Francis

Official Number 28007

The Francis was a three-masted schooner built at Barrow-in-Furness by Rawlinson & Reay. She was launched in January 1861, and was owned by James Fisher & Sons from 1872 . She was sold in April 1915 after being dismasted at Padstow in the previous month.

A Mr.Pearson wrote to the magazine "Sea Breezes" about his experiences in the Francis in 1911. The schooner was a leaky vessel at that time. They carried cracked stone from Guernsey, china clay from Fowey to Runcorn and soot for fertilizer from Runcorn to Waterford.

In 1922 the Francis was owned by Miss E.M.Brown, registered at Lancaster and commanded by Capt.D.Forshaw, according to Lloyds Register. She was still  listed in the Shipping Register in the 1950's, owned in Bristol, and her ultimate fate is unknown.
 

Name	Year Built	Gross Tons	Length (feet)	Breadth (feet)	Depth (feet)	Masts	Figurehead	Stern	Lloyd's Classn.
Francis	1861	130	89.0	21.2	11.0	3

Sources :

1. Research by Derek Blackhurst
2. Lloyds Register of Shipping 1922-3.
3. "A History of Local Sailing Ships", by H.Peck, in "Proceedings of the Barrow Naturalists Field Club" Vol. 7 (1951).