From storms to stowaways: a ship’s year faithfully logged
Last updated 15:58, Wednesday, 09 April 2008
HURRICANES, desertions, manning the pumps for four days non-stop to prevent sinking... just some of the tales in a 130-year-old ship’s log book found in a dusty Whitehaven cupboard 30 years ago.
The log book chronicles the adventures of the Barque Henry Palmer, a 106ft, three- mast ship between 1871 and 1872.
The ship’s final voyage over the 12-month period saw her sail into Whitehaven on January 11.
Fast forward to 1972 and Whitehaven lad Jeremy Bristoe was working as a management trainee at Jackson’s timber yard, which was then based on Coach Road, along with his mother the late Joan Bristoe.
Jeremy was told to clean out one of the cupboards and get rid of the books that were cluttering it up to make more space.
As he began searching through the bits and pieces he came across a green book with the words “Ship’s Log”.
Jeremy’s father, the late Ron Bristoe, was an avid local historian and Jeremy, recognising the importance of his find, asked the boss if he could keep it.
He said: “I knew it was something important and started reading through it. I took it home to show my father and he said I should keep hold of it.”
Since then Jeremy has kept the log book with him, taking it to Scotland for 15 years and lately in Oxford where Jeremy works as a director for an international timber company.
He said: “My father died some years ago and I wanted to get some kind of memorial for him. We thought about a bench on the harbour but lately I started to think about the log book and am now donating it to the Beacon in his memory.”
Jeremy, now 53, and his sister Lorna, who lives locally and works for Connexions, are planning a small inscription as a dedication to their father.
The Barque Henry Palmer was an American-built ship originally used for whaling and may at one time have been known as the Jeanie or Jeanne and had foreign owners.
It is registered as belonging to a Henry Palmer at Maryport from 1860. It is unknown where it was built.
The log book charts the ship’s travels between May 1 1871, setting sail from Cardiff to Boston to Duboy and eventually sailing to Whitehaven on January 11 1872.
The final entry reads: “Missed the tide at St Bees, managed to launch pilot boat into Whitehaven and stow sails.”
The 12-month log makes for exciting reading; from four men deserting in New York to hurricanes in the mid-Atlantic and stowaways.
Although not stated anywhere in the log it is believed that it was written by a Joseph Brennan who is documented as the ship’s master between 1870 and 1876.
Brennan and his crew set sail from Duboy on November 28 with their destination being written as Whitehaven.
They made it to Holyhead on January 10 where they helped another boat in distress by launching their longboats and charging the vessel £100 for their service.
They then took one day sailing from Holyhead to Whitehaven.
Brennan was Master of the ship for another four years before handing over to Master Jackson who sailed her from 1877 to 1880.
It is then listed in 1881 as being captained by a man named Summers, but Summers’ time at the helm was to be short lived as the Barque Henry Palmer was listed as missing in The Times newspaper on Thursday 17 March 1881.
She disappeared while sailing from Quebec to Swansea with a cargo of timber.
It is not known how or why the 1871-72 log book ended up in a cupboard in Jackson’s timber yard, but the serendipity surrounding the book, where it ended up, who it was found by is flawless.
It is the log book of a ship that was used largely to transport timber; it was found by a trainee manager in the store cupboard of a timber yard; and that trainee manager went on to work for an international timber business that specialises in the restoration of old ships, most recently HMS Warrior.
The log book is stamped with a FH Cousen’s of Cardiff stamp, who denote themselves to be makers of chronometers and watches and chart and nautical book sellers.
It also has a Richard Holmes Laurrie stamp of 53 Fleet Street, London.
As well as the quill-written log, there are also interesting and somewhat humorous typed pages with the rules of the road at sea and advice on resuscitating the apparently drowned.
“Lie on the patient on his side and excite his nostrils with snuff, smelling slats or tickle his throat with a feather,” is the advice given on how to induce breathing.
It is hoped that the adventures of the ship’s log book will soon be available to the public.
Dec Palmer of the Beacon said: “This is an incredible find and we are thrilled to be adding such a valuable item to our collection.
“We will be sending the log to our experts to see what restoration work needs to be carried out in order to preserve the log, which is in remarkable condition as it is.”
Once the necessary restoration has been carried out there are plans for the log to become a permanent exhibit.
Dec said: “The log itself will probably be put into a case but there are lots of ways that we can allow people to read what is written inside, which is what is of real importance.”
Some of the ideas so far have included typing up various entries of the log and having them displayed nearby, or making cards that are specific to every day of the log and handing them out to visitors.
Dec said: “Somebody may come in here on April 3 and they can get a handout of what is written in the log that day and then they may visit us again in August and can find out what the ship was up on that day.”
There are also plans for excerpts of the log to be used in the Beacon’s outreach work with schools.
Jeremy presented the log to the Beacon along with his sister Lorna and wife, Pat
He said: “I feel like the log is back where it belongs and it’s nice to think that there will be something here in memory of my late father who was a Whitehaven man through and through.
“It’s an interesting read and every page is legible, but I’ve absolutely no idea how it came to be in that cupboard at Jackson’s.”
Research by The Whitehaven News, however, shows that the name Jackson has long-standing connections with the timber merchants business and also nautical connections, with a Thomas Jackson being listed as a Master Mariner in 1861 and a William Jackson listed as a timber merchant living in Irish Street.
The second Master after Joseph Brennan is named as Jackson who was master between 1877 and 1880 so it is possible that there may have been a family connection between the Brennans and the Jacksons and that the book was handed down through the generations of the Jackson family until it ended up in a dusty store cupboard before being rescued by Jeremy.
