Page 36 - Captain William Strike of Porthleven

Jane Teague at Madron near Penzance: the daughter of another Penzance master
mariner. Peter Kidd’s younger brother, Robert, joined ‘Ready Rhino’ in the following year
for a passage from London to Cardiff, an able seaman at the age of 17.

Indiscipline

When ‘Ready Rhino’ reached Montevideo William Strike recruited two ordinary seamen,
John Poland from Manchester and Frederick Clark from Bridport, both ‘from an
American vessel’. It is not immediately obvious why two extra hands were signed on but
it appears that William Strike was confronted by problems with both men. John Poland
deserted after just two days, and was discharged at Buenos Aires ‘by mutual consent’,
the matter being certified by the British Consulate at that port. Although Frederick Clark
did not desert, the log states ominously that ‘This man has the option of leaving the
vessel on her arrival at Falmouth Bay’.

The ‘Ready Rhino’ voyages throughout 1867 whether coastwise or down to the
Mediterranean were typical in terms of the make-up of the crew. William Strike had one
constant: Herman Prang. Otherwise it appears that the crew changed for each voyage.
While the voyages from Newport down to Tarragona and Patras, and the coastwise
voyage from Newcastle to Porthleven and thence to Cardiff appear from the logs to have
been trouble free, the voyage from Cardiff down to Seville certainly was not. The
problems seem to have focused on two able seamen, Thomas Rogerson and a
Prussian, Jank Hillman. Both seamen joined ‘Ready Rhino’ at Cardiff. In William Strike’s
hand the log shows that ‘This is to certify that T. Rogerson wishes to get clear of the
vessel by any means’. There is no indication of the reason behind such a seemingly
desperate declaration. However, in the case of Hillman indiscipline seemed to be the
issue, as can be seen in the following log book entry:

‘Hillman knocked off at sea, ship in a sinking state, went below and turned to
bed, came to his meals with the other men (Jan.5, 8am)(a mile and a half w. of
Padstow).’

The 1868 voyage down to the Rio Grande via Cadiz saw a complement of seven,
including William Strike as master. A Welshman – Thomas Davies from Cardigan – was
mate and Herman Prang, boatswain. There were two able seamen and two ordinary
seamen. Four of the complement of seven were Cornishmen. One of the able seamen –
Thomas Witteredge, of Weymouth – was mentioned in the log following another instance
of indiscipline:

‘This is to certify that Thomas Witteredge was ordered to his duty by the master
and came and gave insolence [saying] that he wood [sic] break [the] master.’

Desertion

This incident was but nothing compared with the voyage down to the Rio Grande when
‘Ready Rhino’ sailed from London at the end of August 1871 and arrived back – at
Exeter – in October 1872. The mate recruited for the voyage was called Henry Stokes;
Herman Prang was again boatswain and William Strike’s son Samson was an ordinary
seaman. On November 24, 1871 ‘Ready Rhino’ was at Santos, in Brazil. The log book
reports that, at 7am in the morning

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