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Elizabeth Latham | Official Number
65041 |
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Elizabeth Latham | Official Number
65041 |
The Barrow Times, Saturday, 16th July 1870;
" LAUNCH AT MR.ASHBURNER'S SHIP-YARD: Shortly after ten o'clock on Tuesday
forenoon, a fine new schooner was successfully launched from Mr.William
Ashburner's yard,in the presence of a considerable concourse
of spectators. Her lines are very pretty for a wooden vessel and
her appearance graceful. In length she measures 76 6-10ths
feet; beam, 20 1-10th feet; and depth 8 3-10ths feet. She is 77 tons
register and is classed A.1 at Lloyd's for ten years.
Prior to the launch she was fully rigged,
and her sails bent, ready for going to sea. A numerous
company had assembled on board to participate in the exhilarating
effects of her first dip into her native
element. When the dog-shores had been knocked away
a hydraulic lift capable of raising 150 tons was
applied to her bows, when she glided smoothly and swiftly into the water.
After her first plunge the anchor was quickly dropped,
and she was pulled up amidst
the most enthusiastic cheers from those on board and in the
building yard. When she began to move upon the ways, the customary
bottle of wine was broken on her bows, and she
was christened the Elizabeth Latham by Miss Latham,
a daughter of one of the owners. She is a sister ship to the
Catherine
Latham, which was built in the same yard three years ago
and has been paying an excellent dividend to her proprietors ever
since she was launched. The new schooner went into the dock in the
course of the day, and will at once proceed to load a cargo
of iron ore. Mr.W.K.Charnley is her managing
director, and she is commanded by Captain James Latham ........ In honour
of the launch, on Tuesday a number of vessels in the docks and those
lying off the Ironworks exhibited a profuse display of bunting. "
The Elizabeth Latham was a heavily-built schooner, designed for carrying ore cargoes from Barrow and the Duddon. Despite this, she seems to have been one of the faster Furness schooners, and in William Ashburner's obituary in the Barrow Times it was claimed that she was "the fastest schooner sailing out of the port". She was managed by Thomas Ashburner & Co. for virtually her entire life, and her masters included James Latham, Robert Latham (later to command the Mary Ashburner and James Postlethwaite), Thomas Latham and Thomas Iddon. They kept the schooner mostly in the Irish Sea, and she was commonly employed in carrying iron ore from the Duddon to Ellesmere.
At the time of the 1881 Census (1st April) the Elizabeth Latham
was berthed at Barrow and had three crew aboard, namely Daniel Banks (master), William Banks (mate) and Edwin Waring (cook).
On the 1st September 1885 the master of the Elizabeth Latham, Capt.Solomon Durham, died when he fell 15 feet into the hold of the hulk Arrow, whilst the schooner was moored against the hulk at Waterford. The inquest jury subsequently returned a verdict of culpable neglect against the Waterford Harbour Commissioners, because a hatchway had been left uncovered.
The Elizabeth Latham was driven ashore at Moelfre, Anglesey, in the gale of early November 1890, in which several vessels leaving the Dee river were wrecked or foundered. One crewman died of exposure, the rest being taken off by lifeboat.
The career of the Elizabeth Latham ended in the Crosby Channel in July 1898, when she tacked across the bows of the 4737 ton Liverpool steamer Chancellor. The schooner had been sailing from the Manchester Ship Canal to Pentewan with a cargo of coal.
The Liverpool Journal of
Commerce, Monday, 18th July 1898, Page 5;
" SCHOONER SUNK IN CROSBY CHANNEL - On Saturday afternoon, about half-past two o'clock, a collision occurred
in Crosby Channel between the three-masted Harrison liner Chancellor
and the schooner Elizabeth Latham, of Barrow, resulting in the sinking
of the latter vessel, though fortunately no lives were lost. The schooner
was bound from the Manchester Ship Canal with coal for Cornwall. It appears
that the Chancellor Captain Owen, was bound from the Mersey to Calcutta
in charge of the company's special pilot, and just before reaching the
Crosby Lightship the steamer slowed her engines as a matter of extra precaution,
noticing the schooner standing across the channel on the port tack, the
ship's course at that time being directed to pass under the stern of the
sailing craft. Instead of standing on or manoeuvring so as not to confound
the steamer, the schooner tacked, and thus upset all calculations, falling
across the bows of the steamer, which in the confined position she then
was did all that could be done to avoid the danger. The tide was running
ebb at the time, and a pleasant breeze blowing from the N.W. The schooner
remained across the bows of the steamer and it was at once seen that she
could not keep afloat, so the Chancellor made for a position in
which she would not interfere with the navigation of the channel. Those
on board the sinking vessel were then taken off from the rigging, this
being done in excellent form and with perfect coolness. The Captain (Latham)
had his wife and two children on board, and to the credit of the lady,
it was said that she was the coolest and most collected of the whole lot.
The crew consisted of four, so that there were seven souls aboard. Even
the dog was saved. The schooner, which is owned by Thomas Ashburner, of
Barrow, was a vessel of 68 tons register. No damage was done to the steamer,
her paint only being scratched. She anchored after the collision and remained
until at 7.30 when she proceeded on her voyage to Calcutta. Immediately
after the collision the tug Heathcote was engaged to take the crew
of the schooner ashore, including one who was injured and was subsequently
conveyed to the Northern Hospital. One of the Old Tug Company's tugs was
placed alongside the wreck as a watch vessel. "
| Name | Year Built | Gross Tons | Length (feet) | Breadth (feet) | Depth (feet) | Masts | Figurehead | Stern | Lloyd's Classn. |
| Elizabeth Latham | 1870 | 77 | 76.6 | 20.1 | 8.2 | 2 | Knee | Round | 9A1 |
Sources :