British Queen
Hello Debbie
I have just come across your post enquiring about (among other vessels) the barque
British Queen, and treeve's reply to you to the effect that "There are 5 BRITISH QUEENS at
http://ww.reach.net/-~sc001198/ShipsB2.htm I have my doubts that any of them were Australian bound."
Perhaps I may be able to shed light on the vessel you are interested in.
My great great grandfather, William Peel Casson, who was born in Liverpool to parents from Whitehaven, went to sea at the age of 13. From his application for the examination for his First Mate's Certificate of Competency, we learn that in April 1847 he joined the
British Queen, which was registered at Whitehaven by the Jefferson brothers, merchants and shipowners of Whitehaven. The CLIP website (see
http://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/vesselsalpha.php) lists no less than 66 vessels which bore the name
British Queen, but only one of them was registered at Whitehaven, which ties it down to the vessel with Official Number 9360. She was ordered by the Jefferson brothers from the yard of Lumley Kennedy, Whitehaven, immediately after the loss of their vessel Thetis in 1937, and was launched on 24th May 1838. The British Queen was 218 nrt, 300 grt, and was built for the Jeffersons to carry sugar, rum and molasses from their sugar plantations in Antigua, and this she continued to do right up until the very point at which William Peel Casson joined her in 1847. On 28 Feb 1846, command of the British Queen passed from Capt Kennedy to Capt Joseph Wise, who, as David Hollett (From ***berland to Cape Horn: The sailing Fleet of Thomas & John Brocklebank of Whitehaven and Liverpool 1770-1900, London: Fairplay Publications Ltd., 1984, p. 51) notes, began "making record passages across the Atlantic with his new command". Hollett quotes the
***berland Pacquet in January 1847 as follows -
"The
British Queen, Wise, from Antigua and Belfast at this port on the 2nd instant - 43 days passage to the former port. On the 19th December, in lat 51.11N long 9.54W spoke the barque Ajax for Valparaiso. The
Queen under the able seamanship of Capt Wise has performed three West Indies voyages within the twelve months, a feat which reflects great credit on her commander for his perseverance and activity."
In the Preface to his excellent book, Hollett notes that the Jefferson vessels were not exclusively concerned with the Antiguan trade, however.
"In the year 1818 Robert and Henry Jefferson began to operate a small fleet of ships. These vessels were mainly employed in the West Indies trade, but they also made many other voyages to distant parts of the globe."
According to Australian Shipping 1788-1968, (Index File 46, Vessels Departing by Year -
http://www.blaxland.com/ozships/year/depart/s46.htm), the
British Queen departed Port Phillip (i.e. Melbourne) on 17 April, 1847, bound for Gravesend for Sep. 16th. In order to have reached Melbourne by that April, the she must have left England in January 1847, immediately after the record-breaking voyage across the Atlantic to which reference has just been made. My great, great grandfather must have officially joined her at Melbourne, just before his 14th birthday (on 22nd April), which means he must have sailed out to Australia with her in January 1847, whilst still only 13 years old - on what must have been the next voyage after the three to the West Indies just mentioned in the ***berland Pacquet. Most likely, he went out to Port Phillip on the
British Queen as an unofficial deck-hand, but his apprenticeship proper could only be counted as commencing from his 14th birthday. According to Alan Villiers,
Square-Rigged Ships: An Introduction (National Maritime Museum, p. 11),
"There was in Britain a system of apprenticeship under which boys of 14 and upwards to 16/17 could be bound to an owner, to work for him for four years in his ships for nothing (sometimes a pittance in the fourth year). The usual premium charged was £40 for each lad, which was a lot of money in 1895 or 1915.
For this sum paid by their parents, four, six, or eight hardy lads slept in a steel ‘house’ in the wettest part of the ship, where they had rough bunks, their own sea chests to sit on, and their strict allowance of food like the foremast hands."
The Jeffersons were perhaps more enlightened in their treatment of their apprentices than some shipowners, for William Peel Casson's service on the British Queen continued for the next five years - from April 1847 to April 1852.
According to the account of the vessel on the Mighty Seas website (see
http://www.mightyseas.co.uk/marhist/whitehaven/british_queen_whitehaven.htm), Capt Wise was still in command in 1858 when the Jeffersons tried to sell the brig, placing an advertisement in the ***berland Pacquet. No buyers were forthcoming, however, and the brig continued to work for the Jeffersons, under the command of Capt. Joseph Ledger. The
British Queen was out from Liverpool bound for Greenspond with a salt cargo, but struck ice at 4756' N 4740' W on the 6th May 1861. She sank within a few hours, and the master and crew were picked up next morning by the Transit from Liverpool and landed at St. John's.
A painting of the
British Queen in full sail, and a ship's log are on display at the museum, The Rum Story, Lowther Street, Whitehaven - in what were the old offices of the Jeffersons.
Hope this may be of interest and helps your research forward.
erylro