Page 10 - Captain William Strike of Porthleven

traditionally divided: the remaining 16 parts were in the ownership of a Francis Arthur of
Feock. The ‘Ocean’ was William Strike’s first command after his first foreign-going
experience in another Penzance registered vessel, the ‘Lady Rowley’. A permanent
reminder of William Holman is found in the name of a row of houses at Torleven in
Porthleven: ‘Holman’s Place’.

Before 1860, when Captain William Holman bought the ‘Ocean’ another major
Porthleven shipowner was Solomon Rowe and his fleet of trading schooners featured
regularly in Porthleven trade. Included in this fleet was the 73 ton coasting schooner
‘Vesper’ which, typically, was engaged in the coal and copper trade between Porthleven
and South Wales. It was not unusual to find that vessels owned in Porthleven were
employed in pilchard exports to Italy. Records show that the ‘Vesper’ was employed in
the pilchard trade to the Mediterranean, as when she sailed for Italy in 1843, two years
after William Strike had left the vessel after nearly three year’s service as mate. Solomon
Rowe also owned just over half the shares in the schooner ‘Cambria’ of which Hannibal
Strike – one of William Strike’s sons and himself the owner of 8 of the 64 shares in the
vessel - was master for some years after she was first registered at Penzance in 1869.

Boom and bust?

There is no doubt that Porthleven enjoyed a considerable volume of trade, almost
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exclusively coastwise, in the mid 19 century. Even twenty years before the purchase by
Harveys of the Porthleven Harbour Co. records suggest that the port was relatively well
patronised. William Strike’s first ship – the ‘William and Ann’ – in the second half of 1835
may be typical of the trade experienced in the port. Strike joined the vessel as a seaman
on July 29. On August 6 the ship left Newport, with 72 tons of coal for Porthleven,
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arriving on August 10 . On August 22 the ship sailed from Aberavon with 70 tons of
coal, for Porthleven, arriving six days later. On September 9 the ‘William and Ann’ sailed
from Cardiff with 44 tons of coal and 26 tons of iron, arriving 18 days later. The ship
sailed from the same South Wales port on October 9 with 58 tons of coal and 14 tons of
iron, arriving nine days later. On November 1 there was a ten day voyage from Newport
to Porthleven, with 70 tons of coal. On December 5 the ‘William and Ann’ sailed from
Porthleven for Neath with 58 tons of copper ore from the Crown Copper Co., arriving
four days later. Finally in 1835, the ship sailed from Neath with 70 tons of coal for
Porthleven.

The foregoing list of movements is interesting, for three reasons. First, the uncertainties
of the weather where sail is concerned suggests that cargoes were never really capable
of being guaranteed on time. Second, in the period just referred to there is evidence of
just one return freight when 58 tons of copper ore were loaded after the discharge of a
coal cargo from Newport. Although this is by no means conclusive, it may be indicative
of the uncertain economics behind coastwise trade even at the height of the Cornish
copper boom. Finally, the dates mentioned must be seen in their historical context. For
about twenty years, to 1850, Cornwall produced an average of nearly 200,000 tons of
copper per year, which was about 80% of Britain’s output. The growth in copper
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production can be seen from the start of the 19 century, when 56,000 tons of ore were
recorded in 1800. However, the real peaks in production occurred in the ten years either
side of 1840 as seen in the average just referred to. Across Devon and Cornwall in 1856
just over 200,000 tons of copper were mined but this was the final peak: competition
from producers in other parts of the world resulted in a very rapid decline for Cornish
copper mining.

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