Margaret Ann

Official Number  62702

From Soulby's Ulverston Advertiser, 12th November 1868 :

Ship Launch - Yesterday week, a new schooner was launched from the slip of Mr.W. Ashburner, Barrow.  The vessel is named the "Margaret Ann" and has the following dimensions : Length 70 feet, Beam 19 feet, Depth 8.3 feet.  The vessel is 70 tons register and 140 tons burthen.  She is classed Al at Lloyds for 8 years and is to be commanded by Capt.  James Sumner.

	"...at that time she was owned by Mr. Lee, Belfast, and her skipper was Capt.  Martin. Capt. Alex. Stitt, of Kirkcudbright, had his eye on the Margaret Ann and eventually bought her, when she joined a fine fleet of different rigs owned by Mr. Williamson and Capt. A. Stitt. Capt. Stitt's wife sailed with him and she died on board the Margaret Ann at New Quay, Dumfries, on Oct. 9, 1903.  Capt. Stitt put his son Alex. in the vessel as master and he acted as such until his father decided to command her himself.  This he did for some time before his death in 1903. On February 18, 1904, the Margaret Ann came under new ownership, being purchased by Mr. Alex. Wilson, Briardale, Dalbeattie.  Mr. Wilson was the owner of a large number of coasting vessels employed in the Liverpool-Solway trade at one time or another and he held on to the Margaret Ann until near the end of the First World War. During these years the Margaret Ann made regular trips from her home port to Liverpool and other Lancashire ports under the command of Capt.  Robert Edgar, Kippford, who had as mate Mr. Alex. Stitt, her former skipper.  With a crew of four the Margaret Ann was chiefly employed carrying granite, setts and crushed, to Liverpool, Preston and Manchester, while her return cargo would be fertilisers or feeding stuffs generally loaded out of some deep-sea steamer in the Liverpool docks. After running unscathed through most of the war years, Mr. Wilson decided to part with his vessel in 1917 and she was sold out of the Urr to a Mr. Patrick Donovan, Wexford.  After this the Margaret Ann was never seen at the places which had known her for so long.  Some two years later we heard of her loss near Milford Haven after being dismasted inside the Smalls and the engine with which she had been fitted had broken down. "
Capt. Robert Edgar of the Margaret Ann, lost with the Mary in 1903.		The Margaret Ann on the patent slip at Kippford.

The following extracts from Lloyd's List gives some details of the misadventures of the Margaret Ann, including details of her loss at Milford Haven in 1918.

Shipping Gazette and Lloyd's List, Thursday, 8th September 1887, Page 7, column 21

Liverpool, Sept. 8, 11 46 a.m. - The Margaret Ann, schooner, of Barrow, when off the Bar Lightship yesterday, in strong breeze and heavy sea, the master was knocked overboard by mainboom and drowned.

MARGARET ANN - Milford Haven, Dec. 17.- Motor schooner Margaret Ann ( master Thos. Morris, no certificate ) was abandoned off Crow Rock yesterday morning. No news of crew.

MARGARET ANN - Milford Haven, Dec. 17.- Motor schooner Margaret Ann, cargo coke, ashore Freshwater Bay West.

MARGARET ANN - Neyland, Dec. 17.- Motor schooner Margaret Ann, of Dumfries, official number 62702, abandoned and ashore Freshwater West Bay. Salvage being attempted by Stephens, of Pembroke, as immediate action is necessary.

MARGARET ANN - Milford Haven, Dec. 18.- Motor schooner Margaret Ann is ashore Freshwater Bay West, very bad place, heavy breakers from Atlantic swell. Strong gale last night right in on shore, fear vessel a wreck. Am going there now, low water one o'clock. Salvage can only be effected in smooth sea - Lloyd's Agent per Salvage Association.

MARGARET ANN - Neyland Dec. 18.- Motor schooner Margaret Ann: Been on board. Heavy seas still breaking, bulwarks nearly all gone, windlass smashed, mast gear and sails carried away. Bow pointing to shore, vessel embedded four ft. in sand. Water four ft. in hold. Expect rudder-post will be carried away. Oakum showing part port side, part of motor mountings stolen, also ship's papers &c.. Think vessel total loss. Salvage impossible this time of year and vessel 50 years old. Consider her constructive total loss. Advise immediate sale as she lies as well as cargo by tender. Please wire instructions, also if cargo insured- Lloyd's Agent per Salvage Association.

MARGARET ANN.- Nyeland, Dec. 21. - Motor schooner Margaret Ann, of Dumfries, which went ashore at Freshwater West Bay, was bound from Briton Ferry for Wexford, with coke.

Sources :

1. Barrow Shipping Register
2. Sea Breezes (magazine), Feb. 1948, page 120; March 1948, page 178; April 1949, page 206.
3. The Ashburner Schooners, ISBN 0-95-16792-0-1