James Baines owned this one, which I think might be the one we are searching for: Cavour built by T. Hilyard, St. John, New Brunswick, 1862, 1320 tons, wooden ship, 1871 purchased, 1877 sold to A. Ferguson, Greenock. (Of course this Ferguson might have owned several ships with the same name, this ship is a bit old.)
The spelling of the ship's name fits this one: "Owen Durkin, seaman, lost with barque 'Cavour' off Galway coast on 9th February 1892 from Pensacola to Greenock. (Greenock Telegraph 21.04.1892) ..."
She’s mentioned on page 34 of Michael Stammers’ ”The Passage Makers” (on James Baines' Black Ball Line of Liverpool) as follows: ” the Canadian ship Cavour of 1320 tons built in 1862, purchased in December 1871, with money loaned by John Grant Morris and sold in 1877.”
There's a bit on the shipbuilder on the net: Thomas Hilyard was a shipbuilder and lumberman, born at St. John, New Brunswick in October, 1810, son of Thomas Hilyard and Margaret Miles. He married Matilda Dyer and had thirteen children. He died 22 June 1873 at Saint John. With the construction of two big ships in 1852 he started building on a large scale. He obtained, first by lease and later by purchase, a shipyard in Portland, Saint John County. In 1854 he bought an adjoining steam sawmill. In 1856 or 1857 he expanded by leasing and subsequently purchasing a neighboring shipyard from John Haws, for decades a leading shipbuilder in the area.
Hilyard launched at least 48 vessels, a number surpassed by few Canadian builders. His larger ships were often sold to major shipowners in Liverpool, England while the smaller vessels were generally sold locally. He gained a high reputation as a shipbuilder and the quality and quantity of his ships and the extent of his saw milling operations made him a leading figure in the economic life of the Saint John region.
the business until 1915.
Thomas Hilyard is also mentioned on page 104 of F. W. Wallace's "Wooden Ships and Iron Men" (on Canadian shipbuilding): "in the sixties he cnstructed many fine ships, the Attila, Eddystone, Kamer, Cavour, Empress of the Seas... he gained a reputation as a builder of high quality" etc.
The Canadian built softwood ships, no matter how well built, were not ships that aged well, one built in 1862 must be therefore be considered pretty old in 1892. Regards, Stein.