Furness Maid

Official Number 45683

The Furness Maid was built by William & Richard Ashburner at Barrow and she was launched on the same day as the Elizabeth Barrow. She was a small schooner intended for the short sea trade in the Irish Sea. Her first master was Capt. John Latham of Tarleton, who later would have command of the other Ashburner-built schooners James & Agnes and Mary Bell. In the years after her launch the Furness Maid was regularly employed carrying sand from Fleetwood to Ulverston.

The Furness Maid was at Whitehaven on Census night in April 1881 and the crew were listed as follows:
 

The Furness Maid was sold in 1886 to a Carrickfergus merchant and she was lost a few years later, whilst under the command of his son, Bailey Lavery. On the night of 7th May 1891, bound for Carrickfergus carrying 86 tons of dross, she was run down by the steamer Comorin off Brodick Head, Isle of Arran. With her rudder and sternpost gone, the Furness Maid sank almost immediately, but the crew had time to launch their small boat and were safely picked up by the steamer.
 

Name	Year Built	Gross Tons	Length (feet)	Breadth (feet)	Depth (feet)	Masts	Figurehead	Stern	Lloyd's Classn.
Furness Maid	1863	49	62.8	17.2	7.3	2	None	Round

Sources :

1. Launch reported in the Ulverston Mirror, 11th July 1863
2. Crew Lists for Furness Maid at the Lancashire Record Office, Preston
3. 1881 Census details from Bob Sanders, Ships in Port 1881 website
4. Loss reported in Lloyds' List 9th May 1891
5. The Ashburner Schooners, ISBN 0-95-16792-0-1