Margaret Porter

Official Number 18226

The Margaret Porter was a two-masted schooner built by Matthew Simpson at Glasson Dock, Lancaster, at a cost of £2080. She was launched on Tuesday, 22nd April 1856.

The Margaret Porter has been said to be very similar to the Gauntlet, Express and Kate, and was probably built from the same shipbuilder's model (see Source 3).

The schooner went missing on a voyage from Carlingford Lough to Havre with a cargo of potatoes, in about February 1871.
 

Name	Year Built	Gross Tons	Length (feet)	Breadth (feet)	Depth (feet)	Masts	Figurehead	Stern	Lloyd's Classn.
Margaret Porter	1856	164	85.1	21.5	11.5	2			A1, 7 years

Sources :

1. Launch reported in the Preston Guardian, Saturday, 26th April, 1856.
2. Lloyd's Register of Shipping, 1866-7: schooner, registered at Barrow, owned by Porter & Co., commanded by Capt.W.Butcher
   
3. Merchant Sailing Ships 1850-1875 by D.R.McGregor (pub.1984) gives some details of the Glasson Dock shipyard and building costs.
4. Wreck reported in the Liverpool Mercury, 18th May 1871, citing from the Barrow Times - states that the vessel left Carlingford three months ago, names the master as Porter, and states that his wife was aboard. The Belfast News-Letter, 20th May 1871, names the master as Capt.Park.