Lancashire Witch

Official Number 16674

Barrow shipowners James Fisher & Son owned the Lancashire Witch for her entire career. She was a brigantine built  at Wexford in 1857 by Robert Sparrow. She worked in the Spanish ore trade in her early years (see Carrie Bell). In November 1877 and January 1879 (loading at Barrow for Swansea on the 10th) her master was Capt. Edmondson, according to the Shipping Intelligence columns of the Barrow Times newspaper.

The Lancashire Witch was lost on 13th January 1879 when she was sunk by collision with the Spanish steamer Yrurac-bat, of Bilbao, 12 miles W of the South Stack, Anglesey. She was on passage from Barrow to Swansea with a cargo of pig iron, cast iron and ingots, the steamer being on passage from Liverpool to Vianna with a general cargo. Capt. Hugh Edmondson was the sole survivor of the five crew. He had been at the helm at the time of the collision, and had been cast into the water. He was rescued after fifteen minutes in the water by a boat from the steamer and taken to Corunna, from where he returned to Plymouth aboard the schooner Island Mail, of Plymouth.
 

Name	Year Built	Net Tons	Length (feet)	Breadth (feet)	Depth (feet)	Masts	Figurehead	Stern	Lloyd's Classn.
Lancashire Witch	1857	103	82.0	20.0	11.0	2

Sources :

1. Report of loss in "The Shipwreck Index of the British Isles Vol.5" by  Richard and Bridget Larn.
2. Lloyds Register of Shipping 1877 (names master as Jones)
3. Return of Capt.Edmondson from Spain, and details of the collisison reported in "The Times" newspaper, Monday, 3rd February, 1879, page 6.