northwall

Captain Francis Allwright, the Dispatch Sloop at Bideford. Is sending a muster book

Date: 9 Feb 1770

discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9632003

There was a slave ship named Brothers, but it was burned by the French in 1794.

Wikipedia lists seven ships called Brothers, none look an exact match.

William Dobbin was master of the Hawk until 1803, and John Downie was master of the Dispatch. Belfast News-Letter - Tuesday 20 September 1803:


But by April the following year WIlliam Dobbin was master of the Dispatch. Belfast News-Letter - Friday 20 April 1804.:


Other notices show Downie as master of the Hawk in the following tears.

Some time in January 1808 Dobbin went back to the Hawk, and someone called Rankin was in charge of the Dispatch. This arrangement seems to have continued until January July 1810, when McCormick took over on the Hawk.

24 August 1792 was a Friday ...

23 June 1807 was a Tuesday ...

Edit - Oops!

The Lady Grania at left was a Guinness tanker (!)

Niall McAuley

Launched in 1953, the Guinness ships, the M.V. "Lady Gwendolen" and M.V. "Lady Grania", were the first ships in the world specifically designed for the bulk carriage of beer. Since then the Guinness fleet has added the M.V. "Lady Patricia" launched in Dublin on 11th October, 1962.

(Ireland's Saturday Night - Saturday 06 March 1965) and

the Ladies Grania, Gwendolen and Patricia together land 750,000 barrels of Guinness a year at Liverpool and Manchester.

(Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal - Saturday 01 February 1964)

The MV Atlanta was broken up at Rainham in Essex in 1992. The owner of the shipbreaking company Mr Morez was fined £500 after an oil spillage from the ship. It turned out that a valve had been removed by thieves looking for scrap. The valve was of gun metal and of greater value then other stainless steel valves. (Chatham Standard - Tuesday 18 February 1992)

Buttview !! - goo.gl/maps/zCzoF8jpWudXAtZe6

The lovely Elinor seems to like Butt Bridge, and visited several times. I think this wonderful photo of a lad with a blanket may be the same sunny afternoon - catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000048396

From Wikipedia: At the end of her cable-laying career [1878] she was refitted once again as a liner but once again efforts to make her a commercial success failed. She was used as a showboat, a floating palace/concert hall and gymnasium. She acted as an advertising hoarding—sailing up and down the Mersey for Lewis's Department Store, who at this point were her owners, before being sold. The idea was to attract people to the store by using her as a floating visitor attraction. By the time she was sold piecemeal at auction in 1888 she had become an embarrassment.

Thank you for the photo. So sad to see her in that state.

From PortCities : Eventually, in 1885, the unwanted hulk was hired by Lewis's department store in Liverpool. The store wanted to use her as a music hall, fun fair and a giant advertising billboard. The tired old screw engines were coaxed into powering the ship to the River Mersey, where it was opened to the public at a shilling (5 pence) a head. After exhibition trips to Dublin and the River Clyde, which did not make much money at all, the Great Eastern returned to the River Mersey in 1888.

great photo and unusual end use!

From History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications : By the time the Great Eastern reached Liverpool the port side facing Birkenhead carried the slogan ‘LADIES SHOULD VISIT LEWIS’S BON MARCHE CHURCH STREET’, while on the starboard side facing Liverpool: Towards the stern: LEWIS’S ARE THE FRIENDS OF THE PEOPLE Lewis’s name was painted in 30 feet high letters. Towards the bows: RANELAGH STREET LEWIS’S BON MARCHE LIVERPOOL BASNETT STREET MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, BIRMINGHAM On the paddle box: THE BON MARCHE LIVERPOOL