Dumfries

 Official Number
none

The Dumfries was a tea clipper built at the Bath shipyard at Douglas, Isle of Man, in 1837. She operated in the trade from Liverpool to China until 1854.

The Dumfries, Capt.Morris, departed Shanghai for Liverpool on the 3rd April 1854 with a full cargo (560,000 pounds) of tea, despatched by Shaw, Bland & Co. She was wrecked on the Pescadore Islands on the evening of the 11th April. In a gale and heavy sea, the barque missed stays whilst trying to avoid a reef, struck, and lost her rudder. With twelve feet of water in the hold and the vessel sinking fast, the crew managed to abandon the vessel in their own launch. All were saved.

Name
Year Built
Gross Tons
Length (feet)
Breadth (feet)
Depth (feet)
Masts
Figurehead
Stern
Lloyd's Classn.
Dumfries
1837
 
 
 
 
3
 
 
 

Sources :

  1. "The Ashburner Schooners" by Tim Latham (1991) ISBN 0-95-16792-0-1
  2. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1854-5: Dumfries, barque, 468 tons, built Isle of Man 1837, YM 1853, owned by Aiken & Co., registered at Liverpool, master Capt.Morris (NB. This is the only year that this vessel was listed in Lloyd's Register).
  3. The Liverpool Mercury, Tuesday, 2nd May 1854 - reported Dumfries, Capt.Morris, at Shanghai from Liverpool on the 1st March.
  4. Loss reported in the The Morning Chronicle, Tuesday, 13th June 1854.
  5. Wreck reported in Allen's India Mail, Vol.XII (Jan.-Dec.1854) page 332, citing from the Friend of China newspaper, 15th April 1854.