Inca

Official Number
24761

The Cumberland Pacquet and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser, Tuesday, 16th January 1844;

" A splendid new barque was launched from the building-yard of Messrs.Lumley Kennedy and Co., at this port, on the 9th instant, called the Sancta Bega, burthen 248 tons old measurement, and 265 tons new, built for a Liverpool house, and intended for the South America trade, under the command of Captain Field. The St.Bega is a 12 year ship, is coppered and is copper-fastened to the bends, and sports a beautifully executed full-length figure head of the patroness of St.Bees, in the act of prayer, carved in a first-rate mannner by Brooker, of Maryport. She is a finely modelled vessel, well-adapted for sailing and carrying, and as faithfully built a merchantman as was ever produced in Cumberland."

The Inca was a barque built at Whitehaven by Lumley Kennedy & Co., launched on the 9th January 1844 under the name Sancta Bega. She was probably built on speculation and had her name changed when registered at Liverpool by her first owners. The barque was registered at Liverpool for most of her life and traded mainly to South America.

The Inca was sold in 1865 and registered at Beaumaris, owned by Mrs.Phoebe Lewis & Sons, of Llanwrst. The barque was commanded by Capt.Peter Jackson for a year, and in November 1866 a Liverpool newspaper noted that she had arrived at St.John, New Brunswick from Conway. It seems she was operating in the timber trade. From 1867 her master was Capt.William Williams.

The Inca, laden with timber planks and battens, was wrecked at Surgren, near Balmullet, Westport, on the 16th February 1869. The vessel broke up immediately on impact, and was identified only by her official number and tonnage inscribed on a piece of wreckage. There were no survivors.

Another barque of the same name, Sancta Bega, was built at Harrington.

Name
Year Built
Gross Tons
Length (feet)
Breadth (feet)
Depth (feet)
Masts
Figurehead
Stern
Lloyd's Classn.
Inca
1844
265 nm
 94.5
 24.0
16.0 
3
 
 
A1, 12 years 

Sources :

  1. "Shipbuilding in Whitehaven - A Checklist" by Harry Fancy, Whitehaven Museum (1984)
  2. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1843-4 (Supplement): Inca, barque, 243 tons, coppered in 1844, built at Whitehaven in 1844, owned by Kennedy, belonging to the port of Whitehaven, no master or voyage stated.
  3. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1845-6: Inca, barque, same details as 1844.
  4. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1850-1: Inca, barque,, 243 tons, YM in 1847, built at Whitehaven in 1844, owned by Bartlett & Co., registered at Liverpool, master Capt.Browse, voyage Liverpool - Valparaiso.
  5. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1854-5: Inca, barque, 243 tons, YM in 1852, built at Whitehaven in 1844, owned by Bartlett & Co., registered at Liverpool, master Capt.Browse, voyage NwcC.G.H.
  6. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1856-7: Inca, barque, 243 tons om, 265 tons nm, YM in 1856, built at Whitehaven in 1844, owned by Longton & Co., registered at Liverpool, master Capt.J.Bewley, no voyage stated.
  7. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1858-9: Inca, barque, 243 tons om, 265 tons nm, YM in 1856, built at Whitehaven in 1844, owned by Nicholson & Co., registered at Liverpool, master Capt.J.Bewley, voyage Liverpool - South America.
  8. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1861-2: Inca, barque, 243 tons om, 265 tons nm, FYM in 1861, built at Whitehaven by Kennedy in 1844, owned by Nicholson & Co., then J.Sullivan, registered at Liverpool, master Capt.sJ.Bewley, then J.Sullivan, voyage Liverpool - West Indies.
  9. Mercantile Navy List 1864: Inca, 243 tons, official no.24761, signal letters PCFR, registered at Liverpool.
  10. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1864-5: Inca, barque, 243 tons om, 265 tons nm, FYM in 1861, built at Whitehaven by Kennedy in 1844, owner, port and voyage all crossed out, master Capt.Jackson, last surveyed March 1865. NB. Does not appear in Lloyd's Register in subsequent years.
  11. Liverpool Mercury, 30th November 1866 - "Inca, Jackson, from Conway, at St.John, N.B."
  12. Mercantile Navy List 1867: Inca, 263 tons, official no.24761, signal letters PCFR, registered at Beaumaris, owned by Mrs.Phoebe Lewis, of Llanwrst, Denbigh.
  13. Wreck recorded in the Liverpool Mercury, Tuesday, 23rd February 1869.
  14. Letters relating to the loss are with Crew Lists at the Anglesey County Record Office - see Access to Archives for details - and seem to confirm the date of loss as February 1869.
  15. Welsh Mariners website states that lost crew included David Beynon and William Williams, but that the vessel was lost with all crew prior to 31st December 1868.