Bridget Smith

Official Number
28002

The Bridget Smith was a two-masted schooner built by A.B.Gowan & Son at Berwick in July 1860.

Soulby's Ulverston Advertiser, 5th July 1860;

" SHIP LAUNCH.—On Saturday afternoon last, a beautiful schooner, named the Bridget Smith, was launched from the building-yard of Messrs. A. B. Gowan & Son, shipbuilders, Berwick. About four o'clock a large crowd, including a number of ladies and gentlemen of the town and neighbourhood, assembled in the yard, on the Quay Walls, and on the adjoining quay, to witness the launch; and a little before five all preliminaries having been satisfactorily arranged, the vessel gracefully glided into the water—the ceremony of "christening" being performed in gallant style by Miss Ramsey, Lilburn Grange. Loud cheers hailed the first movement of the vessel on the ways, and they were vociferously repeated when she dropped anchor in the middle of tbe stream. She is to sail, we believe, from Barrow, and is the property of the same owners who have purchased the last three or four vessels built by Messrs. Gowan. She is a handsome and substantial craft; well adapted for carrying, and reflects much credit on the builders. (The above schooner has been built for Messrs.Jas.Fisher and Co., and is intended for the Bristol Channel trade.) "

The Bridget Smith was owned by the Barrow shipowner James Fisher until her sale in 1895. In the shipping intelligence columns of the Barrow Times her master is named as Halsall in Nov.1877 and Jones in Jan.1879.

The Bridget Smith was sunk by collision in the river Mersey on the 18th January 1902. She was subsequently raised and used as a barge by the Rea Transport Company, renamed Fluke.

Name
Year Built
Gross Tons
Length (feet)
Breadth (feet)
Depth (feet)
Masts
Figurehead
Stern
Lloyd's Classn.
Bridget Smith
1860
124 
85.0 
21.6 
11.6 
2 
 
 
8 years A1 

Sources :

  1. Berwick Shipyard - Build List 1841-1878 - indicates that the Bridget Smith was the 7th of 26 vessels built by Gowan for James Fisher.
  2. Clayton's Register of Shipping 1865: Bridget Smith, schooner, classed A1 for 8 years, 129 tons, built 1860, owned by Jas.Fisher, ship agent, of Barrow, registered at Lancaster, master Capt.R.Parkinson.
  3. Mercantile Navy List 1867: Bridget Smith, official number 28002, registered owner William Gawith, of the Strand, Barrow-in-Furness.
  4. Mercantile Navy List 1880: Bridget Smith, schooner, 115 tons, built at Berwick in 1860, official number 28002, registered at Lancaster, owned by Joseph Fisher, of Barrow.
  5. Mercantile Navy List 1896: Bridget Smith, schooner, 97 tons, built at Berwick in 1860, official number 28002, registered at Lancaster, managing owner John Fisher, of Barrow.
  6. Mercantile Navy List 1907: Fluke, 127 tons, built in 1860, official number 28002, registered at Liverpool, owned by the Rea Transport Company.