People Ships Industry
1900 April 19th Three lads from Maryport who stowed away on Hine’s ‘Greta Holme’ were landed and put in-gaol at New Orleans until the ship returned. ARm
1902 February 1st Having obtained the sanction of Chancery Court, Maryport Harbour Commissioners are arranging to payoff £9,000 in Class I of their harbour mortgages out of Sinking Fund. Bonds to be discharged will be selected by ballot on March 1st 1902. ARm
1902 March 8th Decline in Shipping Values The steamer ‘Rydal Holme’ was sold to Bailey and Leatham of Hull. The vessel was purchased 12 months ago from Hine Bros. of Maryport by a Newcastle man who paid £20,000 for her. Now sold for £13,700 including survey costs, and now another firm is negotiating for £12,000. ARm
1902 The ‘Lycidas’ 576 tons sideways launching Ritson built photo. The firm built almost 90 vessels after taking over the yard from John Peat.
The photo is of this ship originally was built in Britain as Lycidas and served later as Buk and Vides Kichkar before being named Chang. Siamese Naval Transport Phyayom. The photo is Chang (Thai Naval Transport, 1902-1962) photographed on October 15, 1935. Chang registered as NH 92039 was a Thai Naval Transport. This ship worked from 1902 – 1962.
Photo Pictures Ship Building and Launching ) maritime-history-annie-robinson/ page 10 Maryport Shipping by Herbert and Mary Jackson –
Photo Harbour Maritime Miscellany and ladies broadside launch Shipbuilding 1840-1910 Ritson Yard
1902 – 1914 William Walker launched 11 ships between 1902 and 1914.
The final broadside launch to take place at Maryport was that of the Rhenais in April 1914, but the actual launch was the Silverburn which took place on August 8th, 1914, four after war had been declared on Germany. Maryport Shipping by Herbert and Mary Jackson
Photograph of Captain Robert W Walker of Maryport who taught the Japanese the art of shipbuilding circa 1878. Robinson p21
Mr. W. Walker of Maryport took over the Ritson Yard in 1902 and launched a dozen vessels up to 1911 as well as carrying on the business of ship repairing. The first vessel down the ways was the “St. Catherine” a steel steamer of 442 tons, while the largest steamer built by Walker’s 1908 was “Ruth“, at 549 tons, named by his daughter when only ten years of age. The “Zenitieth” was the last broadside launch, while the “Endcliff” was launched conventionally in 1911 . Shipbuilding 1902-1911 William Walker Annie Robinson
1903 Hougomont four masted barque stranded at Allonby.
Sea Breezes magazine June and July 1927 were devoted to Marport. The picture of Hougomont forms an appropriate front cover; her adventures in the Solway are vividly described in an article within. 6,500 copies of the magazine were sold out by 3rd June!
Ship Survives Many Vicissitudes
The casualty which overtook the four-mast barque Hougomont on 27th February 1903, when she stranded on the front doorstep of the little village of Allonby, is not yet forgotten in West Cumberland. This fine vessel, 2,240 tons net register, built in 1897, was a unit of Messrs. John Hardie’s fleet of big sailers, many of which bore names reminiscent of Napoleonic battlefields.
The Hougomont left San Francisco on 9th October 1902 bound for Liverpool with a crew of thirty under the command of Captain C. Lowe, who was accompanied by his wife. The cargo consisted of 1,000 tons of wheat and 1,000 tons of barley in bags, together with 1,900 tons of tinned fruits and salmon in cases.
After an uneventful passage of 123 days Hougomont arrived off Point Lynas but was unable to obtain either tug or pilot. The weather being southerly and dirty at the time she was driven to leeward. On the morning of 25th February 1903, Maryport people were treated to a magnificent sight as a lofty four-master came sailing up the Solway Firth with nearly every stitch of canvas set. The crowd watched her reduce sail and saw her smartly rounded to an anchor in Maryport Roads, there the await a tug boat.
Speculation was rife as to her identity as no such vessel was expected in Cumbrian ports. It was the Hougomont. The owners sent the Brilliant Star to tow her to her destination and they set off at 4pm on the 26th but destiny had prepared adventure for the Hougomont, as we shall see.
The weather broke that night. A sou’west gale of hurricane violence which was experienced throughout the British Isles, sprang up and scattered desolation on land and sea. During the night tug and tow parted company. The Brilliant Star managed to reach Maryport Harbour in a battered condition and reported the loss of her charge.
Meantime Hougomont drove up the Solway at the mercy of wind and tide. Captain Lowe, who had commanded big ships for over 30 years, stated that in all his long experience he had never spent such a night afloat. Rockets were sent up and distress signals displayed but the weather conditions prevented their being seen. Finally, the vessel stranded at six in the morning at Allonby Bay, but she was not observed until day broke, when her towering mizzen and jigger masts showed up above the haze which enveloped her.
Full article from Sea Breezes with photos at 1903 Hougomont Stranded at Allonby
1903 William Walker Lloyds Agent Ship Builder Ship Repairer and Engineer Ship Chandler 1903. Source Robinson p20 Harbour Maritime Miscellany –
1904 Maryport gravestone; In St. Paul ‘s Church, Dock Street, Whitechapel, London, is a memorial tablet stating:
‘To the Glory of God and in memory of the following officers and men of the Barque ‘Briar Holme’ of Maryport which was lost near Port Darwin, Tasmania on November 5th 1904.’
This tablet is erected by the boarders of The Sailors’ Home. John H. Rich, master; Robert Disney, mate; Ernest James Millett, 2nd mate. Crew – John Pollard, Victor Anderson, W. Miller, A. Rydberg, Philip Kanivet, Alexander O. Goull, William Dobie, M. Friesen, George Tarbet. Apprentices – Edward Saddler, Philip Dulliag, Ernest Cyril Baker, Richard A.C. Saunders, William R. Arnold, James A.S. Nowell. ‘Until the day break’.
The ‘Briar Holme’ with Captain J.H. Rich of Maryport in Command was on a voyage from London to Hobart, Tasmania and was to retire on its return to London to his home at Maryport overlooking his beloved Solway Firth. ARm HS
1906 The Wreck Of “The Iredale” An iron ship built by Ritson’s in 1886. 1448.tons. Left Maryport June 21st 1906. Lost with all hands on July 13th 1906. See picture in ARm
With every rise and ebb of tide And every angry storm,
A thousand seas have surged inside Her broken, rusting form.
Defiant both to time and sea Her sunken stanchions stand;
Her broken ribs and toppled masts Protruding from the sand.
Torment by each tempest wild, A plaything for the wind.
What sealed the fate of this iron hulk As though a ship had sinned?
Many tides have ebbed and flowed Since she broke upon the beach;
A hundred storms have lashed the shore Since the first fatal breach.
Battered and scarred by seething seas, Sore wrenched by every gale;
Standing stark through the passing years, The wreck of the Iredale.
ARm
1908 September 30th Captain John Johnstone died at Maryport on, aged 71 years.
He was Commodore of Holme Line Steamers and began his sea life in 1850 on board ‘Port of Maryport’, a schooner built in Woods Yard.
He joined the ‘Great Jam’ in 1856 launched from Ritsons Yard, the biggest wooden vessel launched in Maryport.
He joined the ‘Martha Grace’ schooner in 1859, and was in the galley of the ‘Staffordshire’ in 1862 and was master on the ‘Euphemia’ in 1867 a vessel which belonged to the late J. Dobie of Maryport.
In 1872 he joined Hine Bros. of Maryport and commanded the Barque ‘Glenfallock’ and in 1876 was Captain on the ‘Briar Holme’ and later the ‘Loughrigg Holme’ and the ‘Isel Holme’. ARm
1908 – 1981 Forty Koppers coke ovens were built at Risehow.
Although the ironworks closed in 1927, coal was carried by the Risehow tramway until 1968. Open cast workings on Broughton Moor then sent coal by road to Maryport Washery. In 1981 a merrygo- round train loading point was built at the former Dock Junction site to load 1,500 tonne trains for power stations at Roosecote, Fiddlers Ferry and then Rugeley. The main line along the shore past Flimby was severely damaged in storms in 1977 when a mile of track was lifted 50ft inland! Railway Routes in Cumberland
1911 advert states, K. Wood & Sons (1832) well known shipbuilders and repairers, and as stated
“Ships were taken into the yard to repair upon iron rails, while an advert in the local paper of December 6th, 1911 stated that a patch of ground of the N. W. side of Strand Street, Maryport containing 2,495 ½ square yards or thereabouts and formerly occupied as Wood’s Shipbuilding and repairing yard was for sale by public auction, the annual ground rent being £4. 13. 0d.”
1914 William Walker launched 11 ships between 1902 and 1914. The final broadside launch to take place at Maryport was that of the Rhenais in April 1914, but the actual launch was the Silverburn which took place on August 8th, 1914, four after war had been declared on Germany.
1915 James Glavin, who sailed on the ‘Alabama’, a ship in the service of the Confederate States of North America during the Civil War begun in 1861 – died on January 31st 1915 and buried in the Maryport cemetery. HS
1919 Maryport gravestone; Tom Sinten Raven aged 29 years lost at sea on December 18th 1919 on is outward bound passage to America, as a result of fire on board his ship and buried at Louisburg, Nova Scotia, also his brother Joseph Bell Raven, aged 35 years drowned at sea and buried at Bilbao, Spain. HS
1919 Sea Breezes started life in 1919 as the in-house organ of the Liverpool shipping firm, Pacific Steam Navigation Company (PSNC), but soon expanded its focus to include news about commercial shipping in general. Initially, ten editions were produced each year.
This was the case until the late 1930s, when, to further reflect this change in focus, and the awareness that shipping was of considerable interest – not only to seafarers – but many people from all walks of life, the title was changed to Sea Breezes – The Ship Lovers’ Magazine. Sea Breezes June July 1927
1920 Maryport gravestone; Lieutenant Commander Alexander Smith Tweedie for 14 years Chief Engineer with Grace and Co., New York who was drowned at Callao on May 6th 1920. Aged 40 years. HS
1923 Maryport & Carlisle Railway became part of LMS London Midland Scottish CRA
1927 Signalling at sea before reliable maritime radio. A novel view shewing [sic] top of charthouse and foremast of a steamer communicating with Breaksea Island, Australia. Sea Breezes July 1927. Harbour Maritime Miscellany
1927 Sea Breezes Magazine articles
1934 Maryport Life-Boat rescue of ss Plawsworth crew by Maryport’s first motorised lifeboat the Priscilla Macbean which was launched in 1931. Paid for by Mr. E Macbean and named in memory of his wife, she served for three years.
Article from the 1934 Journal of the RNLI The Life-Boat about the s.s. Plawsworth rescue
The service described in this article was the service to the s.s. Plawsworth, a 2,500-ton steamer of Newcastle-on-Tyne, which went ashore at Workington, on 17th January last [1934]. A south-west gale was blowing, so that the wreck was six miles to windward of Maryport. Coxswain Thomas Q. Keay was awarded the bronze medal, in recognition of the conspicuous skill] with which he handled the life-boat; and the motor mechanic, Mr. A. E. Jolly, the author of this account, received the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum. A letter of thanks was sent to Mr. Walker T. Moore, the honorary secretary of the Maryport station, and the coxswain and each member of his crew received an award of £2 8s. 6d. An account of the service appeared in The Life-boat for last June.
Full article at 1934 Maryport Life-Boat rescue of ss Plawsworth crew
1938 Maryport gravestone; February 3rd Captain Arnold Crone of Maryport and master of ‘Dover Abbey’ killed when ship was bombed at Valencia in Spanish Civil War. ARm
1939 World War 2 – Your Gas Mask & Masking Your Windows. 1939 Gas mask and masking your windows WW2 advice
1953 Photos of Maryport harbour with dredgers Harbour build and dredge and Pictures of Steam Ships
1963 Shadow of the Depression: Extract from The Sunday Times 20 January 1963
There cannot surely be many industrial areas in this or any other country more isolated than the Cumberland coast between Maryport and Whitehaven. A branch railway line from Carlisle reaches Maryport first; out of the kind of habit which Dr Beecham is trying to break, the train stops there. Before the war half the insured population of Maryport was unemployed. Today, as a town, it has already died. Its harbour is silted up. 1963 The Shadow of The Depression
1963 Methodist: Brow Street and Kirkby Street congregations joined. Surveys were done on both buildings. The Brow Street building was deemed unsafe due to its closeness to the cliff rendering its foundations unsure. The Kirkby Street building was therefore the chosen meeting place and Brow Street closed. Shortly after the closure of the Brow Street building the interior was gutted by fire and the building demolished.
1967 The decision was taken to build a new church building as the Kirkby Street building was in a poor state of repair.
1983 Maryport Steamships including The Flying Buzzard
The Flying Buzzard tug was sold in 1983 for non-payment of harbour fees to the Maryport Steamship Co. Three years later she was purchased by Allerdale District Council, with the VlC 96, as the basis of a steamship museum in the Elizabeth Dock at Maryport.
The Flying Buzzard was built in 1951 by Ferguson Brothers of Port Glasgow for the Clyde Shipping Co. of Greenock. The prefix ‘Flying’ was used on a succession of tugs belonging to Clyde Shipping, dating from 1856 when the Flying Childes was built at Shields, apparently named after a famous racehorse. In 1951 there were a further nine boats with ‘ Flying’ in their name belonging to the company, and two earlier ships had been named Flying Buzzard, built in 1895 and 1900 respectively. Two other tugs were built in 1951 as sister ships to the Buzzard, the Flying Merlin and the Flying Petrel. The latter worked regularly at Workington. These three were the last steamships to be built for the Clyde Shipping Co. by Ferguson Brothers.
The “puffers” earned their nickname from their engines, which originally did not have condensers, so the exhaust steam went straight up the funnel, like a traction engine
In 1981 the vessel was purchased to become part of an array of steam vessels in Maryport Docks. She was steamed all the way from London’s Limehouse basin to Newcastle. This was a remarkable journey for a ship of her age, although, unfortunately, she did run our of coal on the way and had to put into Bridlington for a fresh supply. From Newcastle the VIC 96 proceeded up to Scotland, through the Caledonian Canal, then down to Maryport.
Five years later, in 1986, the VlC 96 was purchased by Allerdale District Council, with the Flying Buzzard. The VIC was not in such good condition as the Buzzard and there began a period of restoration which was to last several years.
The Restoration of the VIC 96 described by the Engineer Joe Cochrane
‘At first viewing the VIC 96 was a horrifying sight. There was no wheelhouse. The top of the funnel was corroded so badly that it was holding on by approximately threequarters of its circumference. At most there were ten or twelve hatch boards remaining and the canvas hatch cover was in shreds. A rather dilapidated companionway, with a broken bottom step and no handrail, led from the starboard aft hatch coaming down into the hold. The hold itself was full of rubbish, including a cast steel skip partly full of stone ballast. When the skip was raised we found that it had been placed in that position to secure a wooden plug being used as a stopper where penetration of the hull plating had occurred, just inboard of the tum of the bilge. We replaced the skip very quickly!.
At a convenient time, arranged with the Harbour Master, the dock was allowed to empty. With the VIC 96 sitting on the bottom of the dock and the plugged section clear of the water, the skip was removed and the area surrounding the plug thoroughly cleaned. A box to the depth of the frame on each side of the plug was formed, enclosing the plug. The box was then filled with concrete. When this was done the hold was completely cleared out. The next stage was to replace the timber ceiling, which was almost totally rotten and unsafe to walk on. This was achieved using timber recycled from an old mill being demolished near Egremont.
At the same time it was decided to increase the ship’s draught in order to reduce the effect of wind and sea swell entering the dock when the dock gates were open. This made the VIC 96 more comfortable for visitors. The method used to increase her draught was to fill the space below the ceiling with permanent ballast in the form of concrete, the depth and spread of which had to be calculated precisely. As it was planned to present the ship as a museum, we felt that there should be access from the hold into the engine room so that the machinery could be included as an important part of the tour. To achieve this the starboard coal bunker was converted into a passageway linking the two spaces.
Full history from the publication at 1951 Maryport Steamships The Flying Buzzard
2023 Ship breaking Maryport shore Harbour views
Ship which sank in Maryport Harbour broken by contractors on coast
Jean Paul being broken on Maryport’s coast on Monday, March 4 (reported in Ship which sank in Maryport Harbour broken by contractors on coast | Times and Star ) A ship which sank in West Cumbrian harbour was broken on the coast yesterday afternoon (March 4 2024). The Jean Paul, a wooden fishing vessel, was destroyed on the beach by Maryport Harbour after it sank last month. Ship Breaking