Page 17 - Captain William Strike of Porthleven
P. 17
In 1843 William Strike left the ‘Lady Rowley’ and returned to the coasting trade,
joining the Penzance-registered schooner, the ‘Ocean’, referred to previously. An
unexplained episode followed when, in 1845, William Strike left the ‘Ocean’ and
joined the 73 ton coasting schooner ‘Vesper’ as mate. The ‘Vesper’ was built at
Ilfracombe in 1839 as a square-sterned sloop and owned in Porthleven. Records
from the ship’s log books show that during the last six months of his engagement the
schooner had a modest crew comprising the master, Joseph Glasson, the mate,
William Strike, and one seaman. Over this same period the log shows that the
‘Vesper’ was employed in the coasting trade between Penzance, Cardiff and
Newport. As another illustration of the close sea-going relationships in a small port
community like Porthleven, Joseph Glasson, the master of the ‘Vesper’ eventually
appears as the part owner of the schooner ‘Cambria’ referred to previously, whose
master and other part owner was Hannibal, one of William’s sons.
Master Mariner
William Strike was mate of the ‘Vesper’ for three years before joining another
coasting schooner, the ‘Heed’ in 1847, as master. This vessel was a square-sterned
sloop of 83 tons built at Fowey in 1824 and owned in the mid 1840s by a John
Richards of Breage, a village immediately adjacent to Porthleven. This period in
Strike’s sea-going career was very significant because in 1850 new legislation
decreed that recognition of a person’s status as a master mariner could be gained by
examination or by prior sea-going experience. William Strike’s application attested
that he had been employed as boy, mate and master in the British Merchant Service
in the coasting and foreign trades. Having had his application accepted, Strike’s
certificate number – 52989 – appeared thereafter on all log books and other
documents completed by him as master of any particular vessel. Pictured below are
William Strike’s application and his certificate, certifying his status as a master
mariner.
12
