Tracing a Master Mariner 5

Newspaper reports in the Cape Colony and elsewhere have proved a vital source for the activities of Captain George Henry Caithness. As master of merchant vessels trading in waters off the southern and eastern coast of South Africa there would be few if any occasions when he generated public records. 

Mauritius

It’s clear that he was present at the Cape from at least August 1852 (when he was present at his nephew's baptism) and that he sailed the schooner Pet between Mauritius and Natal during the later 1850s. (Several references to the Pet emerged from searches of the British Newspaper Archive online.)



At the age of forty, George married his second wife, Leopoltina, at Port Natal. 
A more settled phase – if there can be such a thing in the life of a master mariner – followed and by the mid-1860s ‘Caithness, George H’ appears listed in the Cape Almanac, as ‘Master Mariner and Ship Owner’ at Central Wharf and 7 Church Square and later at Upper Roeland Street, Cape Town.

The Cape and Natal News of 25 April 1864 mentions George Caithness in the unusual role of passenger on a ship called Fontabelle, 537 tons, the captain of which had been lost overboard. George had taken command and brought the vessel into Table Bay, no doubt much to the relief of all who sailed in her. However, when he claimed 150 pounds salvage it led to a case in the Vice-Admiralty Court which George lost; he received 25 pounds.

He was in the news again in mid-1866 when he offered to take 500 pounds worth of shares in the Buffalo Steam Shipping Company if they would give him command of ‘the new boat’ (unnamed) whereupon he would ‘proceed to England and superintend the building of a boat fitted for the bar.’ This may refer to the mouth of the Buffalo River forming the harbour of East London which had a problem similar to Port Natal – a sandbank or bar across the entrance. Perhaps the Buffalo Steam Shipping Company was slightly premature as it was only in June 1872 that the first steamship crossed the bar of the Buffalo.

Although it seems unlikely that this venture prospered, George must have been doing fairly well as the ever-watchful Cape and Natal News on 22 April 1867 mentions his purchase, for 650 pounds, of nine cottages situated between Alice and Evatt Streets, Port Elizabeth.*

Fort Frederick overlooking Port Elizabeth; Captain Evatt's grave in foreground

*Evatt Street is named after Captain Evatt who commanded Fort Frederick from 1817-1847. He supervised the landing of the 1820 British Settlers who were brought to shore under the protection of his soldiers and were provided with provisions and tents. Originally at St Mary's Anglican Church in the city centre Evatt’s grave was later moved to its present position next to the wall of Fort Frederick. This fort, built for defence against a possible landing of French troops, overlooked the site of what later became Port Elizabeth and is now a monument.

Acknowledgement
Tom Sheldon

Tracing a Master Mariner 4

George Henry Caithness first appears in South Africa in August 1852 when he is sponsor at the baptism in St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, of Charles Chance Caithness, son of Captain James Ramsay Caithness and the latter’s second wife, Eliza (nee Noyle).

Baptism entry, St George's Cathedral register, 29 August 1852: Charles Chance Caithness son of James Ramsay Caithness, Master Mariner, and Eliza. George Henry Caithness's name at right.

Durham Gaol

 

Diet for Class 2 Prisoners, Durham Gaol

Having weathered the storm of bankruptcy proceedings in 1850 and seen the inside of Durham Gaol* – a particularly gloomy and depressing place where conditions were harsh and the staple prison diet was oatmeal porridge – George undoubtedly needed a change of scene, as well as employment.

It makes sense that he chose the Cape Colony since his elder brother James was established there as a merchant captain. Not that James was having an easy time of it: he had lost his first wife, leaving him with six children to rear, remarried in 1851 and in the same year lost his ship Diadem.**

Still, James would have had good contacts in the colonial maritime community and George had plenty of experience behind him as well as having acquired his official Master’s Certificate. By 1857 he was trading between Port Natal and the island of Mauritius (Isle de France) as master of the 100 ton schooner Pet.

The connection between Natal and Mauritius had been strong since the 1840s. Then with the burgeoning sugar industry in Natal in the 1850s, coupled with a downturn in sugar production on that island, several Mauritians moved to Natal to start plantations on the coast. Among these was James Renault Sanders later a leader in Natal sugar and founder of the well-known Tongaat family.

The earliest mention of George and the Pet occurs in Lloyd's List, 30 September 1857 where the schooner is reported as having 'cleared outwards September 29' from Port Natal.

George's regular sailing schedule can be tracked through the press, for example:

Arrived at Natal 22 June 1858 ‘Pet’ (schooner) 100 t , G Caithness, from Mauritius.

In the following extracts, all referring to the Pet with Caithness as master, the date of publication is shown first:

11 March 1858. At Natal 24 Dec 1857, from London.  Left 13 Jan 1858 for Mauritius.

29 March 1858. At Mauritius 6 Feb 1858 from Natal.

24 June 1858. At Natal 8 April 1858. Put back for Mauritius with loss of chain plates. ***

15 July 1858. At Mauritius 10 May 1858. From Natal. And sailed 19 June on her return.

30 Dec 1858. At Table Bay 10th Nov 1858. For Natal.

George's schedule leaves a convenient gap for his marriage at Durban, Natal, to Leopoltina Jones nee Knapp on 19 July 1858.

Marriage entry St Paul's, Durban: George Caithness and Leopoltina Jones born Knapp
29 July 1858. George's occupation is given as 'Captain Merchant Service'.
A strange signature from George: perhaps he was nervous. He is described as 'widower' so presumably his first wife Caroline had died prior to this date though no record of the event has been found.

Durban in 1857

*  http://community.dur.ac.uk/4schools/Crime/Durhamprison2.htm

** http://molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/09/mariners-caithness-ships-and-family.html

*** Chain plates were essential: the shrouds, pieces of standing rigging which hold the mast up from side to side, connect at the top of the mast and terminate at the bottom ends at the chain plates which are tied into the hull. The loss of chain plates would have been good reason for George to put back for Mauritius.

Acknowledgement

Tom Sheldon

Tracing a Master Mariner 3

Calcutta port with shipping

In the 1840s George Caithness was master of various ships as listed in his Claim for his Master’s Certificate. These voyages were all for the ‘foreign trade’,taking him as far afield as South America as well as slightly nearer home to the Mediterranean. By 1849 he was sailing to Calcutta in the barque Nizam, built in 1847 by J Mearns’s yard; her home port was Sunderland. She is listed in the North of England Maritime Directory and Shipping Register 1848.*

During these years George was away from his family for extended periods of time. He had married Caroline Miller, though so far no record of this event has been found. 

Their first child, Caroline Ann, was born in Southampton in 1843, followed by another daughter, Eleanor, at Hartlepool in 1845 and a son George John whose baptism was recorded on 13 November 1850 at Monkwearmouth ‘to George and Caroline Caithness of Monkwearmouth Shore’, George is described as Master Mariner.

Caithness family entry 1851 Census Monkwearmouth. Click to zoom.

The children and their mother appear in the 1851 Census at North Quay, Monkwearmouth, with Caroline as Master Mariner’s wife ‘and Victualler’. George is absent, though probably not on the high seas.

'George Caithness, late of the Quay-side, Monkwearmouth, Durham, Mariner and Publican - In the Gaol of Durham'

A news report shows that George had got into financial difficulties and was consigned to Durham gaol for debt; he appeared in court on 9 August 1850. The details given below indicate how much George had moved around and that he had frequently been ‘out of employment’. This was not uncommon for Master Mariners.

It seems George had tried to make a living ashore as a publican, given the vicissitudes of life as a merchant captain. These must have been hard times for his wife and family.

George's name appeared in Perry's Bankrupt Gazette 27 July 1850

However, this downturn passed. George received his Master’s Certificate in June 1851 and continued at sea in the Merchant Service.

What is a Master Mariner?

A master mariner is a man judged to be qualified to be in charge of a vessel, and is frequently referred to in non-official sources as a captain. Master mariners were issued with a certificate, many of which have survived, but these records are not complete and only cover service between 1845 and 1927

Examinations for Masters were introduced in 1845, but did not become compulsory for the foreign trade until 1850, and the home trade (i.e. those trading in UK coastal waters and with north European ports) until 1854.

Research guide C2: The Merchant Navy: Tracing people: Master-mariners, mates and engineers:

www.rmg.co.uk/researchers/library/research-guides/the-merchant-navy/tracing-people-master-mariners-mates-engineers

*Source: The Sunderland Site: vessels built at Sunderland 1847
http://www.searlecanada.org/sunderland/sunderland122.html

Acknowledgement

Tom Sheldon

Tracing a Master Mariner 2

Trinity House Brig; National Maritime Museum, Greenwich*

From March to December 1848, George Caithness was master of the 191 ton brig Fortitude sailing to Rio. She is listed in Lloyd’s Register for that year:

By February 1848 he was master of Nizam, trading to Calcutta. Not long afterwards George submitted his claim for his Master’s Certificate, the latter being issued on 20 June 1851.

The Master's Certificate gives name, estimated age, birth date, birth place, issue date, issue port and certificate number: George Caithness, 34, 5 Jul 1817, Ealing Hants, 20 Jan 1851, Sunderland, 36461. His actual birth year was 1818 and he was born in Eling, Hampshire, not Ealing. [From www.ancestry.co.uk All UK and Ireland Masters and Mates Certificates 1850-1927]  

Merchant Navy Captain

Merchant Seamen’s Records

The majority of records relating to merchant seamen are held at The National Archives, Kew. These include the First, Second and Third Registers of Merchant Seamen's service, 1835–1856.

At findmypast search 1.6 million records of Merchant Navy Seamen 1835-1857. From 1835, the central government began to monitor a potential reserve of sailors for the Royal Navy, resulting in the creation of thousands of records that identify individual seamen. The main series are the ships' agreements and crew lists, from which the registers of service were created. These are volumes from The National Archives' record series BT112, BT113, BT114, BT115, BT116, BT119 and BT120.

www.findmypast.co.uk/search/merchant-navy-seamen

* This unsigned ship portrait probably dates to the 1830s or early 1840s at latest. The rig is rather unusual, since while essentially that of a brig it includes a gaff to the foremast rather than a fore-staysail.
www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/a-trinity-house-brig-172879

Acknowledgement:

Tom Sheldon

Tracing a Master Mariner's career

Gradually adding events to an ancestor’s chronology is a satisfying indication of progress made, gaps filled and increased understanding of what made him/her tick. This is happening now in the case of George Henry Caithness, brother of James Ramsay Caithness.

They were both mariners who began their careers at the Lower School, Royal Hospital, Greenwich after the early death of their father, James Caithness. One of the documents pertaining to George’s acceptance at Greenwich is a declaration sworn by his mother, Ann Caithness nee Scorey, in October 1827, stating his birth date to be 5 July 1818.

  

George’s birth year is given as 1817 on his Master’s Certificate issued in January 1851. He was baptised at St Mary’s, Eling, Hampshire on 9 August 1818 and although baptisms were not always immediate it seems Ann’s statement giving 1818 as the year George was born is more likely to be correct.

So George was only about 9 years of age when he was admitted to the Lower School and boys were expected to remain ‘as long as the Directors thereof shall think proper’ - usually till they were 14. They were then ‘at the disposal of the Directors to serve ‘in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, or Merchant Sea Service’: George like his elder brother James was destined for the latter.

Fortunately, details of George’s career after Greenwich are revealed on his Master’s Claim for Certificate of Service, listing names of the ships he served in and the relevant dates. It’s stated that he served as ‘apprentice, seaman and mate from 1830 to 1840 and since that period as master’. Two of the ships he was with in the early years were the Leonidas (home port Southampton), as apprentice, and Comet (home port London), as mate.

As master, his ships from 1843 to 1849 were Rosebud, Schiedam, Victoria, Fortitude and Nizam, with destinations as diverse as America, the Mediterranean, Brazil and Calcutta.

The unusually-named Schiedam is listed in Lloyd’s Register.* The latter is a valuable source when tracing a master’s career, bearing in mind that there may be unexpected variations of a surname: George’s name is given as Cockness, Cartness and Catness, none of these an obvious choice when searching.

The Victoria is also listed in Lloyd’s Register – ‘Catness’ master – and the abbreviation ‘Sw’ indicates she was a Snow, a square-rigged ship similar to a brig but with a trysail mast added. It was in this ship that George experienced the volcanic phenomenon in 1845.

*www.lr.org/about_us/shipping_information/Lloyds_Register_of_Ships_online.aspx

Acknowledgement

Tom Sheldon

Caithness in the Diamond Fields 3

Diamond Digger

The Cape and Natal News of 8 August 1870 concerning members of Slater’s party leaving for the diamond fields gives only the surname Caithness – no forename or title, no mention of ‘Captain’. This could suggest it may not have been George Henry Caithness but his nephew James Ernest Caithness, at that point a fit thirty-year old bachelor and more likely to be setting off for the fields than would a fifty-something mariner such as George Henry.

However, it is certain that Captain Caithness made some trips by steamship from the Cape to England at the height of the diamond rush and that he presented ‘a collection of stones from the diamond diggings’ to the Hartley Institution (the latter became today's Southampton University).

The Cape and Natal News gives an idea of the freight carried by steamers, mentioning the Northam on which Captain Caithness was a passenger in 1872:

‘Diamonds were Trumps at the Cape’ and the same newspaper published some verses – enthusiastic if short on literary merit - by ‘a young Colonist’, entitled ‘Off to the Diamond Diggings’, giving a fair idea of the prevailing mood.

The South African press was full of stories about the diamond fields, who was on their way there, what the conditions were like en route and who had had spectacular finds. There wasn’t quite as much information on the many spectacular failures. 

Suddenly there was a dearth of ‘enterprising young men’ in the settled areas of the Colony: they were all off to the fields, wagons laden with stores and equipment, to rough it in tent-towns on the bare veld. 

Even men who were not so young hoped to make their fortunes, as the report below reveals:

During the year 1870 there poured into the country a stream of fortune-seekers which would be equalled only when gold was found on the Witwatersrand twenty years later.

It was the remarkable discoveries of diamonds and gold which put South Africa on the map and changed the course of its history. Nothing would ever be the same again.

Acknowledgement

Tom Sheldon

Research Resource:

Africana Library Kimberley

Holdings include: early travel and missionaries, Kimberley chronological, Directories and Voters’ Lists, geological and archaeological. Local newspapers from 1870, when diamonds were discovered, until present. 15 000 Photographs depicting the Diamond Fields and its people, mining and the Siege of Kimberley. 760 collections of Manuscripts, dealing with Siege of Kimberley diaries, discovery of diamonds etc. Ephemera: pamphlets, programs, invitation cards, medals, coins etc. South African and Kimberley maps.

http://africanalibrary.co.za/

  

Caithness in the Diamond Fields 2

The Diamond Fields At The Cape

The Hampshire Advertiser, on the alert for any news involving ‘Southamptonians’ and their relatives, reported on 29 Oct 1873 as follows:

Donations to the Museum: The Library and Museum Committee reported that Captain Caithness 'had sent a collection of stones from the diamond diggings' at the Cape.

These offerings are likely to have been uncut stones, as the museum (the Hartley Institution) had an interest in geology. What is less certain is whether Captain Caithness acquired the stones at the diggings himself or came by them indirectly.

Sorting Diamonds

It’s probable that the Captain mentioned was George Henry Caithness, whose career is gradually unfolding as more references emerge.

Shipping companies were involved in a rush of their own, making money on the back of the diamond frenzy. Demand for transport to the Cape was unprecedented and new competitors entered the market. 

For example, Messrs G H Payne and Co of London sent two chartered steamers the Westenhope and Beethoven, intended to be the start of a regular Cape line and advertised in the press with the magic words ‘Direct to the Diamond Fields’:

Unfortunately, the 'magnificent' Westenhope, after delivering passengers at Port Elizabeth for the diamond fields, was totally wrecked at Seal Island.

In May 1867 (the year of the Eureka Diamond discovery) Captain and Mrs Caithness were passengers from the Cape to Southampton on the Union Co. steamship, Cambrian. That this may have been a regular trip for the Caithness couple is indicated by another report dated 21 September 1872 listing them as passengers on the Northam, again to Southampton from the Cape:

The Northam’s cargo manifest included over 2 000 pounds in specie, an unstated amount of gold from the Marabastadt fields, ostrich feathers (highly fashionable), ivory – and ‘nine packages of diamonds.’ Numerous vessels departing the Cape at the height of the diamond frenzy would have carried similar items.

Captain George Henry Caithness was then in his mid-fifties. This seems a little late in life for active pursuit of diamonds in the fields. It’s tempting to imagine that James Ernest Caithness, then a young man of about thirty, might have spent some time at the diggings, passing on some of his finds to his uncle, Captain Caithness, perhaps to sell stones at good London prices during the latter’s trips overseas.

James Ernest’s precise whereabouts during the years after his father’s death in 1860 and James’s marriage in London in 1877 remain conjectural. If he was in South Africa for the start of the diamond rush around 1869/70 he could well have tried his luck at the Cape diggings. 

It may be significant that after his marriage he joined the Calcutta branch of Cooke and Kelvey, who were pearl and diamond merchants, jewellers, gold and silversmiths, watch and clock-makers.

James Caithness and HMS Mars 1798

James Caithness, father of mariners James Ramsey and George Caithness, appears on the muster roll of the British warship HMS Mars in April 1798, under the command of Captain Alexander Hood.

Europe was in ferment: the French Revolutionary Wars were in progress and the Royal Navy was blockading the coastline of France off Brest.

The British fleet under Admiral Lord Bridport was crossing the Iroise Passage on 21 April when, on foreign sail being sighted to the east, three RN ships left the fleet in pursuit, led by the 74-gun ship of the line, HMS Mars.

One of their quarry was L’Hercule (the Hercules), also 74 guns, under Captain Louis L’Heritier, recently commissioned and sailing to join the main French fleet at Brest. The Mars sped to intercept. L’Heritier tried to escape through the Raz de Sein passage, but the tide was against him and he was forced to anchor, coming under heavy fire as Hood brought the Mars into position. For over an hour the two vessels lay so closely alongside each other that their guns couldn’t be run out but had to be fired from within the ships.

The furious action between H.M.S. Mars and L'Hercule
 off Brest on 21st April 1798 by John Christian Schetky

Casualties and damage were extensive on both sides, Hood himself being mortally wounded when a musket ball severed his femoral artery. He was carried below, bleeding to death.

Death of Captain Hood by James Daniell 1798

L’Hercule surrendered, her crew’s attempts to board the Mars having failed. The French casualties numbered 290 or more and the British 90 including her commander. L’Hercule was taken as a prize and conveyed to Britain, later being repaired and put to service in the Royal Navy until 1810.

This fierce battle between two evenly-matched ships was James Caithness’s baptism of fire: he had joined the complement of HMS Mars only two weeks earlier.

If his birth year as shown on various ships’ musters is accurate (1786), James was very young at the time, not yet in his teens. He may have been a powder monkey, ferrying gunpowder from the hold to the guns. Usually this task was undertaken by boys of 12 to 14 years of age, chosen for their speed and height i.e. short so that they would be hidden behind the gunwales out of sight of the enemy’s sharpshooters.

Firing the 18-pounder

The terrifying impact, noise and intense heat of this bombardment can scarcely be imagined:  two ships raking each other at close quarters, their wooden sides gaping with blackened holes, and men being blown to smithereens on the slippery decks.

James’s naval career had started with a bang. Perhaps it’s fortunate that, as he savoured the dizzy relief of survival after the engagement, he couldn’t foresee the hazardous adventures which still lay ahead of him in the service of his country.

Rope Knots
from textbook on Seamanship

Acknowledgement:
Tom Sheldon for research at TNA Kew.

http://www.rmg.co.uk/visit/exhibitions/future/nelson-navy-nation-1688-1815

Nelson, Navy, Nation: the story of the Royal Navy and the British people, 1688–1815. New permanent gallery opens at the National Maritime Museum on Trafalgar Day, 21 October 2013

Souvenir Saturday: early 19th c Maritime Miniature

A sailor and his lady, delightful early 19th c maritime folk art miniature:
in keeping with the mariner theme and to pave the way for
further sea adventures of James Caithness snr coming soon on this blog ...
the era of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.

Souvenir Saturday: The Caithness Fan

This fan of bone with silk mount is a wonderful piece of Caithness memorabilia. Bearing the name ‘Etta’, it belonged to Eugenie Sarah Henrietta Westmacott (b 6 November 1858 d 15 January 1938). Etta, as she was known to her family, married James Ernest Caithness (b 17 May 1839 d 16 Feb 1902).

The folded view of the fan shows embossed arms and a motto, ‘I Commit My Work to God’. This is similar to the motto of the Earls of Caithness (surname Sinclair), ‘Commit Thy Work to God’ (Latin Revela Domino opera tua). Elements in the arms on the fan - sailing ship, lions rampant, rooster - echo the Sinclair arms.

Few accessories of the female wardrobe combine functional and decorative qualities as perfectly – or as elegantly - as the fan. Apart from keeping a lady cool in heated ballrooms or theatres and indicating that its owner was in the first rank of fashion, it was indispensable for certain accepted patterns of social behaviour.*

Etta’s fan with its personalized touches would have been a gift to mark a special occasion. Its condition tells us it was a treasured memento, carefully preserved.

* Language of the Fan

  http://home.earthlink.net/~zhizhu/LanguageOfTheFan.htm

By kind permission of the owner of the fan, June B-R.

Photographs and additional information by Tom Sheldon.