Nellie Gallery

Official No. 65501: Code Letters JWFS: Code Letters JVFG.

Owners: 1871 George Pyman & Co., West Hartlepool: 1883 J. Crawford, Grangemouth: 1889 Kull Compagniet of 1871, Bergen, Norway.

Masters: 1872-73 F. Nesfield: 1874 W. Todd: 1875-77 Sunley: 1878-83 J.M. Harland: 1883 J. Owen: 1884-89 J. Burns: 1889-95 J. Lund.

Voyages: 20 September 1872 arrived at Swansea from Malta: October 1883 went ashore at Landscrona, Copenhagen. A steamer went to her assistance: 29 April 1885 Nellie was lying alongside Grangemouth Coal Company’s wharf waiting for her cargo when the steamer Grangemouth was caught on the ebb tide & swung round hitting Nellie on her quarter & jamming her between the Grangemouth & the wharf.

Shields Daily Gazette, July 27^th, 1871:
THE STRANDING OF A HARTLEPOOL STEAMER. The following is the report of Francis Nesfield, master of screw-steamer Nellie, of West Hartlepool, 395 tons, from Ibrail, June 27, for Falmouth (maize, about 729 tons, and one distressed seaman): On July 21, about 12 noon, weather showery, wind NW, light, ship was coming up the River Suir to Waterford and in passing a point on county Kilkenny side of the river, about half a mile below the city, the tide set in against the vessel’s starboard bow. She yielded to it, and drifted to the county Waterford side of the river where she went ashore. The engines were reduced from full to half speed about minute before the tide caught her. When she was noticed to be drifting the engines were stopped and reversed full speed. The helm was kept hard to port. Dropping the anchor would not have kept her off, for she would have dragged it, as it would not have had time to take hold. About half past 4 p.m. she floated off the bank.

George Pyman was born in May 1822 in Sandsend, North Yorkshire. He went to sea as an apprentice and by 1843 he was Master of the vessel Nameless.

He married Elizabeth English in 1843 and they had two daughters and seven sons.

In 1850 he left the sea and the family settled in West Hartlepool where he went into partnership with his brother-in-law Francis English, as grocers and ship chandlers. In about 1854 he changed direction and went into partnership with Thomas Scurr as shipbrokers for the local collieries. They owned shares in a number of sailing vessels. Other shareholders included Francis English, John Smurthwaite, Thomas Wood & Ralph Ward Jackson.

Thomas Scurr died in 1861 and George then formed his own company as George Pyman & Co. In 1865 he purchased his first steamship, the George Pyman, and gradually shares in the brigs were sold off. Eventually the company became the largest owners of steamships in the north of the U.K.

In 1873 Thomas Bell of Newcastle joined as a partner in the firm. From 1879 the company opened branches in Hull, Grimsby, Immingham and Glasgow. When George retired in 1882 the Bell family took over the running of the company.

Pyman, Watson & Co. was set up in Cardiff in 1874 by John, one of George’s sons along with Thomas Edward Watson and Francis and Frederick, another two of his sons, set up Pyman Bros. in London in 1903. Some of these companies ships were registered in West Hartlepool.

George was elected a Poor Law Guardian in 1861, an Improvement Commissioner in 1868, and was sitting on the Durham County Bench from 1872. In 1879 he was appointed Vice Consul for Belgium and in 1888 was elected the second Mayor of West Hartlepool. In 1895 he received the honour of being made a Freeman of the Borough. George died in November 1900 at his home, Raithwaite Hall.

There is a wealth of further information in Peter Hogg’s book ‘The Pyman Story’.