Page 16 - Captain William Strike of Porthleven

3: Coastwise to Foreign-going

Boy seaman and Mate

William Strike served as a boy seaman and mate on his first ship, the ‘William and
Ann’ between 1832 and 1841. It has been seen already that while serving in the
‘William and Ann’ William married Mary Anne Chegwidden in 1836. Five years later
and after nearly ten years experience of coastwise trade, Strike first experienced
foreign-going trade when he joined the 90 ton, 62’ Penzance-registered vessel, the
‘Lady Rowley’, a schooner with standing bowsprit which had been built at Devonport
in 1833. Foreign-going service was to be very significant for William Strike when, in
1850, he submitted an application to be recognised as a master mariner.

Foreign-going
The ‘Lady Rowley’ was engaged in various foreign trades to destinations in the
Mediterranean and across the Atlantic, to places such as Newfoundland. Surviving
log books provide a flavour of some of these voyages. For example, in the first two
years, 1841 and 1842, there were voyages from Cardiff to Malaga and back to
Liverpool, from Liverpool to Lisbon, from Liverpool to Copenhagen and thence to
Newfoundland, and from St.Ives to Sicily. This latter voyage was no doubt part of the
thriving dried fish export trade at the time. The profits generated by these trades were
of course credited to the owner or owners. In the case of the ‘Lady Rowley’ her 64
‘parts’ were divided among six individuals including her builder, David Banks, from
whose yard at Frank’s Quarry Devonport she had been launched. Banks owned
16/64ths.

Seven years after William Strike left the ‘Lady Rowley’, the vessel was involved in
very dramatic events off the coast of Spain, adjacent to Gibraltar. The ‘Lady Rowley’
had arrived off Gibraltar in March of 1850 with a general cargo, from Liverpool. A
gale blew up and the ‘Lady Rowley’ was driven on to the Spanish shore. As the gale
abated so lighters were dispatched to receive as much of the cargo as possible,
whereupon the vessel was approached along the beach by armed Spanish
Carabineers: Custom House officers. Threats to fire on those involved with the
stranded vessel were made whereupon the consignees of the cargo appealed to the
Governor of Gibraltar, an appeal which brought no reaction. However, the British
naval commander of Gibraltar was reported to have acted ‘vigorously’ in ordering a
naval steamer to approach the area. A launch was armed and launched in the
direction of the stranded vessel accompanied by a warning that force would be met
by force. This strategy had the desired effect and the cargo avoided being plundered
by the Spanish. Eventually the ‘Lady Rowley’ was refloated.

The ‘Lady Rowley’ will have been one of many British merchantmen trading to
th
Newfoundland in the 19 century. Newfoundland and Labrador had a sparse
agricultural economy as a consequence of which these territories relied heavily on
the importation of agricultural and other consumer products.

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