Lady Clare Voyage History

Completed 1873: Official No. 67536.

Masters: 1873 John Danby (C.N. 27142).

Bound from Hartlepool for Bona & Rotterdam with a cargo of iron-ore & a total crew of 25 the Lady Clare stranded on Canterio Rocks off Salvora Island, Cape Finisterre & foundered on 20 November 1873. No lives lost.

‘Inquiry held at West Hartlepool before W Gray & WJ Young esquires, Justices of the Peace, assisted by Captain E Hight & Commander GH Forster RN.

At 2pm on 18 November Cape Mondego, on the coast of Portugal, bore ESE at an estimated distance of 15 miles, the weather being fine & the wind variable. From that point a N by E ½ E course was steered to carry the vessel well of the land & round Cape Finisterre, & at 11pm the master went to bed, leaving the ship in charge of the chief mate, giving him orders not to allow her to go to the eastward of her course & to call him immediately if the weather became hazy, foggy or rainy, or if any lights were seen, & to transmit the said orders at the end of his watch to the 2^nd officer. At 3.20am on the 19^th a bright light was seen two points before the starboard beam. The 2^nd mate did not report it to the master but pointed it out to the mate who also neglected to report it. About 5am the boatswain saw a light a little on the port bow, & pointed it out to the mate, who said it that it was a steamer’s masthead light. The same light was seen by the steward, as well as the land, which was right ahead, distant about TWO miles. He also saw a red & white revolving light on the starboard beam, about THREE miles distant. No steps were taken by the mate after the land & lights were seen, to haul the vessel off the shore, to slacken speed or to call the master until 20 minutes had elapsed, when, after consulting his chart, he altered the course to N, & five minutes afterwards, he altered it to N by W, one minute later the helm was put to starboard, & immediately the vessel struck, her speed at the time being 9½ knots per hour. On the master feeling the shock, he rushed upon deck, & as the vessel had slipped off the rocks into deep water, & was fast filling, he, with the crew, got into the boats, & a few minutes afterwards she foundered.

The Court observed that the compasses appeared to have been correct, & had the course given by the master at 11pm on the 18^th been carried out, instead of being on the Canteiro Rocks, she should have been 25 miles off the shore. It was evident that the course really made was one point to the eastward of that ordered by the master. Whatever may have been the cause that carried her to the eastward of her course, she was not stranded until ample warning had been given of her close proximity to the shore. No effort was made by the mate, who was in charge of the deck, until after 20 minutes had elapsed, & those then were made too late to be of any avail.

The Court was of the opinion that no blame be attached to the master. They, however, found that the Lady Clare was lost through the gross carelessness of the chief mate, George Colledge, & suspended his certificate for 12 months.’

Crew 1872:

Abbott, Henry, 2^nd mate

Bell, George, boatswain

Colledge, George, chief officer (mate No. 97790)

Davies, John, able seaman

Gill, Henry, able seaman

James, William Henry, 2^nd officer

Mould, Edmund, chief engineer

Trist, Samuel, steward

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’.