Elizabeth 1825-1865

Hylton, Sunderland: Official No. 5128: Code Letters JGKT: one deck; two masts; square rigged; square stern; carvel built wood brig; 161g; 75.9 x 18.8 x 13.5; female bust figurehead; enlarged 1837 by William Reay, Walker; repairs to damage 1853.

Owners: 1830 Rye; James Breed, Hastings; March 1836 William Reay, Walker; June 1837 George Black (Felling) Robert Brewis & James Finlay (Hartlepool) Walker; 1839 Robert Brewis (Hartlepool), George Black (Felling) James Findlay (engineer, Port Patrick, Wigton); 1845 Robert Brewis (painter & glazier) Hartlepool.

Masters: 1843 T Lower; 1845 John Wilson; October 1847 William Pearson (Shoreham); March 1849 George Angell Fordham; September 1849 Thomas Innes (Blyth); March 1850 George Angell Fordham; January 1853 James Smith; January 1854 Thomas Smales; 1854 James Smith; 1855 George Lines; April 1855 James Edward Brewis (C.N. 9860 Sunderland 1854); 1856 W Smales; 1862-65 James Rayner.

Voyages: 1844 Hartlepool coaster.

On a voyage from the Tyne for London with a cargo of coal & a crew of seven Elizabeth, locally known as the Paint Pot, was wrecked during a gale on Wildfire Rock at Tyne Water mouth between Dunbar & North Berwick on March 20 1865 with the loss of all the crew. Three of the bodies were found lashed to the vessel. This would have been in the hope they would not be washed overboard. The body of James Robb did not come ashore until rough seas in May. The bodies were buried at St Mary’s Churchyard, Whitekirk with a memorial stone erected by the Earl of Huntingdon which reads:

To the memory of James Rayner, Captain, John Terry, Mate, Robert Bell, James Boyle, Charles Zollier, John Berry. Crew of the Brig Elizabeth Hartlepool wrecked off Tyninghame March 19 1865, when all on board perished their bodies are interred at this spot. May God have mercy on their souls through Christ our Lord.

The stone lists six crew but the newspapers of the day named seven. There are also some discrepencies between the names given on the memorial & in the newspapers.

Lives lost March 1865;

Bell, Robert, seaman, Baltic St. Hartlepool

Bell, William, seaman, Baltic St. Hartlepool

Boyle, James, seaman

James Rayner, master, William St. Hartlepool

James Robb (married only two months)

Terry, John, mate, Baltic St. Hartlepool

Zollier, Charles, seaman