Kiwi

As part of my family history research can anyone give me any links (or similar) to two ships. First is the ship "Carisbrooke Castle" a Glasgow iron clipper built ship. Built by Barclay and Curle in 1868 and used mainly on the East India trade until 1873 and then in the immigrant trade to Australia and New Zealand.
The second ship is HMS Kent from Nelson's time.
Illustrations would be superb!
Thanks.

duncan

Kiwi, Glasgow University or Strathclyde University have an extensive list of Clyde built ships. The largest collection of model ships in the world at Kelvin Hall , Glasgow might be worth contacting. Think it comes under the Transport Museum wing. There is a website that specialises on Clyde built ships, that may be the title "Clyde Built". I`ll do a little sniffing around for you since it is on my doorstep..well down the road a hundred miles or so, bit nearer than you ! Newbee Cap`n will chime in I hope. I was at the Clyde River Festival a couple of weekends ago , damn.

Kiwi

Thanks Duncan, that would be great, don't bust a gasket if it gets too difficult, it's just that it's that the Carisbrooke Castle is the ship my forebears came out on in 1874. Brave people in those days! 25 children under 5 died on that trip due to a measles epidemic (including two from my lot) and to think that my kids complained about feeling queasy on a 3 hour ferry trip!
Just checked the "Clyde-built" web data base and all it says is "wrecked"

duncan

...sorry my last post got cut off.( a little local difficulty) As I was saying I was at Glasgow River festival recently and was on the sailing ship Glenlee and could have asked some of the crew there. The website is www.thetallship.com/ with a couple of links. Maybe an email to them could be worthwhile. They list the Mitchell Library, a good source I think.

noobee captain

Carisbrooke Castle

This sailing ship was built in 1868 by Barclay, Currie & Co at Glasgow as a three masted ship with a tonnage of 1415, a length of 230ft 4in and a beam of 37ft 8in. Named after the castle where Charles I was imprisoned before his execution in 1649.

She was delivered in September 1868 for the London to Calcutta run. Records show she became the fifth Currie ship to be sold to Charles Barrie of Dundee in 1889 and was renamed Errol.

As the renamed Errol and under Norwegian flag, she was wrecked on Middleton Reef sailing under Captain Andreasen from Peru to Newcastle. She was caught firmly in the grip of treacherous currents and crashed on to Middleton Reef, 300 miles East of Brisbane on June 18th 1909.

Click here

According to the Penguin book "Shackleton's Way", the explorer sailed to the Cape of Good Hope on her at the turn of the 20th Century.

You may also wish to look upWrecks on the Queensland Coast by Jack Loney. You can also try contacting the Clydebuilt museum in Glasgow.


HTH and is something to be going on with.

If there is anything you need me to research in the Mitchell Library or the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery then let me know.

James

duncan

Well done James , I knew you`d come up trumps !!

Kiwi

Thats brilliant James Thanks very much indeed. It was Captain Freebody who sailed her from Gravesend to Lyttleton (arrived 2-9-1874) This time the single girls were "certainly a very creditable and repectable lot of girls"
I only have the newspaper report of the ships arrival.
Neville

noobee captain

Duncan, you have more faith in me than I deserve!

HMS Kent

I think the best source of information is probably the Naval base at Portsmouth, the National Maritime Museum or someone in the Portsmouth MBC. Also, try the library for a book called Nelson's Navy by Philip J Haythornthwaite (ISBN 1855323346) or Nelson's Navy: Ships, Men and Organization, 1793-1815 (Conway's History of Sail) by Patrick O'Brien (ISBN 0851775217).

One book which looks very promising is A Short History of H.M.S. "Kent", 1653-1928. There also seems to be a picture of it on page three of The Royal Navy Day by Day by R.E.A. Shrubb (Editor) (ISBN 0750938919).

You can get a schematic of the types of ships from the Broadside website on Nelson's Navy. The Historical Maritime Society also has details on what it was like to be in the Navy in those days (but nothing on particular ships).


Not really my era or area of interest. You could try contacting text who is a modeller of this era (I believe).

James

duncan

James , that is brilliant....dont forget I`m an aeromodeller not a boatie in spite of "the Big Yin,RO5"

noobee captain

Duncan, how could I forget that having seen the back of your van??

I look forward to seeing you take off and landing on the "big yin" someday!