Brew Family Ships

Halewood - A painting of the ship in the possession of the Brew family

Reg. No. 91230, code lettering KBCJ, an iron ship of 2153 registered tonnage. She was built in 6 months in 1885 by Oswald, Mordaunt & Co. of Southampton. Her owners were the Leyland Shipping Co. She belonged to the port of Liverpool and flew the British flag. She had a length of 274.3 feet, a breadth of 40.1 feet, and a depth of 24.9 feet.

Albert Brew took command of her on 31 March 1906 and sailed from Newcastle, NSW on 3 April, for Valparaiso, Chile. He arrived in September 1906 and later that month took Halewood north, dropping anchor at Astoria, Washington, in December. He spent Christmas in the port and then in early February 1907, moved Halewood to nearby Tacoma, where she remained approximately one month.

In March, Albert took Halewood south again, this time to Guatemala, where he arrived in early July. In the third week July, Halewood headed out again, this time turning west directly for Sydney, Australia. He arrived there in early December, but stayed only a few days. Albert then brought the ship north to Newcastle, arriving there again on 8 December 1907, after a voyage of some 20 months. (Also see Halewood's crew list for the voyage) Ten days later, on 18 December, Albert married Maggie Grace Menzies, daughter of a Scottish immigrant, in Newcastle. On 28 February 1908, Bert and his new wife sailed from Newcastle, via Tacoma, U.S.A., to Vancouver, Canada, where the ship was tied up for some 18 months.

Maggie must have returned home at some stage, as their first child, Richard Albert, was born 17 September 1908 in their home in Newcastle. Unfortunately he died 5 hours later and Albert was saddened he could not be present at both birth and death. Halewood later returned to Australia and then sailed again in July 1910 for Cape Horn, though this time Albert took both his wife and a new daughter, Maggie Grace. Albert left Halewood 9 months later, on 30 March 1911. It was to be his last sailing ship, as he changed to steam after leaving her.

In the dying years of sail, the once mighty fleet of R. W. Leyland quickly lost it's importance and value. In January 1909, the Halewood was valued at only £3500, and the entire fleet of seven ships, including Wavertree, valued at only £28,000. A mere 3 years before, in 1906, the fleet had been valued at £49,000. In 1909, the Leyland ships were sold to J. H. Welsford & Co. under the name "Gulf Transport Line", who also owned the steamer Inkum, Albert's next ship.

Over the following 3 years, all seven ex-Leyland ships, Allerton, Ditton, Fulwood, Halewood, Leyland Brothers, Riversdale and Wavertree, were sold and dispersed throughout the whole world. They fetched together a mere £27,300.

Unfortunately, not much is known of Halewood's voyages for the period 1908-1911, as no logs or Crew Agreements for the period have yet been found. However, her Crew Agreements from 1891-1892, 1894, 1898-1901, and 1903-1906 are held by the Maritime History Archive in Canada, and those for October 1903-February 1908 are held by N.S.W. State Records, Australia. See also Halewood's crew lists for the periods October 1903 - March 1906 and March 1906 - February 1908.

MV Highland Monarch, sister ship to MV Highland Patriot

Reg. No. 161883, twin screw steamer, 100A1, of 14 157 gross register tons, with 5 decks, 6 holds, electric light and wireless. She was, like her sister ships Highland Brigade, Highland Chieftain, Highland Monarch, and Highland Prince, also constructed by Harland and Wolff of Belfast for the Royal Mail Lines Ltd., and registered in the port of Belfast.

Built in 1932, she had 16 cylinder oil engines and could attain a speed of some 2190hp. She had a length of 523.4 feet, a width of 69.4 feet, and a depth of 37.1 feet. Her sister ships were also all manufactured to the exact same dimensions, equipped similarly, and designed with a duck keel forward of the machinery space and a cruiser stern.

Leonard Septimus Brew served on her for two voyages to the River Plate as Guarantee Chief Engineer, from 28 May - 21 July 1932 and from 5 August - 29 September 1932.

Under Master Robert Henry Robinson, the voyages took Leonard from London's Victoria Docks to Boulogne, Vigo, Lisbon, Las Palmas, Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro, Santis, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, La Plata and visa versa on the return voyage. Highland Patriot's Crew Agreements for 1932 are held by the Maritime History Archive in Newfoundland, Canada.

Reg. No. 67298, code lettering WRDP, iron ship of 1515 register tons, she was built in 9 months by W. Doxford of Sunderland in 1871, and owned by H. Clapham & Co of Newcastle. She belonged to the port of Newcastle, England, and had a length of 301 feet, a breadth of 36.6 feet, and a depth of 26 feet.

Sailing a single voyage, departing Cardiff, John George Brew served on her as 1st Engineer from 12 July 1882 to 23 January 1883, having visited the ports of Port Said, Rangoon, Calcutta and Bombay. Departing Bombay on 11 December, Hutton was wrecked when she ran aground on Perim Island, near Aden, Yemen, during her return voyage, on 22 December 1882. The crew were landed safely in Aden and most of them were discharged there on 4 January 1883.

Only the Master, J. K. Henderson, the 1st Mate, R. J. McClury, and the 1st Engineer, John George Brew, remained with the ship, but the latter two were discharged about 3 weeks later, on 23 January 1883. It can only be guessed at how John George returned to the U.K., but we know his next ship was S.S. Ross, departing Cardiff almost a full 2 months later.

Reg. No. 113484, code lettering SMQJ, a steel screw steamer of 2 decks and 4747 register tons. She was built within 7 months in 1901 by Alex Stephen & Sons Ltd. of Glasgow. She had a length of 392.5 feet, a width of 50 feet, and a depth of 28 feet. She was owned by The Gulf Transport Co. Ltd. of Liverpool, belonged to the port of Liverpool, and flew the British flag.

The Crew Agreements show that she made regular runs between Liverpool and Galveston in the USA, and apparently traded in cotton. This was Albert Brew's first steamship after changing from sail. He served on her, originally as 2nd Mate, for 15 months from 11 April 1911 until 28 May 1912.

A veteran training ship, Joseph Conrad sailed under three flags before mooring permanently at Mystic Seaport in 1947. Built of steel by Burmester & Wain, Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1882 for Stiftelsen Georg Stages Minde, she was named Georg Stage in memory of the young son of Frederik Stage. Rigged as a three-masted full-rigged ship carrying royals over single top and top gallant sails and designed to accommodate eighty boys in training for the Danish merchant service, she was one of the smallest full-rigged ships built in modern times. Her length was 30.72m (100.8ft.), her width 7.68m (25.2 ft.), and her depth 3.35m (11.0 ft.). She had a gross weight of 203 tons and a net of 149 tons.

From her launching until her sale in 1934, more than 4,000 cadets sailed in her for six-month training courses in the Baltic and North seas. Run down by a British freighter in 1905, Georg Stage sank, taking twenty-two young men with her. However, she was raised and repaired and soon resumed her career.

Retired after fifty-two years, the vessel was about to be broken up when famed author and mariner Captain Alan Villiers bought her in 1934. Under the British flag, and renamed Joseph Conrad, Villiers took her on a 58,000-mile voyage around the world that lasted more than two years. Once again boys were her crew - older teenagers from big four-masted barks, as well as officers from the Cape Horn trade, 8 American cadets, 8 British, and a number of Australians and New Zealanders.

Alan Villiers arrived in Sydney Harbour on Joseph Conrad on 10 December 1935. Albert "Bert" Brew piloted her in and out of the Harbour and gets a brief mention in Villiers' book "The Set of the Sails".

In 1936 George H. Hartford bought her, added a modern engine, and used her for three years as a private yacht. In 1939, Joseph Conrad was transferred to the U.S. Maritime Commission and served as an American training ship until 1945. In 1947 she became the property of Mystic Seaport.

Brew Family Ships - H, I, J