Champion

Official Number 24371

The Champion was built at Whitehaven by Lumley Kennedy & Co. and was launched on the 5th February 1840. She was a 241(new measurement) 220 (old measurement) ton barque and her first master/owner was Joseph Steel (Sources 1 & 2). From Source 3, she is described as having one and a break deck, three masts, standing bowsprit, square stern, carvel built, no galleries, man figurehead, framework and planking of wood.

Lumley Kennedy & Co. was a major Whitehaven shipyard that operated from 1835 to 1864, building 65 vessels in total, ranging up to 600 tons. Lumley Kennedy himself had trained as a shipwright and had worked at the Brocklebank shipyard in Whitehaven for 20 years prior to starting his own yard.

In 1850 the registry of the Champion was moved from Whitehaven to Dumfries, her new owners being William Turner & Co. In 1857, her owners were A.Buick & Co., and her registry was moved to Arbroath. By 1860, the barque was owned in Dundee by W.Moon.

Various voyage destinations are mentioned in Lloyds Register of Shipping, including Spain (1840, master J.Steel), Liverpool/Valparaiso (1852, master J.Redmond), Baltic, West Indies, India (1857 to 60). From 1860 she appears to have traded from Dundee to the West Indies (Source 4).
 

Sources :

1. "Shipbuilding in Whitehaven - A Checklist" by Harry Fancy, Whitehaven Museum (1984)
2. "A List of the Cumberland Shipping corrected to February 1840" by William Sawyers, Comptroller of Her Majesty's Customs at the Port of Whitehaven, republished by Michael Moon (Whitehaven, 1975, ISBN 0-904131-09-2)
3. Dumfries Port Books, research by John D.Stevenson
4. Lloyds Register of Shipping, research by John D. Stevenson, A.M.I.Mar.E.(Trinity Research Services, Scottish Maritime History Research).