Bristol (merchant ship)
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Location: Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales, United Kingdom
Surnames/tags: Merchant_Navy Chepstow Buckham
Contents |
Summary
The Bristol was built in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales by Buckle and Davis in 1818. She was a fully-rigged ship with three square rigged masts and had a bust of a woman's head on the prow. She was 111' long and almost 30' wide.
She was an East India Company ship and travelled widely across all the known continents including as far as Ecuador and Peru, Quebec and India. Initially registered at Bristol, she was reregistered on 26 April 1826 to London. In many newspaper reports she is referred to as 'The Bristol of London'.
The Bristol was reclassified as a Barque in 1840 meaning her rigging was changed to have only 2 square-rigged sails.
She was reported lost at Ilha do Fogo, Cape Verde on 23 December 1845 on her way to Bombay, with her crew being saved.
Masters
- Samuel Owen (1818)
- William Buckham (1819-25)
- Isaac Riches (1826-39)
- Lawson (1840)
- Joseph Cowart(1843-45)
Owners
1818
- Edward Kidd
- George Fisher Jr
- John Tomlinson
- Joseph Reynolds
- Richard Llewellin Fisher
- William Buckham (also Master)
1821
- RL Fisher sold his shares to Edward Kidd
1824
- Edward Kidd - 21 shares
- George Fisher Jr - 21 shares
- Thomas Bryant - 11 shares
- William Buckham - 11 shares
Voyages
| Year | From | To | Known Stops |
| 1821 | Bristol | Calcutta | Madeira |
| 1821 | London | Lima | |
| 1826 | Liverpool | Straights (Gibraltar or Singapore?) | |
| 1829 | Liverpool | Antigua | |
| 1843 | London | ||
| 1843 | London | ||
| 1845 | London | Bombay | Deal, Falmouth, Cape Verde |
Details
Newly-built
The Bristol was built in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales by Buckle and Davis in 1818.[1]
She was built as a fully-rigged ship (denoted as just 'ship' rather than a barque or brig in records). This meant she had three masts, all with square rigging.[2] She was built of English Oak, had three decks and had a designated tonnage of between 415 and 418 register tons, which was a measurement of how much cargo she could store, rather than the weight of the ship. Detailed information about the build of the vessel can be found in the survey records on the Lloyds Register Foundation website (look under Related documents for the survey reports.
In 1829, Lloyd's Register notes that the Bristol was being captained by a J Riches on a voyage to Antigua. It is thought that this is an error as it is known that Isaac Riches (1778-1849) was the captain for other voyages including a trip to Alexandria.
In 1840 the ship was refitted with new rigging and was categorised as a Barque for the first time. This means that the rear or 'mizen' mast was changed from square rigging to being 'fore and aft rigged'. The silhouette image in the gallery shows this more easily than what I could only describe as "triangle sails".
Early Voyages, Bristol Registered
1819 : Bristol - Calcutta via Madeira
On 5 April 1819, the Bristol was reported as having arrived at Madeira, bound for Calcutta under Captain Buckham.[3]
On 26 July, it was reported that the Bristol had been seen and spoken with on 5th April, at coordinates that place it some way off the coast of what is now Liberia, close to the equator. This is a long way south of Madeira indicating that the earlier report must have been delayed news. [4]
1825 : Alexandria - Liverpool
On 23 Feb, the Bristol arrived at Liverpool, but sustained damage after getting stuck on Mile House Rock. She was however successfully recovered. [5]
I found this reference to Mile House Rocks from 1875 which indicates that the stranding occurred well into the estuary.
On the 1851 OS map there is a substantial sand bank either side of the entrance to Clarence Basin, but not other docks. [7] |
The 1826 Lloyds register (underwriters) mentions a large repair, which would match this incident.
Bristol of London
c1824
1829 : London - Gibraltar
On 7 Feb 1829, the Bristol set sail from London heading for Gibraltar. It was carrying both cargo and passengers. The following advert was placed in the Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser on 30 Jan and 3 Feb preceding her departure.[8]
| To GIBRALTAR—For Passengers only. THE fine First-class Ship BRISTOL, of 415 tons register, Capt. Isaac Riches, lying in the London Dock Basin; with very superior Accommodations, having a poop deck. Will positively leave Grave end on Saturday, the 7th of February. As there are only a few Births disengaged, immediate application should be made on board; or to Messrs. G. L. JACKSON and SONS, 11, Water-lane, Tower-street. |
Classified as a Barque
c1840
In 1843 the 31-year-old Capt. Joseph Coward was made Captain of the Bristol. His Merchant Seamen records indicate the Bristol may have undertaken two voyages, both departing from London. There are two dated entries shown on the Merchant Seamen records. The first dated on 16 Jan 1843 and the second 21 Oct 1843 and give the Bristol the port register number of 437. [9] It is possible that the first entry is when he was made captain and the second is a voyage as Capt. Coward was married in March that year.
1845 Final Voyage
The Bristol, under Capt. Cowart, set off from London on it's final voyage bound for Bombay. Her first stop was on 12 Nov 1845, when the Bristol is reported as having "arrived from the river" (Thames) at Deal.[10] She also stopped at Falmouth on 16 Nov.[11]
The loss of the ship was announced in the papers in March 1846, several months after the ship was lost at Ilha do Fogo, Cape Verde. (Fogo is Portuguese for fire; fuego is Spanish for fire.)
| LLOYD'S SHIPPING
LOSS OF THE BRISTOL A letter has ben received at Lloyd's from the Foreign-office, enclosing a copy of a despatch from her Majesty's Consul at Cape Verd islands, reporting the total loss of the Bristol. Joseph Cowart, master, on the Island of Fuego, 23rd December last; crew saved. [12] |
Research notes
There are more Lloyd's register records to catalogue
There are plenty of newspaper archive records. It is difficult to search for "Bristol" but searching for the captain's name works quite well. I plan to work through those for Isaac Riches, but the other captains are listed here too and would give a more complete list of the ships voyages.
Search Lloyds list / newspaper articles between 1845 and 1855 to see when it was last reported or if there was a record of it sinking etc.
Crewlist.org.uk has entries for pre-1855 vessels named Bristol registered in London. Two records have the right tonnage and are in the right time frame (1840). It looks like these records might be accessible from the National Archives at Kew (BT 98/358). [13]
Buckham may have been captain of the Albion prior to the Bristol. Both appear to have been East India Company ships (see newspaper archives c.1818). But there may have been more than one Buckham as there is a report from April 1819 showing him arriving at Bristol (port) on the Albion, after the Bristol (ship) set sail https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002920/18190421/032/0006, although it is possible this is a delayed copy report as there is one with very similar text from Oct 1818. "Arrival of the First East Indiaman at Bristol.- Tuesday morning, the Albion, CApt. Buckham, belonging to Messrs. Fishers and Co. laden with sugar, rice, cotton, indogo &c. arrives in this port, direct from Calcutta. She is the first vessel arrived here since the partial openeing of the East India trade; she came into King Road with her studding sails, top-gallants, &c. all set, and fires a salute of 14 guns. ... The Albion sailed from Calcutta the 6th of May, arrived at the Cape the 29th July, sailed the 4th of August, passed St. Helena the 27th, Ascension the 1st September, and Cape de Verde the 16th... Passengers- R.H. Tullah, lady and family to the Cape, Capt. Stanhope, of the 53d regiment, D. M. Laughton, Esq. to Bristol, &c. &c. - (Bristol Paper.)" Bristol Mercury might have a better report. Records of Bristol ships p68 shows him as Master and co-owner of the Albion (same as the Bristol). It was co-owned with the same gentlemen as the Bristol. He is shown as William Buckham, a mariner from Bristol.
There is also a report of a Buckham as master of the Morning Star sailing for Ceylon in May 1826 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002408/18260906/030/0004
Sources
Lloyds Register
These records have been taken from the scanned images of Lloyd's Registers taken from the Lloyd's Register Foundation, Heritage and Education Centre website. [14] Each year is linked directly to the image showing the record for the Bristol where possible.
| Year | ID Image | Details | Master | Tonnage | Built | Age Year Built | Owner | Draught | Survey | Destination |
| 1821 Shipowners | 476 95 | Ship, sheathed with copper in 1819 | Buckham | 427 | Chepstow | (18)18 | Fisher & Co | 18 | Bristol, had Proved Iron Cables and was of A1 classification (1st Class with 1st class stores) surveyed in 1819 | Calcutta |
| 1821 Underwriters | 476 84 | Shipwith 3 decks, sheathed with copper in 1819 | Buckhm Buchan | 427 | Chepstow | 3 | Fisher & Co (illegible) | 18 | Bristol, had Proved Iron Cables and was of A1 classification (1st Class with 1st class stores) surveyed in 1819 | Bristol - India London - Lima |
| 1826 Shipowners | 449 92 | Ship Sheathed with copper in 1824 and again in 1825 with repairs. | Bingham Riches | 427 | Chepstow | 1819 | Fisher & Co | 18 | 1st Class with 1st class materials, possibly in April | London - Triest Liverpool - Alexandria |
| 1826 Underwriters | 464 90 | Ship with 3 decks Sheathed with copper in 1824 and with patent felt in 1825. There was a large repair done but the date is unclear. | Brinkham Riches | 496 415 tons | Chepstow | 8 | Kidd & Co Deighton & | 18 | Liverpool in November, had Proved Iron Cables and was of 1st Class with 1st class materials | Str'ts |
| 1829 Underwriters | 510 94 | Ship with 3 decks. She was sheathed with copper and had some repairs in 1829 | J Riches | 418 | Chepstow | 11 | Briggs & Co | 18 | Liverpool between Jan and April, had Proved Iron Cables and was of 2nd Class with 1st class stores | Antigua |
- The 1821b record has "x8" by the record of the sheathing and the survey but this must be an error as this would imply a date of 1808 when we know from the previous entry the vessel is not that old, so this information has been discounted.
The Lloyd's Register Foundation, Heritage and Education Centre also has compiled data for the Bristol for 1835, 1840, 1840 (2), 1843 & 1845. I have listed this separately for convenience
| Ship name | Name of ship as recorded on the record | Bristol (1835 to 1845) |
| Year of build | Date in which construction of the vessel was completed. | 1818 |
| Place of build | The port or place in which the vessel's construction took place, at the time of writing. | Chepstow (1835 to 1845) |
| Port of survey abbreviations | Abbreviations of the names of ports with Lloyd's Register survey offices. | Lon (1835 to 1845) |
| Port belonging to | The listed port to which a given vessel belongs. | London (1835 to 1845) |
| Ship owner | The individual and/or organisation listed | G L Jackson & Co (1835), Hopper & Co (1840 to 1845) |
| Master | An officially licensed mariner (post 1850) holding ultimate command and responsibility for a vessel. | Bristol (1835), Lawson (1840 to 1840), Cowart (1843), J Cowart (1845) |
| Surveyor | Name of surveyor. | Peter Courtenay (1835), George Bayley (1840), Nathaniel G Clark (1840), George Bayley; Peter Courtenay (1843), Nathaniel Middleton (1845) |
| Location of Survey | Location where a vessel's survey was undertaken. | London (1835 to 1845) |
| Classification | Classification symbol assigned to a vessel by Lloyd's Register's Classing Committee denoting the quality of construction and maintenance. | A,1 (1835), E1; Record Repairs (1840), Contd E,1 (1840), Raised to AE1 Asterisk; Record copper repairs (1843), AE1 Asterisk (1845) |
| Voyage information | Recorded information related to a vessel's movements. | London; Malta (1835), London; Quebec (1840 to 1843), London; Bombay (1845) |
| Rig | Physical arrangement of a ship's masts, sails and rigging. | S - Ship (1835 to 1840), Bk - Barque (1840 to 1845) |
| Propulsion | A vessel's means of propulsion. | Sail (1835 to 1845) |
| Material of construction | Predominant material(s) utilised in a vessel's construction. | Wood (1835 to 1845) |
| Gross Register Tonnage | A ship's total internal volume in 'register tons' (replaced by gross tonnage post 1982). | 416 (1840 to 1845), 415 (1840) |
Record of Bristol Ships
The following report in the book "Records of Bristol Ships, Vol XV 1800-1838"[15]
- "BRISTOL. Built at Chepstow, 1818.
No. 38, 24 SEPT. 1818
427 tons ; length 111' ; breadth (below) 29' 9" ; height 5' 8".
2 flush decks ; 3 masts ; ship rig ; square stern ; quarter galleries ; woman bust head.
Owners : Edward Kidd, George Fisher, jr., John Tomlinson, Joseph Reynolds and Richard Llewellin Fisher, merchants, and William Buckham, mariner, Bristol.
Masters : Samuel Owen. 7 Dec. 1818, William Buckham.
9 Aug. 1821 ; R. L. Fisher sold his share to Edward Kidd
Registered anew No. 39 in 1824.
No. 39, 29 JUNE 1824.
415 tons ; length 111' 2" ; breadth (above) 29' 9" ; height 5' 6".
3 decks ; 3 masts ; square rig ; square stern ; quarter galleries ; bust head.
Owners : Edward Kidd (21 shares), George Fisher (21), Thomas Bryant (11), merchants, with William Buckham (21), mariner, all of Bristol.
Masters : William Buckham.
Registered anew at London, 26 April 1825.
The Bristol was built by Buckle and Davis. She made two voyages to Calcutta and a protracted voyage to Lima and Guayaquil while in Bristol ownership. In the 1840's she was owned by Hopper and Co., London, and sailing to Quebec. She was reported lost on Fuego Island (? Fogo), on 23 Dec. 1845, her crew being saved."
Other Sources
- ↑ Appendix C. Ships Built in the Port of Chepstow: "Chepstow Ships" by Grahame E. Farr (1954) p4365
Wye Invader website Image 34: "Year built: 1818; Name: Bristol; Rig: S/Bk; Tonnage: 428; Site: Chepstow; Notes: Buckle and Davis" - ↑ The Fully-Rigged-Ship: "Classic Sailor Website"
Classic Sailor Website (accessed 29 Jan 2023)
"A Ship: a vessel with three masts, and square rigged on all three." - ↑ ""Bristol Mercury" - Monday 05 April 1819
British Newspaper Archive (accessed 30 Jan 2023)
"SHIP NEWS... Arrived-...at Madeira, the Bristol, Buckham, bound to Calcutta..." - ↑ ""Bristol Mercury" - Monday 26 July 1819
British Newspaper Archive (accessed 30 Jan 2023)
"The Bristol, Capt. Buckham, from this port to Calcutta, was spoken with on the 5th April, in lat. 1. 14. N. long. 18. 12. west, allwell." - ↑ ""Caledonian Mercury" - Thursday 03 March 1825
British Newspaper Archive (accessed 30 Jan 2023)
"FROM LLOYD'S LIST-Feb. 25. ... Liverpool, 23d Feb. The Bristol, Buckham, from Alexandria (E) arrived this day. She struck on the Mile House Rock, but was assisted off by a steam boat." - ↑ Memorials of Liverpool: Vol II - Topographical by JA Picton FSA, 2nd Edition 1875, p45 (image52)
Forgotten Books PDF (accessed 30 Jan 2023) - ↑ Lancashire Sheet CVI: OS Map 1851
National Library of Scotland (accessed 30 Jan 2023)
"Clarence Basin and Clarence Dock approx. 53°25' N 3° W" - ↑ Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser
Friday 30 January 1829 British Newspaper Archive (accessed 30 Jan 2023) - ↑ Britain, Merchant Seamen, 1835-1857: The National Archives BT112, Piece number 15 FindMyPast Image (accessed 1 Feb 2023)
- ↑ Sun (London) - Friday 14 November 1845
British Newspaper Archive
"LLOYD'S SHIPPING... DEAL, Nov. 12.- ... Arrd from the river and sailed, ...Bristol, Cowart, Bombay" - ↑ Glasgow Courier - Thursday 27 November 1845
British Newspaper Archive
"EAST INDIA SHIPPING... Falmouth, Nov. 16.- ... Arrived from London, the Bristol, Cowart for Bombay." - ↑ Sun (London) - Friday 13 March 1846
British Newspaper Archive (accessed 31 Jan 2023) - ↑ Port of Registry: London Ships Names: BR-BY: "National Archives, BT 98/358, 1835-1844"
National Archives Catalogue - ↑ Lloyd's Register of Ships Online Index of Registers
- ↑ "Records of Bristol Ships 1800-1838", Edited by Grahame E Farr, Printed for the Bristol Record Society, 1950; p72
Online Scan of Book
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