Bowes

Official Number 32845

The Bowes was a 265 ton snow built by Wilton Wood at Workington in 1808. She was registered at Whitehaven and spent most of her career on transatlantic voyages.

Masters and voyages listed in Lloyds Register of Shipping include Capt.S.Dixon and Capt.J.Hornby (1813) for New Brunswick and the Brazils, Capt. D. Dougal (1816) for Trinidad, Capt. W. Letham (1823) for Miramichi; Capt.Collins (1823) and Capt. M. Johnson (1832) for Newfoundland. The ownership of the vessel was stated to be W. Fell (1813); Moor & Co., then Selby & Co. (1816); W. Boyle (1823); Harding (1832) and Holliday & Co. (1832).

In 1811 the Bowes was owned by William Fell & Co. of Harrington, and was rigged as a brig, with four guns. On the 13th May 1811 the brig arrived at Miramichi, New Brunswick, from Liverpool with a crew of fourteen under the command of Capt. John Dixon. She departed on the 17th June with a cargo of timber (396 tons of pine timber, 2000 feet of pine planking, 10 cords of lathwood,18 masts and 100 rickers), bound for the Mersey.

John Ellwood of Workington joined the Bowes as mate in 1835 and eventually succeeded to her captaincy in 1843, at the age of 27. He stayed with the vessel until 1860, generally making two transatlantic voyages each year. His final voyage was from Liverpool, the vessel leaving in April bound for St.Johns, Newfoundland, and Quebec. The crew were:
 

The typical monthly wage for a seaman listed on the Crew Agreement was £3 5s.

The Bowes arrived at Newfoundland on the 11th May, and subsequently acquired a completely new crew. On the 18th July, the brig was reported ashore at Rouge Isle in the St.Lawrence. She was saved and arrived at Quebec on the 21st. A new crew was signed on for the return voyage to Douglas, Isle of Man, and Workington. The brig arrived at Douglas on the 21st September and Capt.Ellwood died the following day in his lodgings ashore.

The fate of the brig was recorded in Lloyd's Weekly Shipping Index on the 21st April 1882 :

" Bowes which put into Milford Haven Dec. 7 (1881), leaking on a voyage from Swansea to St. Vincent, was afterwards sold. It is believed she was intended for a coal hulk. The materials were also sold."
 

Sources :

1. Information posted to the Marine History Information Exchange Group by Derek Ellwood.
2. Lloyds Register of Shipping 1813 to 1832 (information from Gilbert Provost website).