WILLIAM MANSON
Shipbuildervessel built by
DUTHIE
(Footdee, Aberdeen)
DateJuly 1872
Object NameBARQUE
MediumWOOD
ClassificationsShip
Dimensionslength 147' 7" x breadth 27' 4" x depth 15' 7"
tonnage 366 tons
tonnage 366 tons
Object numberABDSHIP000566
Keywords
Official Number: 64420
Fate: Burnt in Wellington Harbour, 24 May 1939.
Propulsion: Sail
Description: Barque rigged
Owners:
1874-76: J. Frazer & J. Ewan, registered at Sydney
1878-90: James Ewan, registered at Sydney
1893: Joseph Vos & Edward Stanley Ebsworth, registered at Sydney
1897-1939: Union Steam Ship Co. of NZ Ltd., registered at Dundedin
Masters:
1874: Master J. E. Payne
1876: Master G. King
1878: Master John Redwood
1881-82: Master Horatio Kindred
General History:
07/05/1874:
WILLIAM MANSON from Calcutta for Sydney has passed Cape Otway.
(Maitland Mercury)
27/05/1874:
Clearance 26 May - WILLIAM MANSON, Capt. Paine, for Foo Chow.
(Sydney Morning Herald)
10/10/1878:
WILLIAM MANSON, Bedwood, arrived 1 Oct. from Foochow.
(Sydney Morning Herald)
31/07/1880:
WILLIAM MANSON with full cargo of late teas left Hong Kong 22 July for Sydney direct.
(Australian Town & Country Journal)
16/10/1880:
WILLIAM MANSON from Foo Chow encountered a typhoon in the China Sea in August and at one time was on her beam ends, having been struck by a terrific squall.
(Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton))
04/11/1880:
WILLIAM MANSON, Capt. H. Kindred, cleared 3 Nov. for Shanghai.
(Sydney Morning Herald)
23/05/1893:
Barque WILLIAM MANSON has been laid on for Port Natal, South Africa. Messrs Burns, Philip & Co are despatching her with passengers should sufficient inducement offer. Route is via Torres Straits [between Queensland and New Guinea], thus avoiding cold weather along Southern latitudes. The vessel comes out of dock this morning.
(Sydney Morning Herald)
03/07/1897:
THE WILLIAM MANSON.
The erstwhile China tea clipper, afterwards collier and general cargo carrier, and later a Queensland labour ship, finally a merchantman again, under Mr Lamb's Flag, the WILLIAM MANSON has been sold to the Union Company for a coal hulk at Wellington, New Zealand.
(Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (New South Wales))
16/06/1939:
Clipper Passes On
ONE of the old tea clippers that used to visit Australian ports regularly, and that some old seafarers in Hobart recollect vividly, has been destroyed. She was the WILLIAM MANSON launched 67 years ago at Aberdeen. For 40 years the vessel was a coal hulk at Wellington, N.E., after she had seen long servies In the tea trade. In her best days, it was a tradition among sailors. In the WILLIAM MANSON that sky-sails should not be furled in thick weather as long as spars and rigging would stand. There is a story that the crew once refused to go aloft, and they were scared that the masts would carry away at any moment. The skipper himself then went aloft, and furled a sail single-handed. But times have changed, and, her one-time glory a thing of the past, the WILLIAM MANSON was burned a few days ago in the presence of only a few, fishermen and yachtsmen.
(The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania))
Notes: Usually the core information about ownership/masters comes from Lloyd's Register, in this case that all comes from The Register of Australian and New Zealand Shipping. The gaps are due to the lack of unbroken runs of these registers.
Figurehead now displayed at the New Zealand National Maritime Museum, Auckland.
