In a Barque a long, long way away

[Jamboesque]

I wonder if the clever folks of TS can help me out with a bit of an investigation.

In1858 April 16 to be precise, a girl Elizabeth Helen Bell is born to Jessie Butchart and her Shipmaster husband William Bell, nothing unusual about that until you look at the place of birth.

The Barque Eugenie at Lat 58 13S Long 56 21W. Which again seems nothing remarkable but when plugged into a mapping locator program locates that fix at approximately 400 miles south of the Falkland Islands in the middle of autumn. Even today I would reckon no prospective mother would be looking forward to giving birth at that location. At least the father has no excuse for not being present at the birth. He did register the birth at Leith when they arrived there in August.

Elizabeth survived to become an artist, Jessie went on to have 3 more girls and 2 boys all born on land in Dundee, though given the state medical science at the time there would still elements of a lottery with respect to survivability.

My queries are related to the ship ‘Eugenie’ or possibly the ‘Emma Eugenie’ I’ve the usual Google search with nothing conclusive, but would like to find out more about the ship (History, Image of some sort) and what kind of trip (Emmigrants or Cargo) they were on. Jessie and William married only married in Oct 1856 so they probably left on the voyage not long after were married, in order to get to the other side off the world.

Can anyone point me in a direction in which to carry on my research?

[Hugh Stevely]

Could this be your Vessel.

EUGENIE - 1856
Master: Captain J. McLeish
Rigging: Barque
Tonnage: 397 tons
Construction: 1856 in Dundee
Owners: Couper & Co.
Port of registry: Dundee
Port of survey: Dundee
Voyage: sailed for Archangel



Hugh.

[Andy]

Lloyds Register, later to become Lloyds Maritime Directory, should have some details. Also, since the family were obviously based in Dundee, the Trade Directories frequently have quite a bit of Shipping Innformation, Ship Names, Makers, Owners, Masters, Tonnage etc. May be worth a look.

Every coastal newspaper I've come across has a Shipping Gazette of some sort. Some areas are luckier than others, for example, here in Greenock, the Watt Library librarian indexed every mention of every ship that appeared in the local newspapers from 1803 - 1914. There's a bloke here in Greenock who's tracking the comings and goings of as many ships as he can find registered in Greenock (that's no mean feat either).

[Jamboesque]

Thanks guys.

Quick work.

Hugh : I saw that listing but the problem I have is that the master is wrong. I would be more than happy if William Bell was named as Master. (He is named as a Shipmaster on his marriage cert) That listing mentioned Murmansk, it's going the wrong way in order to get down to the antipodes so that Jessie can get pregnant and have Elizabeth. I think I'm going to have to read up on ocean going 3 masted ships in the mid 19th Century, perhaps E M Forster's Hornnblower series might be good place to start.

Andy : Lloyd's Maritime register would be the sensible place to go, but would I not have to go down to London to see the records. I did see the chap in Greenock's list of ships coming by the port. There was reference and I'll investigate later. The obvious place as you say is in Dundee and having a good rake through the Archives. The family lived in Broughty Ferry from 1860 through to 1891 and I'm fairly sure there will be something.

Dundee is easier to get than London, that's for sure!

[bleckie]

Hi All

Might be worth having a look or a visit here

http://www.fdca.org.uk/FDCAPublications.html

yours aye
BruceL

[Currie]

Hello Jamboesque, just some odds and ends.

The only reference I can find in 19C British Library Newspapers searching for EUGENIE M’LEISH is the 1856 Archangel voyage Steve referred to. I can’t find anything for EUGENIE BELL. There’s this entry in the Caledonian Mercury, (Edinburgh), Thursday, May 8, 1856.
PROVINCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
LAUNCH.—On Tuesday afternoon a beautifully modelled clipper barque was launched from the yard of the Tay Shipbuilding Company at the Marine Parade, Dundee. She is named the Eugenie, after the Empress of the French, and is registered for 443 tons, and classed at Lloyds for ten years.

There seem to be quite a few Barques around by name of Eugenie and with Eugenie in the name, not to mention the foreign ones. e.g. Eugenie of Glasgow, O.N. 16242, 491 Tons. Mercantile Navy List 1860 – search for Eugenie etc.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=0ek ... ie&f=false

The Barque Eugenie you may have seen mention of in Google Books, which was wrecked off Mauritius in 1857, was built by Robert Steele & Co. She was Greenock owned and the Master was Robertson. She was launched 13 November, 1855, 345 tons, 130 feet, named after “consort of our imperial ally”

In August, 1857, in a ‘Ships for Sale’ advertisement, Thomas C. Orr mentioned the Eugenie, about 1000 tons, length 172, etc. shortly expected at Clyde. Quebec built.

The master of this Emma Eugenie was McClelland. She arrived at Perth, Western Australia, on 25th May, 1858, from the UK. Would not have been South of Falklands in April.
http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/ar ... eugenie%22

My Scottish grandfather was born at Latitude 43, Longitude 119.5, about 500 miles south of Western Australia. They were headed east. His birth wasn’t registered anywhere. I wonder what direction the Eugenie was headed. To or from California maybe? William Bell may have been a Master Mariner but not necessarily Master of the Eugenie.

Alan

[LesleyB]

Hi Jamboesque

There are also some Shipping archives held at Dundee University Archives
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/archives/slshiptop.htm

A few Bells, but no William, and not seeing any obvious sign of Eugenie though....

(If the ship was Leith-based, there may be some info at NAS)

Best wishes
Lesley

[Hugh Stevely]

Hi Jamboesque,

You did not state a year for the EMMA EUGENIE

Could this be her? some one else is looking for info on this vessel in Australia.

EMMA EUGENIA this Vessel note the a at the end of her name this info has the right spelling

''Emma Eugenie''
built in Whitby in 1833 by the company Campbell and Co she was of teak and was 383 tons,
she sailed for Portland Victoria from Gravesend Plymouth on the 23/3/1852
i checked the shipping company and instead of Cambell it comes back Campion and co
EMMA EUGENIA - 1837/1852-1857

Master: Captain D. Buchan (1837); Captain F. Davis (1852-57)
Rigging: Barque; sheathed in copper in 1836; sheathed in felt and yellow metal in 1852 & 1856
Tonnage: 383 tons
Construction: 1833 in Whitby; new top sides & some repairs in 1850; repairs to damages in 1852
Owners: J. Somes (1837); Campbell & Co. (1852-57)
Port of registry: London
Port of survey: London
Voyage: sailed for China (1837); Portland Bay (1852-53)

Hugh.

[Jamboesque]

Thanks for all the inputs folks.

I think my next step is to check through Dundee Archives and see what they have.

A couple of points though.

William Bell consistantly refers to himself as a shipmaster (1881 Census as a retired one though and in the entry for his daughter Elizabeth her place of birth is "at sea of Cape Horn" one gets the impression she enjoyed that fact!) and the same on his marriage & death Certs. They did live however in what appears to be a substantial house in Broughty Ferry (3 Leabank Cres. though I can't seem to locate it now)

On the Marine Register of Births where Elizabeth is to be found they made no concession to the space required to fit in a description of where born. So there is barely room to write the date & time & location April 16 1858 9h om PM on board the Barque Eugenie Lat 58 13S Long 65 21W. So I'm not sure whether for brevity or space they have left of part of the name (Empress, Emma ?)

I think the best bet so far seems to be the one Alan has picked up from the Caledonian Mercury. There is a wee problem in that the launch was in May 1856 and William & Jessie did not get married until October of that year.

Thanks again, much to think think about, like I said if I can chase William Dow Bell (1827 - 1889) down I might have a better grip on his ship(s) and where they were going, or in Elizabeth's coming from, given that they were back in Scotland 6 months after she was born.

I wonder if she was even sea-sick..........

[Currie]

A bit more Eugenie info.

The Mercantile Navy List - 1858
Note the Obituary pages 173-175, entries for Thomas Dennis and James McLeish. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=nOk ... el&f=false

“Eugenie, of Dundee, sailed from Archangel for London, October 11, 1856, and not since heard of.”

Also this http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/rea ... 1044238663

This book looks like a modern reprint of the Mercantile Navy List and I’m not sure of the year. It’s probably the McLeish Eugenie. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Yxp ... 22&f=false

It looks like: Official Number 11512, Eugenie of Dundee, 397 Tons.

Alan