Thomas Wilkinson and his two sons, George and Matthew owned and had shares in Hartlepool registered ships from the 1840s.
Other shareholders included: John Duncan (master mariner); William Ramsey (master mariner, Seaton Carew); Robert Fawcus; James Stephenson; William Watson; Thomas Robinson; Thomas Wilson ( master mariner); Andrew Smith; William Watson (shipowner) William Bird Gary (shipbroker); Thomas Robinson (clerk); Matthias Newton (shipowner), John Ranson junior & William Grimshaw (all Bishopwearmouth); Robert John Sewell & Ann F Clarke (both Newport, Isle of Wight).
Family Histories:
Thomas Wilkinson was born on 21st December 1785 at Monkwearmouth to parents Jane (nee Johnson) and George Wilkinson. Thomas married Isabella Shepherd at Sunderland on 25th June 1810. By 1841 the couple and their two sons, George and Matthew, were living at William Street, Bishopwearmouth. In 1851 the couple and their son, George, were living at Southgate Street, Hartlepool.
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George Wilkinson was born on 1st January 1817 at Sunderland to parents Isabella (nee Shepherd) and Thomas Wilkinson. He became a surgeon and remained unmarried. In 1861 he was living at High Street, Hartlepool.
George retired on 30th August 1869 and went on a trip to the Channel Islands where he died suddenly on 14th September 1869 at St. Hillier’s, Jersey and was interred there. He left effects of under £4,000.
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Matthew Wilkinson was born on 2nd April 1822 at Sunderland to parents Isabella (nee Shepherd) and Thomas Wilkinson. He married Mary Ann Gordon at Hartlepool on 10 May 1846. Matthew became a druggist/chemist. In 1843 he was advertising his shop and dwelling house in Southgate Street, opposite the King’s Head Hotel, for sale. In 1851 his shop and dwelling house in Market Place was for sale. According to the advertisement the shop had been in use as a chemist/druggist for the past ten years. By 1861 he and his wife were living at Regent Street, Hartlepool with Matthew listed as a shipowner. In the 1871 census the couple were living at 30 High Street, Hartlepool. The couple had no children and after Matthew’s death Mary took work as a housekeeper for a solicitor.
Matthew died aged 55 at Friar Street, Hartlepool on 7th January 1881.
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John Duncan was born on 13 August 1810 at Portroy, Banffshire. He went to sea as an apprentice in 1827 and worked his way up to become a master C.N. 37960. He was master on the Hartlepool registered ships Pearl from 1843 to 1850 and the Britannia in 1853.
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Matthias Newton was born in 1876 at Durham to parents Mary (nee Laws) and Joseph Newton. He married Hannah (nee Ranson) and they resided at Bishopwearmouth. He was a tinman and brazier before becoming a shipowner. Matthias died aged 84 at Sunderland in March 1870 leaving effects of under £3,000 to his son John Newton.
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James Stephenson was born 1n 1820 at Wolviston to parents Ann (nee James) and John Stephenson. He married Jane Chapman in 1850 and the couple lived at Bishopwearmouth. He is listed on the census as a timber merchant and commercial agent.
James died aged 89 in 1909 at Wolviston.
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Andrew Smith was born in 1819 at Fair Isle, Shetland to parents Agnes and John. He married Janet Leask on 26 January 1843 at Tynemouth. In 1850 the couple were living at Fowler Street, South Shields and in 1871 at 17 Regent Street, Hartlepool. By 1881 Andrew had retired from the sea and the couple were living at Shortridge Street, South Shields. Andrew went to sea as an apprentice in 1837 and became a master mariner C.N.107804. As well as sailing on Shields vessels he was mate on the Jane of Hartlepool from 1846 to January 1847.
Andrew died aged 78 at South Shields in 1898.
Acorn 1827-1873 sold foreign
James Leithead, Sunderland: Official No. 5119: Code Letters JGKF: one deck; two & trysail masts; square stern; carvel built wood snow; 187g; 79.8 x 20.5 x 14.6.
Owners: 1827 J Orwin & Co, Sunderland; 1830 John & Joseph Milburn & Edward Andrews, Sunderland; August 1850 Thomas Wilkinson, John Ranson & William Grimshaw (Bishopwearmouth) & Matthais Newton (Sunderland) Hartlepool; 1858 George (surgeon) & Matthew Wilkinson (druggist, Market Place), John Ranson, William Grimshaw & Matthias Newton, Hartlepool; 1863 George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool; October 1869 (inherited from George Wilkinson on his death) Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool; 27 September 1873 sold at Brake to a foreign buyer.
Masters: 1829 Wilkinson; 1829-30 J Orwin; 1830-38 T Wardell; 1850-54 William Abbot (C.N. 4693 Sunderland 1851); June 1854 Charles Abbot; April 1855-68 William Abbot; 1873 Miles.
Voyages: 16 June 1873 Cuxhaven for Hartlepool; 4 September 1873 arrived Bremerhaven from Hartlepool.
More detail »Albatross 1854-1857
John Haswell, Sunderland: Official No. 4082: Code Letters JCBF: one deck; three masts; square stern; carvel built wood barque sheathed in yellow metal 1854; 297g; 105.2 x 24.4 x 17.0; male figurehead.
Owners: 1854 Thomas, George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool.
Masters: 1854-57 Martin Poll.
Voyages: 1854 Sunderland for the Mediterranean; 19 November 1856 sailed from Falmouth for Hull.
On a voyage from Hartlepool for Odessa with a cargo of coal Albatross was driven on the rocks on the NW coast of Arigo on 16 March 1857.
More detail »Brilliant 1849-?
W.J. Pile, Sunderland: Official No. 22915: Code Letters NPKQ: one deck; two masts; square rigged; square stern; carvel built wood snow; 215g; 87.1 x 22.7 x 14.5; female bust figurehead; some repairs 1858.
Owners: 1849 Thomas, Matthew (druggist) & George (surgeon) Wilkinson, Hartlepool; 1869-75 Richard Boag & George Walton, Hartlepool.
Masters: January 1849-51 Thomas Boyling; June 1851-54 John Wilkinson; April 1854 William Bowles Dawes; 1856-57 J Wilkinson; 1858-60 S Chapman; 1865 T Harley; 1866 Dixon; 1866-70 Boyes; 1870-75 George Walton.
February 1872 insured with the Hartlepool Mutual Marine Insurance Association for £600-value £700.
Voyages: 1849-50 Hartlepool for the Baltic; 1854 Hartlepool for the Mediterranean; June 1870 went ashore on Salfwo Reef but after six hours got off; 19 May 1875 left Kiel for Riga; September 1875 from Hamburg for Hartlepool anchored in Bridlington bay.
Not on the British Register as Brilliant by 1876.
More detail »Britannia 1825-1862
St Johns, New Brunswick: Official No. 16186: Code Letters LWKB: one deck; two masts; square rigged; square stern; black birch, hackmetack & pine carvel built wood brig; 252g; 93.0 x 24.10 x 16.6; female bust figurehead.
Owners: 1825 Bowman; 1830 Ward & Co; 1833 Harrison & Co, London; 1836 Mustart & Co, London; 1847 Harrison & Co, London; by 1852 Robert Hall, Thomas Twidle Drysdale, Miles Mason (butcher) & James Brown (master mariner) Hartlepool; May 1853 George & Matthew Wilkinson & John Duncan (master mariner) Hartlepool; 1854-62 George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool.
Masters: 1827-30 A McGill; 1830-32 C Begley; 1833-35 J Harrison; 1835 J Holliday; 1836-37 Mustart; 1838-41 Hepplewhite; 1842-45 McArthur; 1845 Harrison; 1846 R Morton; 1847 McArthur; 1853 James Brown; 1853 John Duncan; 1854 John Wilkinson; November 1854 Andrew Brown; March 1855-61 William Pick; 1862 Musgrove/Musgrave.
Voyages: 1827 Falmouth for St Johns; 1835-1847 London for Quebec.On a voyage from Wyborg for Montrose he had left two of the crew ashore illegally. He ignored a summons at Elsinore to answer the charge so was reported to the Board of Trade which carried out a full investigation. It was found that the Britannia was, at least once, ashore in the Baltic through Peck being drunk. After all facts were proven his master’s certificate was cancelled.
On a voyage from Hartlepool for Cronstadt with a cargo of coal Britannia ran aground at Thisted, Denmark & was wrecked on 12 September 1862. The crew of seven were rescued with rocket apparatus. She was insured with two companies for £1000 & £400, the cargo was also insured.
More detail »Canopus 1851-1871
Sunderland: Official No. 23233: Code Letters NQST: wood barque felt sheathed in yellow metal; 331g; 100.5 x 26.5 x 16.5; female bust figurehead-removed by 1863; repairs to damage 1855; part new keelson & some repairs 1861.
Owners: 1851 Laroche & Co, London; 1857 Cooper & Co, London; 1860 G Lawrence, Hull; 1863 George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool; 1870 Matthew Storm (Robin Hood’s Bay) & William Bedlington, Hartlepool.
Masters: 1853-57 J Crosby; 1858-59 JC Wright; 1861-63 Lawrence; 1865 C Clare; 1866-69 Lawrence; 1870-71 C Jenkins.
Voyages: April 1865 Hartlepool for Swinemunde.
On a voyage from Memel for London with a cargo of deals & a crew of nine she sprang a leak & capsized on 2 December 1870. After cutting away her sails the vessel righted & the crew stayed on deck on the side of the ship. One man drowned & the master & one crewman died from exposure. After about 24 hours they were picked up by a Norwegian schooner, Tarandus, & taken to Copenhagen where they were hospitalized suffering from hunger & exposure. On 8 December 1870 the derelict & waterlogged Canopus was towed into Dantzic by the steamer Lumsden. The bodies of two of the dead were on board. Canopus was condemned & sold as a wreck at Dantzic in April 1871.
Captain Aarvig of the Tarandus was later awarded a telescope for the rescue.
Crew December 1870;
Dryden, Henry, mate, Hartlepool
Lives lost December 1870;
Jenkins, C, master, Robin Hood’s Bay
More detail »Chieftan 1851-1862
Hodgson & Gardner, Hylton, Sunderland: Official No. 12892: Code Letters LDRK: one deck; two masts; square stern; carvel built wood snow; felt & sheathed with zinc; 384g; 87.1 x 23.7 x 13.0; male figurehead; some repairs 1860.
Owners: June 1851 Thomas Wilkinson, Hartlepool; 1853 George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool.
Masters: 1851 David Stormont; March 1852 John Newman; September 1853-56 James Burch; 1857 Bell; 1860-61 O Scott; 1862 Jewson.
Voyages: On a voyage from Hartlepool for London on 1 February 1857 Chieftan was in collision off Flamborough Head with the Shields brig Alexander. Both received damage; 1862 Hartlepool for the Baltic.
On a voyage from Cronstadt for London with a cargo of hemp Chieftan stranded off Bragen Reef & was totally wrecked on 7 November 1862. Part of the cargo & stores were saved. No lives lost.
More detail »Crichton 1849-1865
Sunderland: Official No. 26223: Code Letters PKGD: one deck; three masts; wood snow sheathed in yellow metal; 282g; 96.0 x 25.0 16.0; male bust figurehead; repairs to damage 1856; some repairs 1858.
Owners: 1849 Abbey & Co, Sunderland; 1851 John De Caen, Jersey; 1858 William Lawrence, Liverpool; 1860 Kirkcaldy; by 1863 George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool.
Masters: 1849-50 Clarke; 1851-55 JJ Noel; 1856 Dela Perell; 1857-58 P Weary; 1858-60 W Lawrence; 1863-65 Joseph Edgley (b. 1833 North Shields C.N. 9412 Newcastle-on-Tyne 1855); 1865 Redhead.
Voyages: 1849 Sunderland for Aden.
Crichton was wrecked near Gothland on the Dutch coast on 3 October 1865. One life lost.
More detail »Cruiser 1841-1868
Sunderland: Official No. 5130: Code Letters JGKW: one deck; two & trysail masts; square rigged; square stern; carvel built wood brig; fastened with iron bolts; 219g; 85.0 x 23.0 x 15.0.
Owners: 1841 Thomas Wilkinson, Sunderland; 1848 Thomas Wilkinson, Hartlepool; 1854 Thomas Wilkinson, Robert Fawcus, James Stephenson, Hartlepool & William Ramsey, West Hartlepool; 1860 George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool.
Masters: 1841-45 Doughty; 1845 Richard Errington (b. 1833 Nortumberland C.N. 10746 Newcastle-on-Tyne 1856); November 1847 William Bowles Dawes; June 1848 Doughty; 1848-55 Thomas Boyling (C.N. 11540 Shields 1855); April 1855 Samuel Ambrose (C.N. 8394 London 1853); 1865 Williamson; 1867 Garbutt; 1867 Shaw.
Voyages: 1841-46 Sunderland for London; 1847-48 Hartlepool for Hull; 17 April 1866 anchored at Deal; 3 December 1867 On a voyage from Hartlepool for London with a crew of six, during a heavy gale, she became distressed close to the Goodwin Sands. She sent out signals which were answered by the Bradford lifeboat & a steam tug. The crew were saved by the lifeboat & with difficulty the vessel was eventually towed into Ramsgate Harbour.
Bound for Pillau Cruiser foundered off Mandal on or about 14 March 1868. Crew & part of the rigging was saved. The vessel was insured.
More detail »Fanny 1837-1860
Humber Bank, Hull: Official No. 62: Code Letters HBJD: one deck; three masts; wood barque; 250g; 92.0 x 24.0 x 16.7.
Owners: 1850 T Lane, London; 1851 Smith & Co, London; 1858 Peterhead; 1861 George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool.
Masters: 1851-57 F Smith.
Voyages: London for Adelaide.
Fanny was stranded at Hogland on the coast of Jutland on 7 October 1860 & became a wreck. Crew saved. Hartlepool registry cancelled April 1861.
More detail »Idalia 1848-1866
Yarmouth, Norfolk: Official No. 10778: Code Letters KPVL: one deck; two masts; wood brig sheathed in yellow metal; 280g; 93.3 x 21.1 x 16.4; large repairs 1858; repairs to damage 1861.
Owners: 1848 H Jay, Yarmouth; 1863 George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool.
Masters: 1849 Keith; 1850 Candler; 1851-57 J Newby; 1858-60 J Ward; 1864-66 G Gibson.
Voyages: 1854 Hartlepool for the Mediterranean.
In 1861 Idalia was stranded. The Board of Trade enquiry found the master guilty of insobriety & incapable of performing his duties so cancelled his certificate.
On a voyage from Dantzic for London with a cargo of timber Idalia was wrecked at Bodenwinkel, Poland during a severe gale on 11 December 1866. Most of the cargo was landed in January 1867.
More detail »Indian 1839-1860
Newburgh, Fife: Official No. 7167: Code Letters JRTQ: one deck; three masts; wood barque felt sheathed in yellow metal; 276g; 102.6 x 24.2 x 15.9; lengthened 1849; repairs to damage 1855; some repairs 1858.
Owners: 1849 Dundee; 1860 George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool.
Masters: 1860 Joseph Edgley (C.N. 9412 Newcastle-on-Tyne 1852).
On a voyage from Odessa with a cargo of wheat Indian was wrecked in the Black Sea near Kustendje, Roumania 60 miles from Sulina on 7 November 1860. No lives lost.
More detail »Ipswich 1845-1876
Ipswich: Official No. 24324: Code Letters NWHM: one deck; three masts; wood barque sheathed in yellow metal; 235g; 102.0 x 23.5 x 14.7; some repairs 1855, 1856 & 1862; repairs to damage 1864.
Owners: 1848 Bichard & Co, Jersey; 1861 George (died September 1869) & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool; 1869 Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool; January 1873 Robert Hutchinson & Joseph Peacock (Alma Place) West Hartlepool
Masters: 1848 G Shire; 1850-56 P Asplet; 1857-60 Langlois; 1861-62 F Musgrove; 1862-65 S Cloke; 1865 H Hicks; 1866-72 Readhead; 1873-76 Joseph Peacock.
Voyages: 1850 London for Jersey; 1862 Hartlepool for the Mediterranean; 9 February 1870 stranded in the Roads at Grimsby. A member of the crew, Adolph Mannkern of Riga, was lost overboard.
On a voyage from Hartlepool for Bremerhaven with a cargo of coal Ipswich stranded at Baltrum in the North Sea on 3 March 1876. By 6 March 1876 she had entirely disappeared. Crew saved.
More detail »Oak 1854-?
Ratcliffe, Spence, Sunderland: Official No. 14078: Code Letters LKQM: one deck; three masts; carvel built wood barque felt sheathed in yellow metal; 353g; 110.2 x 26.5 x 17.2; female figurehead; some repairs 1860; figurehead removed 28 March 1868.
Owners: 1854 Thomas, George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool; 1861 George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool.
Masters: 1854-57 John Wilkinson; 1858-66 John Ferguson; 1867 May; 1869 Patterson; 1870-75 Jacks.
Miscellaneous: Recorded by Thomas Miller, master mariner, USA on a sailing from New York for Bangkok:
‘With three others, sailed from New York 4 August 1857 on board of the British barque Oak of Hartlepool. We crossed the bar the next day with little or no wind, and laid our course S.E. by E. from the Highland Lights, losing sight of the Lights at dark that night. Our voyage was very pleasant until we crossed the line-the Equator; there, for two or three days, it was rather squally, but not enough to reef topsails. We had a good run until we made the Islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul, two lonely islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The next land we made was the Islands of Java & Sumatra about the 20th of November. Arrived at Anjiers in the Straits of Sunda about dark the same day after a passage of about one hundred & seven days from New York. Here we recruited ship with fresh provisions, such as yams, onions, sweet potatoes and fowls. On the third day we weighed anchor, and sailed out into the Straits, with the wind from S.S.W. blowing up the Straits. We passed the Two Brothers Island out in the China Sea. The first Sunday, after we entered the China Sea, at daylight, we were confronted with seventeen water spouts of huge size, some of which were over two miles off. At one time it looked as if we would be engulfed by them, for certainly, if one of them had burst on us, our good ship would have gone down. A water spout is a long column of water rising out of the sea. It begins with a little ripple on the water like a whirlwind, increasing in diameter until ten or twelve feet in size; it then rises, up and up, until it reaches the clouds. It ascends with a corkscrew motion. The only way to get clear of it is to fire a cannon into it. Sometimes the concussion will break the column, & it falls with a terrible noise & splash into the sea. As luck would have it, we had no guns to fire into the worst one ; therefore, only by an overruling, Providence and a little main strength and smartness in hauling our braces, did our good ship sail clear of the nearest one, which was very large. As it passed us, or we passed it, the noise was almost deafening. Notwithstanding our scare, the sight was perfectly grand. As it was the Northeast Monsoon, we kept well to the southward & eastward up along the coast of B.eo, commonly called the Palawan Passage. We passed large numbers of beautiful islands, until we made nearly a fair wind of it, and sailed direct for the entrance to the Gulf of Siam. We came to anchor off the bar about the 24th of December; took pilot, and crossed the bar and drifted up to Bangkok. The river is so very crooked we could not sail therefore, we drifted up with the tide, & came to anchor in mid stream on the 27th of December, after a passage of one hundred & forty days. The whole distance of about seventeen thousand miles could have been made in a ship's boat.’
December 1864 Robert Smith, a crew member, was charged with carrying out a violent assault on the master, John Ferguson, on 30 October 1864 while at sea. Smith was sentenced to 10 months hard labour.
Crew 1857;
Hatch, carpenter
Jenkins, engineer
Sharpp, young man (died December 1857 of delirium)
December 1864 a case was heard at the Court House at Lowestoft regarding a violent assault on John Ferguson, master on 30 October 1864. On a voyage from Cronstadt for London with a cargo of deals a seaman, Robert Smith had struck Ferguson in the face. He was sentenced to ten weeks hard labour.
June 1869 advertised for sale; 19 October 1869 assisted into Lowestoft with loss of anchor & chain & broken windlass having fallen foul of another vessel.
Not on the British Register as Oak by 1875.
More detail »Partisan 1827-1850
Luke Crown, Monkwearmouth, Sunderland: one deck with beams; two masts; square rigged; square stern; carvel built wood brig; 224g; 81.5 x 22.4 x 15.0.
Owners: March 1828 Henry Mitcalfe, North Shields; July 1828 William Mitcalfe (London) Henry Mitcalfe, William Taylor (carver & gilder) & John Dale, North Shields; August 1838 Martin Morris, North Shields; February 1846 Thomas Wilkinson, Hartlepool.
Masters: March 1828 George Ritchie junior; April 1828 William Taylor; September 1829-33 Harrop Pringle; April 1833 Peter Dale; 1834-37 George Crain; 1838 Martin Morris; 1839 William Brack; 1843-46 Joseph Thompson; March 1846 John Minto; October 1848 Richard Alderson; February 1849-1850 Isaac French.
Partisan was stove in by ice & foundered in the Gulf of Finland about twelve miles ESE of Hogland on 15 May 1850. Crew were taken off by the Dalston. Loss recorded by letter from Isaac French, master, to Hartlepool Customs House.
More detail »Pearl 1838-1868
Sunderland: Official No. 2763: Code Letters HQMD: one deck; two masts; square rigged; square stern; carvel built wood brig; 204g; 75.7 x 21.6 x 14.7; repairs to damage 1839.
Owners: 1838 Thomas Wilkinson, Sunderland; 1846 Thomas Wilkinson, John Duncan (Hartlepool) Robert John Sewell & Ann F Clarke (Newport, Isle of Wight) Hartlepool; September 1855 WS Pallister (Ann St. Bishopwearmouth) Cowes, Isle of Wight.
Masters: 1839-42 J Dove; 1843 J Donkin; 1843-1846 John Duncan; January 1847 John Rodd; March 1847 John Duncan; April 1853 John Ferguson; June 1854 William Abbott (C.N. 4693 Sunderland 1851); 1859-68 Calder.
Voyages: 1838 Sunderland for Cowes; 1839-42 Sunderland for Southampton; 1843-44 Hartlepool coaster.
Bound for Sunderland Pearl was abandoned in a sinking condition on 14 November 1868 15 miles off Flamborough Head after having been in collision with another vessel.
More detail »Pontannia 1825-?
St George, New Brunswick: one deck; two masts; square stern; wood; 251g; 93.0 x 24.10 x 16.6.
Owners: London; January 1853 Robert Hall, Thomas Twydale Drysdale, Miles Mason & James Brown, Hartlepool; April 1853 John Duncan & George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool.
Masters: January 1853 James Brown.
Could find nothing further on this vessel other than a Hartlepool Customs House record for 1853. The spelling of the name may be incorrect.
More detail »Shepherd 1838-1860
Sunderland: Official No. 23762: wood brig; 187t.
Owners: 1840 Hartlepool; by 1852 George & Matthew Wilkinson & Co (Hartlepool) Sunderland.
Masters: 1841-52 Shepherd (d. 14 September 1852 aboard ship at sea); 1857-61 Biddlecomb.
Insured with the local Mutual Marine.
Voyages: 19 November 1857 from Hartlepool she suffered damage in a collision with the Norwegian schooner Maria off Harwich; June 1858 picked up the only survivor, Ross aged 19, from a capsized Filey fishing coble about five miles off Flamborough Head. The other two men aboard the coble had drowned.
Shepherd left Hartlepool with a cargo of coal but due to a heavy sea she returned & struck on Middleton Sand near to the jetty on 23 December 1860. She was driven further up the beach by the heavy seas, overturning & becoming a total wreck.
More detail »Union 1798-1872
Bridport: Official No. 20965: Code Letters NDJQ: one deck; wood schooner; 95g; 73nt; lengthened & thorough repairs 1809; lengthened & thorough repairs 1824; Lloyds registers of 1813 to 1818 records the vessel as having two guns; some repairs 1836 & 1845; repair to damage 1846.
Owners: 1807 D Davis; 1813 P Head & Co, London; 1842 P Head & Co, Ramsgate; 1844 Thomas Wilkinson, Stockton-on-Tees; 1846-48 Thomas Wilkinson, Hartlepool; by 1864 John Rutherford, Sunderland; 1867-68 William Kirkwood, Sunderland; by 1870 John Fenron, Sunderland.
Masters: 1807-09 D Davis; 1813-43 P Head; 1844-48 Wilkinson; 1872 Miller.
Voyages: 1844-45 Hartlepool coaster; 1846-47 Berwick coaster.
On a voyage from Port Gordon for Sunderland in ballast & with a crew of three Union had to bear up for Orkney & drove ashore on the island of Flotta on 2 January 1872 & was wrecked. No lives lost.
More detail »Vesper 1850-1869
Washington: Official No. 22843: Code Letters NPDT: one & break deck; two masts; square stern; carvel built wood snow; 209g; 87.0 x 24.7 x 15.5; female bust figurehead -removed 7 December 1855.
Owners: 1850 Thomas, George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool; 1855 George (Church Walk) & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool.
Masters: 1850-51 Martin Poll; 10 March 1854-58 John Ferguson; 1864-65 S Chapman; 1869 James Kitteringham (b. 1833 Lynn C.N. 30240 Sunderland 1867).
On a voyage from Gefle for Hartlepool with a crew of six & a cargo of deals & iron Vesper went ashore on the South Gare Breakwater, Redcar & was wrecked on 18 October 1869 during fierce storms. Her master was washed overboard & drowned & one of the crew sustained a compound fracture of the leg.
Life lost October 1869;
Kitteringham, James, master
More detail »Wilkinsons 1852-1863
Havelock & Robson, Sunderland: Official No. 26144: Code Letters PJVT: one deck; two masts; standing bowsprit; square stern; carvel built wood snow; 218g; 99.6 x 22.4 x 14.6; female bust figurehead; new keelson & some repairs 1857; repairs to damage 1859; some repairs 1861.
Owners: 1852 Thomas, George & Matthew Wilkinson, Hartlepool; 1854 George & Matthew Wilkinson & William Watson, Hartlepool.
Masters: 1852-54 William Allen; March 1854 John Wilkinson; September 1854 Robert Hammond; 1857-59 S Ambrose; 1860-63 G Moore.
Wilkinsonswas lost during fierce gales in the Bay of Biscay on 18 November 1863.
Lives lost November 1863;
Carter, John, seaman, 20 (son of John & Mary)
Moore, G, master
More detail »