Page 9 - Captain William Strike of Porthleven

and fish. Imports are listed as coal, timber, iron, brick, slate and limestone. Population is
given as 1,560.

Porthleven merchants and shipowners

Where merchants and shipowners are concerned, three individuals seem to typify
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Porthleven as a trading port in the first part of the 19 century. Not surprisingly each of
these individuals will have affected the life and prospects of someone like William Strike.
The three are William Cudlip, Captain William Holman and Solomon Rowe.

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William Cudlip was a prominent merchant at Porthleven in the early 19 century, as well
as acting as harbourmaster. Cudlip was also the owner of land surrounding the port, as
well as being a shipowner. Records show that in 1826 Cudlip had the schooner-rigged
vessel ‘William and Ann’ built at Porthleven. The schooner was built with a 59 foot keel,
a standing bowsprit and square stern. Six years later the ‘William and Ann’ would be one
of William Strike’s first ships. During nine year’s service on this small, 55 ton schooner,
Strike rose from being ship’s boy, to seaman and finally, to mate. Like so many
Porthleven ships, the ‘William and Ann’ was registered at Penzance. From the age of 18
to 27 William Strike will have learned a lot about life at sea, though limited to coastwise
trade. That trade typically was concentrated on the export of tin, copper and other ores
from Porthleven to the smelters of South Wales, with return cargoes of coal to the home
port both for domestic and industrial purposes. These industrial purposes are no more
than references to the need to generate steam power for the local mining machinery.

A fairly typical charter of the ‘William and Ann’ occurred in the early part of 1827, just a
year after the completion of the schooner. Records show that the vessel was chartered
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to take lead ore to Bristol and sailed from Porthleven on January 26 . Two days later
and due to what was described as ‘poor navigation’, the ‘William and Ann’ stranded on
rocks off the Flat Holmes in the Bristol Channel. So that the schooner might be towed off
the rocks, the lead ore cargo was thrown over the side and the masts cut away.
Lightening the vessel had the desired result, and she was towed to Bristol. Aboard the
schooner for this charter was the mine agent who demonstrated great fortitude in hiring
a fleet of small boats locally for the purpose of gathering up as much of the ore as
possible from the surrounding shoreline, and ferrying it to Bristol, at a cost of £133.

Just over twenty years later, in 1848, William Cudlip was declared bankrupt. A
conveyance and assignment of the estate and effects indicated, among other things, that
his ship, the ‘William and Ann’ – which was heavily mortgaged - would be transferred to
his creditors, a firm of Helston bankers. Subsequently the ‘William and Ann’ was sold by
the creditors to Josiah Wright of Paul near Penzance. The sale documentation set out a
concise description stating that the ship was of 55 tons, built at Porthleven in 1826,
measuring 50 feet long, 15 feet wide and 9 feet deep, and was schooner rigged. The
‘William and Ann’ traded for fifty years: on March 18, 1876 the schooner sailed from
Milford Haven for Penzance and was not heard of again.

Captain William Holman was another Porthleven shipowner and, in 1860, he bought the
elderly 91 ton schooner ‘Ocean’, like the ‘William and Ann’, a coasting vessel used
almost exclusively in trade between Cornwall and South Wales. The ‘Ocean’ had been
built in Padstow in 1831. William Strike served on the ‘Ocean’ for three years, between
1843 and 1845, well before Holman assumed ownership. However, Holman was not the
outright owner since he had 48 of the 64 parts into which vessel ownership was

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