were not built in Hartlepool are recorded below under 'a general history'.