Common Ship Names
( Mary)
Mary was a very common ship’s name in Lloyd’s Register:
1835: 205 Marys in Lloyd’s and one Cork vessel.
1840; 107 Marys in Lloyd’s and two Cork vessels.
1845: 93 Marys in Lloyd’s and two Cork vessels
1850: 75 Marys in Lloyd’s and three Cork vessels
1855: 64 Marys in Lloyd’s and none from Cork
These Marys are documented to emphasize the importance of ship description: tonnage, time and place of construction, in tracking and differentiating ships. It is also notable that ships can appear and disappear from Lloyd’s Register. Such is the case with the Sutton brigantine Mary which has copious evidence of her further existence despite her absence from Lloyd’s Register in the 1850s.
Coopering
( William Penn )
Coopers played an essential role in Cork’s brewing, distilling and the provisions export trade and staves for coopering represented, from a maritime trade perspective, an important segment of timber importation. As many as 700 coopers were employed in Cork City during the eighteenth century (Bielenberg 1991). Cork suffered a general economic decline after the Napoleonic Wars, particularly in manufacturing and although the 1841 Census records more than 700 coopers working in Cork, by 1901 the number was less than 300.
Cork Steam Tugs
( Anne )
Both the Suttons and the Scotts had steam tugs in the 1860s including two, given the title of Pilot (and, I assume, function), operating out of Queenstown. The Sutton steam tug Pilot (Reg: 29535) was owned by Captain Nathaniel Sutton (b.1832/35, Kinsale) and Captain Abraham Sutton (b.1813, Clonakilty) of the South Mall from 1864 until 1878, when Abraham George Sutton (b.1842) of White St. became the owner (IMNCL). Eliza Twohig, the widow of Captain John Twohig (b.1838), then became the owner in 1880. The Suttons and Twohigs were good friends and related. Nathaniel Sutton was also the captain of Pilot until 1873, when he became Deputy Harbour Master. Other steam tugs owned by the Suttons at this time included the George P Bidder (Reg: 43645) owned from 1864 – 80 by Captain George Sutton (b.1804, Clonakilty) of White St., Cork and captained by Robert Sutton (b.1832, Courtmacsherry). The Brunel (Reg: 68337) was owned by George Sutton Jr (b.1836) from 1863 until purchased by his cousin, Captain Edward Walsh (b.1846, Cork), in 1879. The vessel was captained by John Sutton (b.1834).
Daunt Rock Lightship
( Troubadour )
The first Daunt Rock lightship, the Puffin , was placed there in 1864, after the wreck of City of New York . The Puffin lightship vanished during a storm in 1896. The wreckage was found one month later but the crew were never found. In February 1936, the Lifeboat Mary Stanford of
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