Alexander William Ainslie RN (1855 - abt. 1880)

Born 7 Nov 1855 in Corfe, Somerset, England

Ancestors

Died about 16 Feb 1880 at about age 24 in At sea

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Biography

Alexander was born at Corfe, Somerset in 1855, the son of the Rev. Alexander Ainslie, Incumbent of the parish of Corfe, and Catherine Susan Sadler.^[1][2]

1861 census enumeration (England):

• Alexander Ainslie, head, married, age 30, Perpetual Curate of Corfe; born in Hammersmith, Middlesex
• Catherine Susan, wife, age 27, Clergyman’s Wife, born in France (British Subject)
• Alexander William, son, age 5; born in Corfe, Somerset
• Laura Gertrude, daughter, age 4, born in do.
• Kathleen Newton, daughter, age 2, born in do.
• Ellen Macan, daughter, age 1, born in do.
• Ralph St. John, son, age 2 mo., born in do.
• Emily Sadler, sister in law, unmarried, age 25, born in France (British Subject)
• household servants (4)
• census place: Parsonage, Corfe, Somerset.^[3]

Lieut. Alexander William Ainslie was serving aboard the H.M.S. Atalanta, which ship went missing after it touched at Bermuda while sailing for England in February, 1880. No trace of the ship was ever found, and gales that had blown fiercely from 12th – 16th February were thought to be the culprit. All aboard were presumed lost.^[4][5]

News extract from the Jersey Independent and Daily Telegraph, 1 May 1880:

THE MISSING SHIP ATALANTA.

Lloyd’s agent at Lisbon telegraphs that the captain of the mail steamer which arrived there on Monday from the Azores, states that nothing was known of the Atalanta when he left St. Michael’s on April 17.

A correspondent informs us that among the officers on board the Atalanta was Lieutenant Alexander Willliam Ainslie, whose name has been omitted from all the published lists. He sailed in her last November as one of her sub-lieutenants, but has since been promoted and placed nominally on half-pay as lieutenant. It is for this reason that his name does not appear in the current Navy List. He is the son of the Rev. Alexander Colvin Ainslie, vicar of Henstridge, Blandford.

Our Correspondent at Portsmouth telegraphs last night:—"The captain of sailing merchant-man who left Bermuda on the very same day as the Atalanta, viz., the 31st January, is now staying in the Isle of Wight[.] The gale of that night he describes as the worst he had ever encountered. He was compelled to take in every stitch of canvas. A stout tarpaulin to keep the ship's head to the wind was all he dared expose. The most depressing fact in connection with the Atalanla has often been affirmed, viz., that, notwithstanding the traffic on this highway, there is no evidence at present that the ship has ever been seen; but there is on the other hand a consideration which encourages hope and deserves mention. If the vessel herself has not been seen, all traces of her are also missing. It is highly improbable, however that in capsizing a ship would carry down everything with her. On the morning of the 17th September, 1870, the combined squadron under the command of Sir Alexander Milne had not long to search for their missing consort, the turret-ship Captain,the most conclusive evidence of her fate being afforded in the shape of gear which had become disengaged during her last terrible plunge. Boats, spars, hatchways, and moveable articles of various kinds might be expected to escape from the Atalanta in similar circumstances, and if the fact that none have been found be not very strong evidence either way the circumstance may at any rate stated for what it is worth.”

Another Portsmouth correspondent telegraphs: "As no news concerning the Channel squadron arrives anxiety increases, and to-day there have been more inquiries than ever respecting the Atalanta. The anxiety, however amongst naval officers is felt in a very diminished degree, and takes the form of commiseration for those who have friends on board rather than for the officers and seamen themselves. While they believe the latter have suffered little no mishap, they cannot but sympathise with those whose apprehensions are so apparent. They point to the fact that the ship is less than three weeks overdue, and this is so common an occurrence at this season of the year with sailing ships that they appear surprised that such despair has been manifested. Day after day those who concur with the authorities are finding precedents for graver cases which were unaccompanied by disastrous results, and to-day sailors who have been all their lives connected with Portsmouth, are discussing the case of a Spanish cattle ship which only recently took thirty-six days in performing the passage from Corunna to Portsmouth, a voyage which ordinarily occupies four days, notwithstanding the fact that the ship in question was specially designed to weather the averse winds of the Channel, she was, however, driven seaward, and when she came into harbour, although she was considerably damaged, no lives were lost. Of the stability of the Atalanta and the qualities of Captain Stirling and his officers doubts are entertained, while the crew, although ordinary seamen, had many of them been on a voyage or two before, so that that there is little fear entertained of their having suffered from panic during the terrible gales the ship must have encountered. Some fear is felt lest probably the ship may have caught fire, and thus been destroyed, but this is regarded as improbable, as she was provided with hand pumps and other means for preventing such an occurrence, and this is one of the duties in which even ordinary seamen are well instructed. It is thought that one of the first tasks of the new Board of Admiralty will be to consider the whole question of training brigs, and a proposal which finds favour with some authorities is the abandonment of the principal [sic] of sending such ships on long voyages alone. The rumour that the Atalanta had been picked up and towed into St. John's, Newfoundland, caused great excitement amongst the daily inquirers this morning, but as no announcement confirming the report was posted outside the dock gates, the hypothesis, for as such it was regarded, was eventually abandoned."—Daily News of Saturday.^[6]

Extract from the Naval & Military Gazette and Weekly Chronicle of the United Service, 5 May 1880:

The Officers of the “Atalanta.”

The following details of the services, &c., of the officers of the missing training-ship will prove of interest at the present moment: …

LIEUTENANT ALEXANDER WILLIAM AINSLIE is son of the Rev. Alexander Colvin Ainslie, vicar of Henstridge, Blandford, Dorset. He entered the Navy as a cadet, 18th August, 1869, served as a midshipman of the Lord Warden, Captain William Coddington, under the flag of Admiral Sir James Drummond, G.C.B., in the Mediterranean, and was promoted sub-lieutenant in September, 1875. He served in the following year in the Cygnet on the same station, and was promoted to lieutenant, 8th December, 1879, while serving in the Atalanta. His name has been omitted from all the published lists, but has been furnished by the Admiralty as one of those on board the training-ship.^[7]

Research notes

• Estimated date of death:—The final date during which a fierce winter gale blew in the north Atlantic has been used to approximate the date of death.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Church of England. Parish of Corfe, Somerset. Baptism of Alexander William Ainslie; son of Alexander Colvin Ainslie, Clerk, and Catherine Susan (his wife), 9th December 1855 by A.C. Ainslie, Incumbent. Original record: Anglican Parish Registers. Somerset Archives & Local Studies, South West Heritage Trust, Taunton, England (ref. Baptisms in Corfe, 1855, pg. 38, no. 377). Digital image online at ancestry.ca (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick by subscription, 2018-07-26).
2. ↑ Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser, 14 November 1855 (pg 5). Birth notice: “Nov. 7, at Corfe, near Taunton, the wife of the Rev. A.C. Ainslie, of a son.” Digital image online at The British Newspaper Archive, britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk (accessed by subscription, and transcribed by Alison Kilpatrick 2018-07-26).
3. ↑ England 1861 Census. Alexander Ainslie, age 30, Perpetual Curate of Corfe, with wife, Catherine Susan (27), born in France, and children; living at the Parsonage in Corfe, Somerset. Original record: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1861; PRO ref. RG9, piece 1613, folio 78, pg. 15, household schedule no. 71; Taunton registration district, Pitminster sub-registration district, enumeration district no. 12. Digital image online at ancestry.ca (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick 2018-07-27, by subscription).
4. ↑ Dundee Evening Telegraph, 6 July 1880 (pg 1). Death notice: “Lost, in H.M.S. Atalanta, Lieutenant Alexander William Ainslie, R.M., aged 24, eldest son of the Rev. Alexander Colvin Ainslie, Vicar of Henstridge, Prebendary of Wells.” Digital image online at The British Newspaper Archive, britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk (accessed by subscription, and transcribed by Alison Kilpatrick 2018-07-24).
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} The Dreadnought Project. “H.M.S. Atalanta (1878).” Description; sailing from Bermuda, encountered gales 12th-16th February 1880. Online at www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/H.M.S._Atalanta_(1878) (accessed by Alison Kilpatrick, 2018-07-26).
6. ↑ Jersey Independent and Daily Telegraph, 1 May 1880 (pg 6). “The Missing Ship Atalanta.” Lieut. Alexander William Ainslie, son of the Rev. Alexander Colvin Ainslie, missing. Digital image online at The British Newspaper Archive, britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk (accessed by subscription, and transcribed by Alison Kilpatrick 2018-07-26).
7. ↑ Naval & Military Gazette and Weekly Chronicle of the United Service, 5 May 1880 (pg 7). “The Officers of the ‘Atalanta.’ Brief sketch of Lieutenant Alexander William Ainslie. Digital image online at The British Newspaper Archive, britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk (accessed by subscription, and transcribed by Alison Kilpatrick 2018-07-26).