Ship "Caledonia"; Board of Trade; John McLean.

Britannia · Post by **Britannia** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 9:01 am

Ship "Caledonia"; Port of Reg Glasgow; Tonnage 1119
I'm trying to find information about my Great Grandfather John McLean who served on this ship. The only information is hand written by my late father and obviously copied from some kind of discharge papers. The note read from the top as follows.
Ship "Caledonia"; Port of Reg Glasgow; Tonnage 1119
Jan 1869 Sanctioned by Board of Trade
John McLean age 29 Place of Birth
Able Seaman Argyle
Date of engagement August 21st
Discharged Sept 24th Glasgow
V.G VG

Any information on either the ship "Caledonia"; the Board of Trade; or John McLean, would be really appreciated.

Britannia
Nelson
New Zealand

Ann In the UK · Post by **Ann In the UK** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 3:36 pm

There's a whole bunch of BOT boxes in the National Archive. It might be worth doing a search to see what it comes up with, you may be able to order any records you may find online.

There are several John McLeans in the crew lists at find my past and several who are seafarers come up in the census's at Ancestry - it may just be a case of figuring out which one is yours from what you know already.

Also try a search in the New York Times archive, as they published all the shipping movements of the day.

And there's a fantastic archive of shipping sites listed here at TS to trawl through (see the index, under "Maritime", if they're up and running after the trouble

)

Regards
Ann

Hugh Stevely · Post by **Hugh Stevely** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 3:53 pm

Board of Trade.

http://www.berr.gov.uk/aboutus/corporat ... 13919.html

Ships with the name Caledonia

Vessel Name Built Shipbuilder Type Status
CALEDONIA 1794 Scotts Greenock Timber Carrier
CALEDONIA 1814 John Wood Port Glasgow Paddle Steamer Not Recorded
CALEDONIA 1821 John Wood Port Glasgow Paddle Steamer
CALEDONIA 1826 William Denny and A McLachlan Dumbarton Paddle Steamer
CALEDONIA 1840 Chas Wood Dumbarton Paddle Steamer
CALEDONIA 1841 Robert Steele & Company unspecified
CALEDONIA 1844 Smith & Rodger Govan Paddle Steamer
CALEDONIA 1848 A McMillan & Son Dumbarton Schooner
CALEDONIA 1850 William Denny & Brothers Dumbarton Schooner
CALEDONIA 1854 William Denny & Brothers Dumbarton Passenger Vessel
CALEDONIA 1856 Tod & McGregor Glasgow Paddle Steamer
CALEDONIA 1857 Laurence Hill & Company Port Glasgow Iron steamship Not Recorded
CALEDONIAN 1861 A McMillan & Son Dumbarton Sailing Vessel
CALEDONIA 1862 Tod & McGregor Glasgow Iron Passenger Cargo Vessel Wrecked
CALEDONIA 1863 Tod & McGregor Glasgow Passenger Cargo Vessel Scrapped Italy
CALEDONIA 1865 I McLea Rothesay Schooner
CALEDONIAN 1874 John Elder & Co Govan Passenger Cargo Vessel Sunk
CALEDONIAN 1875 William Simons & Co Renfrew Dredger
CALEDONIA 1889 J Reid & Co Port Glasgow Steel paddle steamer Scrapped
PORT CALEDONIA 1892 Russell & Co Greenock Steel barque Wrecked
CALEDONIA 1894 Caird & Company Greenock Passenger Liner Scrapped
CALEDONIA 1895 J McArthur Paisley Passenger Steamer Dead
CALEDONIA 1905 D & W Henderson Ltd Glasgow Passenger Vessel Torpedoed & Sunk
CALEDONIAN 1913 Fleming & Ferguson Paisley Grab Dredger Scrapped
CALEDONIA 1925 Alexander Stephen & Sons Glasgow Passenger Vessel Torpedoed & Sunk
CALEDONIAN MONARCH 1928 Napier & Miller Old Kilpatrick Cargo Vessel Not Recorded
CALEDONIA 1934 William Denny & Brothers Dumbarton Paddle Steamer Scrapped
CALEDONIA 1948 Fairfield Govan Passenger Cargo Vessel Scrapped
CALEDONIAN PRINCESS 1961 William Denny & Brothers Dumbarton Passenger Car Ferry Arrived for Scrapping

Looking for some one in the Merchant Navy.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/mili ... /merchant/

Hugh.

Britannia · Post by **Britannia** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 5:19 am

Thank you Ann in the UK and Hugh Stevenly for your thoughts and ideas
Ann you have given me I can see a lot of homework to get involved in. thanks.
Hugh your list of ships named "Caledonia" is amazing but we can get rid of all those after 1869. Then all those that were Paddle Steamers.
The ship built in 1863 by Tod & MacGregor, Glasgow in 1863 for the Anchor Line. 1,393 gross ton seems to fit. The info I have gave the weight at 1119 tons if that was nett we have a capacity of 274 which seems reasonable to me. There is good information on theshiplist.com and can use this data in combination with search places suggested by Ann

Thanks again to you both for your input
Britannia

Currie · Post by **Currie** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:48 am

Hello Britannia,

The Caledonia 1119 tons is undoubtedly the one with official number 47833 owned by Handyside and Henderson (The Anchor Line), 45, Marron Street, Glasgow, as listed in “The Mercantile Navy List and Maritime Directory for 1867.” http://books.google.com.au/books?id=jOo ... 22&f=false

She was built in 1863 and lengthened in 1872. There’s a description of the vessel after that refit in the New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-fr ... 8389669FDE

Also this snippet from “Anchor Line 1856-1956” by Roderick Scott McLellan http://books.google.com.au/books?id=iwD ... 2747833%22

CALEDONIA (II) (iron ss) ON 47833. GT 1393. RT 1119. L. 261.5 ft. B. 33.1 ft. D. 21.6 ft. E. Compound. H.P. 360. P.A. 90 cabin; 600 steerage. Built by Tod & McGregor, Glasgow. I.R. 10th December, 1863, Glasgow. Lengthened in 1872. G.T. 2151. R.T. 1370. L. 310.6 ft. B. 33.3 ft. D. 28.5 ft. E. Compound. C. 38 and 68 ins. S. 3 ft. 6 ins. H.P. 424. P.A. 60 saloon; 550 steerage. Sold 23rd April, 1897, to Italian subjects.

Here’s a bit about the Anchor Line and the pictures will give you a good idea of what the Caledonia looked like. http://www.clydesite.co.uk/articles/anchor_line_1.asp

Hope that helps,
Alan

Britannia · Post by **Britannia** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 7:05 am

Hi Currie
This is turning into more fun than seeking info on some of those elusive ancestors. You have also provided heaps of links to be followed up soon.
Became a grand father to our 2nd grand son out of 8 grand children today so rigth now it's going to be a dram or two.
Thanks for your info and look forward to doing some search into your suggested links.
Cheers for now
Britannia
Nelson
New Zealand

Ann In the UK · Post by **Ann In the UK** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 7:17 am

A bit more:

http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=cale2

http://www.gregormacgregor.com/Tod&Macg ... ia_141.htm

As it looks as though she sailed out of Liverpool too, I'd suggest you also contact the archive at Liverpool Maritime Museum to see what they have
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/

Regards,
Ann

Ann In the UK · Post by **Ann In the UK** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 7:19 am

Became a grand father to our 2nd grand son out of 8 grand children today

Congratulations!

Ann

Hugh Stevely · Post by **Hugh Stevely** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 9:21 am

Good luck with your search most of this info is on Marine Data to trawl through its up and running now.

Congratulations! on your new Arrival.

Hugh Stevely.

Currie · Post by **Currie** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:26 am

Hello Britannia,

If the discharge date was in 1869 it looks as though he was discharged in New York but if the discharge information you have suggests Glasgow it may have been another year but before the work was done to lengthen the vessel.

Glasgow Herald, Monday, September 27, 1869.
AMERICA
(Per French Atlantic Telegraph.)
New York, Sept. 24.
The Hamburg and American steamship Cimbria arrived at 1 A.M., and the steamship Caledonia, of the Anchor Line, also arrived out today.

According to the New York Times of 26th September, 1869, she was lying at Pier No. 20, North River on Friday 24th. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-fr ... 8382679FDE

Best wishes for the new grandson.

Alan