 |
Mary Bell | Official Number
68217 |
|
|
Mary Bell | Official Number
68217 |
The Barrow Daily Times, Monday, 28th April 1873, page 3;
" LAUNCH AT BARROW - On Saturday morning another successful launch took place at Messrs.
Ashburner's Shipbuilding Yard, Hindpool, Barrow. This new addition to the
shipping of the port is a three-masted schooner, of 175 tons register,
classed A 1 at Lloyd's for 12 years. Her length, over all, is 103 ft. 5
in., breadth 23 ft. 5 in., and depth 12 ft. 3 in. The vessel left the stocks
at twenty minutes past ten o'clock, and as she commenced to move, Miss
Ellen Latham gracefully christened her the Mary Bell (after the
wife of Mr. Robert Bell, of Islay, Scotland). The vessel glided along the
ways and into the water without the slightest hitch, and without inconveniencing
those on board by shipping a single drop of water. Capt. John Latham, late
of the James and Agnes, will command the Mary Bell, which
will be engaged in the coasting trade, and her owners (Messrs. Ashburner)
inform us that she will go into the Devonshire Dock early this week. A
dinner was subsequently provided at the Bowling Green Hotel, Greengate,
a substantial repast being most creditably served up by the host and hostess,
Mr. and Mrs. Moreton. Mr. Thomas Ashburner filled the chair, and Mr. William
Ashburner, jun., the vice-chair. " The Queen and Royal Family ", given
from the chair, having been duly honoured, Mr. Oliver (of the Furness Shipbuilding
Yard) briefly proposed the "Health of Mr. William Ashburner, sen." - The
Vice-Chairman (in the absence of his father) responded. The Mary Bell,
he remarked, was the 32nd vessel which had been launched from their shipyard,
and he believed 31 of those vessels were still afloat. (Applause). The
mind of the British public had been considerably agitated lately by that
appalling disaster, the loss of the Atlantic on the American coast,
and that circumstance had tended very considerably to enhance the interest
so keenly felt in the motion which Mr. Plimsoll had brought before the
House of Commons, asking for an enquiry into the capacity of vessels and
the way in which they are found. Indeed, so greatly had the mind of the
public been agitated by the loss of the Atlantic, that Mr. Plimsoll
found himself supported on all sides. He (the speaker) believed the Commission
which had been appointed was quite necessary, and would probably result
in a great amount of good, not only in protecting the seafaring population,
but in also securing the safety of passengers. He believed that, so far
as the vessels belonging to the Port of Barrow were concerned, on the whole,
they were very efficiently found, and commanded by very efficient captains.
He did not think there was a captain sailing out of Barrow in whom any
owner could have greater confidence in than the commander of the
Mary
Bell, Captain Latham. (Applause). While he had no desire to say anything
against iron vessels, he could not help saying that if the
Atlantic
had been built of wood instead of iron, he did not think there would have
been so many lives lost as had been the case. In seeking to increase the
maritime commerce of England, he believed the object was, more and more,
to build vessels of such a capacity that, to a certain extent, life was
sacrificed thereby. It was the opinion of many persons that, had the Atlantic
been a much smaller vessel, she would not have been broken up so soon as
she was; and he hoped the result of Mr. Plimsoll's exertions would be to
restore people to that amount of confidence that when they were desirous
of taking a trip across the Atlantic, they would feel that they could do
so with the same degree of safety that they did when taking a trip on the
railway. Indeed, so successful had been some of the steamship lines, that
the public had almost begun to look upon the great ocean steamers as capable
of accomplishing their voyages with as great accuracy, and with far less
danger to life, than the locomotives on our railways. The Vice-Chairman
concluded by thanking the company for the cordial manner in which they
had drunk his father's health. - The Chairman next gave the " Health of
Mr. Myles ", to which that gentleman humorously responded, and concluded
by proposing "Success to the Mary Bell " - Mr. Richard Ashburner,
in giving the "Health of Captain Latham", remarking that the Mary Bell
would be the fourth vessel built by the Messrs. Ashburner which Mr. Latham
had commanded. (Applause). - The Vice-Chairman next proposed "Success to
the Town and Trade of Barrow". He could remember very distictly the time
when he had stood on the ground upon which the house in which they were
then assembled was built, and when it was considered that that spot was
pretty well out in the country. The magnificent docks at Barrow had assisted
very materially in enhancing the prosperity of the town, and in bringing
the port prominently before the country; and when those who were now building
were opened they might expect to be brought into still closer attention
without all parts of the world. (Applause). He was quite sure that the
gentlemen at the head of affairs in Barrow were not disposed to go backwards,
and, not withstanding the assertion of her enemies that "Barrow is sure
to go down", he was quite of opinion that in a very few years under the
fostering care of such gentlemen as the Dukes of Devonshire and Buccleuch,
Lord Frederick Cavendish, Sir James Ramsden, and Mr. J.T. Smith, the town
would assume very gigantic proportions, and although it might not rival
Liverpool - as some persons zealously imagined - it would become a very
considerable port amongst the many for which this country was famous. (Applause).
The toast was coupled with the name of Mr. Sutcliffe (of the Furness Shipbuilding
Company), who suitably responded, and concluded by giving " The Health
of the Chairman ". - Mr. Ashburner, in responding, alluded to the good
feeling which existed between those connected with the various shipbuilding
works in Barrow, and, in conclusion, proposed the "Health of Mr. Oliver",
who briefly replied. - Mr. Richard Ashburner then gave the "Health of Mr.
Hurford", who provided the Mary Bell with her sails. - Mr. Hurford,
in response, remarked that he had fitted out seven vessels for the Messrs.Ashburner, and the Mary Bell had the best suit of sails of any of
their vessels. (Applause). - The Chairman proposed "The Press", which was
responded to by Mr. Berkeley, of the Times. - Mr. Myles, in giving the
"Health of the Vice-chairman", said it was his opinion that Barrow was
destined to become a place of very great importance, and that too at no
very distant day. (Applause). - Mr. Oliver proposed the "Health of Mr.
Richard Ashburner" and that gentleman having responded, the proceedings
terminated. Mr. Cochrane, of the Iron Ship Works, was present, but was
obliged to leave during the early part of the afternoon.
The Mary Bell was built by William Ashburner and Son at Barrow-in-Furness and was managed by Thomas Ashburner & Co. She was a large three-masted schooner that was undoubtedly built to travel in similar trades to the William Ashburner, for she was finished with copper bolts, indicating that after her first year she would have been felted and yellow metalled. She was well-built, being accorded Lloyd's highest classification for a wooden ship, 12A1. Her surveyor stated that "a large quantity of high class materials has been judiciously used in the construction of this vessel, with extra fastenings and superior workmanship". Despite her good construction, the ship was lost within a year of her launch, and the furthest she ever travelled into the Atlantic was Madeira.
After being launched in some style on the 26th April 1873, the Mary
Bell was put under the command of Capt. John Latham, who had previously
commanded the James & Agnes.
He took her to Madeira and to the Guadiana River ports for copper ore.
Early in 1874 he returned to Madeira carrying a coal cargo from Newport,
then picked up a cargo of copper pyrites at Pomaron. Returning to Gloucester,
the Mary Bell disappeared in the Bay of Biscay after being last
sighted on the 6th April. Capt. Latham, his 19-year old son James, and
five other crewmen were lost with her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sources :