Castlehow

Official Number
28611

The Castlehow was a barque built by Thomas Williamson at Harrington. She was completed in April 1860 and registered at Liverpool on the 26th May 1860 as Castleton, yet is shown in Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1861 as Castlehow. Since at that time British ships were not allowed to change their name it seems that this was the correction of a transcription error.

The Cumberland Pacquet and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser, Tuesday, 10th April 1860, page 5;

" Launch at Harrington - On the morning of Thursday last, a beautiful new clipper-built barque, which was named the Castlehow, was launched from the building-yard of Messrs.R.Williamson and Son, Harrington, near this town. The Castlehow has been built under survey, having been superintended during her construction by Capt.Elliot, of Harrington. She will class A1 for 14 years, and is 260 tons register and 288 tons builders' measurement. Messrs.Nelson, Ismay & Co., merchants, of Liverpool, are the purchasers of the Castlehow, and intend her for the Mazatlan trade. The vessel is, as we need hardly say, of first class build and materials, and will, we trust, justify the expectations which have been formed regarding her fast sailing qualities, &c."

The partnership of Nelson and Ismay was dissolved in 1863, and the Castlehow then came under the ownership of Thomas Henry Ismay (who, in 1868, became owner of the White Star Line). In 1872 the Castlehow was sold to Joseph Davidson, of Harrington, then was sold again in 1889 to Hugh McDowell, of Belfast.

The Castlehow spent her final years trading between Rotterdam and the Caribbean, and was lost on a voyage from Trinidad to Rotterdam in 1892.

The Times, Tuesday, 13th September 1892, page 4;

" TRINIDAD,12th - British barque Castlehow has foundered off this coast. Part of the crew saved and landed here."

Name
Year Built
Gross Tons
Length (feet)
Breadth (feet)
Depth (feet)
Masts
Figurehead
Stern
Lloyd's Classn.
Castlehow
1860
 260
103.6
 24.7
16.1
3
 
 
A1, 14 years, Special Survey

Sources :

  1. "Shipbuilding at Workington - a Checklist" by Harry Fancy, pub. Whitehaven Museum (1985).
  2. Mercantile Navy List 1868: Castlehow, 217 tons, official number 28611, signal letters QBGK, registered at Liverpool, owned by Thomas Henry Ismay, of 10 Water Street, Liverpool.
  3. Lloyd's Register of Shipping, 1873-4: Castlehow, barque, 260 tons, built by Wiilliamson at Harrrington in April 1860, official number 28611, owned by Davidson, registered at Liverpool, master Capt.T.Williamson.
  4. Mercantile Navy List 1892: Castlehow, barque, 217 tons, built at Harrrington in 1860, official number 28611, signal letters QBGK, registered at Liverpool, managing owner Hugh McDowell, of 23 Lord Street, Belfast.
  5. Information from Sheila Cartwright, also from Ian Buxton & David Asprey via Mariners-L List.