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Sunbeam - a general history

Built at Sunderland: Official No. 23811: Code Letters NTFJ.

Owners: 1842 Hartlepool & Durham Commercial Shipping Co, Hartlepool; 1845 Commercial Shipping Co (Thomas Rowell, William Lisle & Abraham Scotson) Hartlepool; 1851 Elliot Baxter & Ralph Maginess (Middlesbrough) Stockton-on-Tees.

Masters: 1841-44 C Levison; 1845-48 William Fowler; March 1848-49 William Compton; June 1850 Thomas Nellis; October 1850 George Moore; 1853 Ralph Magenness; 1861 Bridle; 1866 Inkster.

With the dissolution of the Hartlepool & Durham Shipping Co an auction was held on 15 April 1851 at the Wheat Sheaf Inn at Hartlepool to sell 12 of their vessels including Sunbeam.

Sunbeam sailed from Middlesbrough on 12 March 1866 with a crew of eight bound for Copenhagen & ran into heavy weather. On 14 March sprang a leak & by 17 March was in a sinking condition so the crew took to the boats. They were picked up about 11 hours later by the Norwegian brig Elfen. They were moved to a lugger Au Revoir of Lowestoft & landed there.

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