Bessie Young

Official Number 35044

The Bessie Young was a barque built at Indian Town, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1856. Originally registered at St.John, New Brunswick, this registry had been transfered to Glasgow by September 1856. The Bessie Young sailed to Australia in the years 1857 to 1859 (see Source 4). By 1863 the vessel was registered at Maryport.

At the time of the 1881 Census the Bessie Young was at Thornton le Fylde, with only the master (Capt. Isaac Millican, of Maryport) and his wife aboard.

On 28th September 1893, the Bessie Young was wrecked on Dog Rock, Berehaven (Beara peninsula, Ireland). The vessel was on passage from Ayr to Limerick with a coal cargo. There were seven crew aboard, all of whom survived.

Sources :

1. Canadian Ship Heritage Database
2. Official Number from 1857 Mercantile Navy List (vessel registered at Glasgow, 348 tons).
3. Vessel not listed as being registered at Maryport or Glasgow in Clayton's Register of Shipping, 1865. Liverpool registered ships were not included in this volume, so it is possible she was indeed registered there (see Source 6).
4. Mariners and Ships in Australian Waters and Arrivals and departures index file
5. 1881 Ships in port in the UK - Lancashire
6. Mystic Seaport Library Ship Register Search has shipping register details for most years from 1863 to 1883. Masters were named as Williamson (1864 to 66), J.Dixon, F.Armstrong (1871 to 1874), Briscoe and Mellican (1882-3). See American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping, 1863 as an example. She was registered at Maryport and owned by J.Norman from 1863, then from about 1878 different registers state that she was registered at either Liverpool or Maryport, and sometimes describe her as a barquentine. Her owner was always listed as J.Norman.
7. Wreck reported in the Glasgow Herald, 29th September and 7th October, 1893.