Mallsgate
 Official Number
63889

The Mallsgate was an iron barque built by R.Williamson & Son at Harrington in 1877, reputedly a sister ship to Inglewood and Geltwood, built at the same shipyard. She was initially owned by Capt.R.Sprott, then Fisher & Sprott of Liverpool. Capt.Sprott was master of the vessel for about ten years, and took the barque to Australia and San Francisco. She had a reputation for speed, and made a passage from Hull to Sydney in 74 days in 1884, during which she covered 2,700 nm in only nine days.

In 1880 the Mallsgate travelled from Liverpool to Adelaide, returning to London with a cargo of iron. In 1882 her voyage was from Cardiff to San Francisco, returning to Liverpool.

For the 1881 Census the crew of the Mallsgate are listed under the Lundy Island entry, the vessel presumably being anchored in Lundy Roads on her way to or from a South Wales port. The crew listed were:
 

James Edward Summers m 36 Liverpool, Lancs. Master
John Rigg m 30 Liverpool, Lancs. Chief Officer
John William Smith m  31 Liverpool, Lancs. 2nd Officer
William Stille Whitelock m 28 Harrington, Cumber.  Carpenter
Thomas Manning u  36 London Boatswain
Andrew Holland u 23  Liverpool, Lancs. Sailmaker
William Inward u  51 London Cook
Thomas Johnson u  39 Kent Steward
Charles Peterson u 32 Sweden [Br Su]  AB
E. Micheloff u  23  Odessa [For] AB
Peter Matterson u  32 Denmark [Br Su]  AB.
Frank  Hewliner u 32 Antwerp [Br Su]  AB.
Alfred Evans u 23 Plymouth AB
Thomas Buck u 29 Waterford AB
Antonin Vezzetoll u 32 Trieste [For.]   AB
Frank Martell u 38 Corsica [For]  AB
S.W. Olson u  30  Stockholm [For] AB
William Johnson u 23 Norway [Br Su]  AB.
George Q. Hunt  u 17 ----Lancs. Boy
Harry Danks u 21 Nottingham, Notts. Apprentice
James Burton Narburg u 18 Birkenhead, Ches.  Apprentice
Charles McArthur u 19 Nottingham, Notts. Apprentice
Phillip Wm.Geo. Cockram u  21  Bolton, Lancs. Apprentice
Alfred Wardle Constantine u 18  Bolton, Lancs. Apprentice

On the 21st July 1889, a few days out from Newcastle, NSW, Australia, bound for San Francisco with a coal cargo (1513 tons), the Mallsgate stranded on the Middleton Reef and subsequently broke up. All the crew survived.
 

Name
Year Built
Gross Tons
Length (feet)
Breadth (feet)
Depth (feet)
Masts
Figurehead
Stern
Lloyd's Classn.
Mallsgate
1877
 1073
215.0
34.0
 21.0
 3
 
 
 

Sources :

  1. Details submitted to Mariners-L List by Derek Ellwood and Yvonne Leck.
  2. Australian National Shipwreck Database - cites the Sydney Morning Herald 30th July 1889.
  3. The Mallsgate is also mentioned in "Last of the Windjammers", Vol.2 by Basil Lubbock.
  4. Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve
  5. State Library of Queensland - showing a photo of an aboriginal breastplate, presented to Porlorunki of the Taloom tribe, who assisted the shipwrecked crew of the Mallsgate, who landed some 18 miles south of Double Island Point on the 31st July 1889.
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