Mencius

Official Number 1951

The Mencius was a tea clipper built at the Bath shipyard at Douglas, Isle of Man, in 1848. She was a sister ship to the Confucius, built at the same shipyard two years earlier, and was also owned by Atkin & Co., and was registered at Liverpool.

The Mencius made a 118 day passage from Liverpool to Shanghai in 1848/9, beating the iron clipper Panic by 18 days, claimed a Manx newspaper. She seems to have continued in the trade between Liverpool and China until about 1860, then moved into the trade to India. In 1854 she arrived at Sydney from London, under the command of Capt.W.Quirk.

The Mencius was wrecked on the coast near Madras, during a gale on the 19th October 1863.

Sources :

1. Passage to Shanghai noted in "The Ashburner Schooners", ISBN 0-95-16792-0-1, citing from the Manx Sun newspaper, 6th June 1849, itself quoting from a letter received from Shanghai.
2. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1849-50: Mencius, ship, YM in 1848, 463 tons om, 510 nm, built Isle of Man 1848, owned by Atkin & Co., registered at Liverpool, master Capt.Robertson, voyage Liverpool - Shanghai.
3. Crew List for voyage in 1854 at Mariners and Ships in Australian Waters.
   
4. Mercantile Navy List 1857: Mencius, 509 tons, registered at Liverpool, official number 1951, signal letters HMDB.
5. Mercantile Navy List 1857, Official Notices (page 269) - the master of the Mencius, Capt.William Quirk, is commended for his "excellent" meteorological observations - the vessel owner is named as Atkin & Co.
6. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1863-4: Mencius, ship, YM in 1862, 463 tons om, 510 nm, built Isle of Man 1848, owned by Atkin & Co., registered at Liverpool, master Capt.Williamson, voyage Liverpool - Shanghai - annotated "Wrecked".
   
7. Loss reported in the Liverpool Mercury newspaper, Friday, 13th November 1863. Also in the Argus newspaper (Melbourne, Australia), 31st December 1863, citing the Madras Daily News, 20th October.
   

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