Page 35 - Captain William Strike of Porthleven

6: Captain Strike’s Crews

Crews and crewing

So many years on, what can be said about the experience of a crew member aboard a
schooner such as ‘Ready Rhino’? It is almost a cliché to say that life was hard. Masters
like William Strike will have had to be strict disciplinarians and there is some evidence of
this in the ships log books that survive. Apart from these log books the starting point for
a voyage was a document headed ‘Agreement and Account of Crew’. This document
would set out the name, status and function of each crew member as well as detailing
the nature and extent of the forthcoming voyage. Reference has been made to the 1863
voyage of ‘Ready Rhino’ down to the Mediterranean and Black Sea, previously. In this
case it is declared that the voyage was from

‘London to Malta, thence to Alexandria and, or any other ports and places in the
Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea or Sea of Asov and back to a port of final discharge of
cargo in the United Kingdom or Continent of Europe between the Elbe and Brest.
Probable term of engagement about twelve months. Dated November 27, 1862.’

This is a fairly standard declaration in a document signed by each of the crew as a
binding contract. The general make-up of the crew for ‘Ready Rhino’ has been referred
to already, but who were they?

William Strike was probably typical in employing family members as crew though there
was a limit to this. Existing records suggest that William Strike usually had several
Cornishmen as crew. Predominantly though ‘Ready Rhino’ crews were essentially
cosmopolitan, if only by virtue of the geographical extent of her voyages and the
sometimes uncertain tenure of employment at sea. Those recruited by William Strike
with Cornish origins may on occasions have been signed on by him even in ports far
away, by virtue of their Cornish origins. Nevertheless there was no room for
sentimentality, such were the perils of sea-going in sailing vessels.

A fairly typical ship’s complement is seen in the crewing agreement for the voyage by
‘Ready Rhino’ from Cardiff to Barcelona, in 1863. On this occasion William Strike had
with him a mate from Devonport (James Thompson, aged 46), three able seamen
(James Norris from Southampton, aged 26; Thomas Eustace listed as from ‘Cornwall’,
aged 20; and Andrew Mitchell from Porthleven, aged 24), a boatswain (son John Strike,
aged 23), and a ship’s boy (Joseph Eustace aged 14 and making his first trip to sea). It
seems likely that Thomas and Joseph Eustace were brothers.

For the first voyage down to the Rio Grande, and Buenos Aires, John Strike was by now
promoted to mate, at the age of 24. Among the remainder of the crew were a Dane who
was the cook, and a Prussian, Herman Prang. Prang joined William Strike on the ‘Ready
Rhino’ as an ordinary seaman, at the age of 19. Six years later Prang was still sailing
with William Strike, now as boatswain. Indeed, in 1871 Prang married William’s daughter
Elizabeth at Porthleven. Among the two able seamen aboard was Peter Kidd, a 30 year
old native of Penzance and the son of a master mariner. In 1867 Peter Kidd married

26