SS Castleton... Just Tears in Her Wake

My family history includes few great men, and certainly none of fame or fortune. In fact most of my ancestors were common folk who were products of their times: agricultural labourers, blacksmiths, railway workers, and several seamen. Far from royalty or gentry, they were ordinary people who were affected by poverty, spent time in workhouses, and died prematurely of disease or accidents associated with their occupations.

Indeed, if one wades through newspapers from the late Nineteenth Century, they will find countless reports of the losses of vessels and the lives of their crews. Many a family history is filled with the story of the death of such a seafarer, as is my own.

Like many others before him and since, my great great grandfather, John George BREW (1853-1886), perished at sea, and left a young family at home who had no body to bury nor a grave upon which they could lay flowers. He died a little over 115 years ago, aged just 32, when his ship, SS Castleton, sank off the southwest coast of England in October 1886.

The story originally began as a family anecdote, which claimed my great great grandfather had gone down with his ship, but no-one seemed to know why or what happened. Was the ship wrecked, was there a collision, or did she perhaps founder in a storm?

Whilst the ship’s crew agreement and John George’s death certificate identified the date, they gave away no hints about the cause of the accident. I therefore turned to the local newspapers to see if the steamer’s loss might have been reported at the time. Indeed, with a little searching, it was possible to locate several articles, and, with the aide of a few other resources, the ensuing story emerged, which filled in all the blanks.

A vessel designed to carry bulk cargo, SS Castleton was an iron screw steamer of 1750 grt, which was registered in the port of Cardiff in Wales. Measuring 269 feet (ca. 90 metres) in length, she had a breadth of 34 feet (ca. 11 metres), and a depth of 25 feet (ca. 8 metres). She was built in 1879 by Schlesinger, Davis & Co. of Newcastle, England, and named for a village situated between Cardiff and the town of Newport. Her owner was Cardiff businessman and coal merchant, Matthew COPE (1843-1933).

By the time John George BREW first joined Castleton as Chief Engineer, in September 1885, he had been at sea almost twelve years. At the age of twenty, he completed an apprenticeship as an engineer fitter with the North Eastern Railway Company in Newcastle, England. However, for reasons unknown, his heart turned from steam on land to steam at sea.

Thus, in December 1873 he signed on as Third Engineer of his first ship, a small steamer of just 850 grt, named Opah. He earned a mere £14 for the two-month voyage, but it must have convinced him the sea was his future. Within two years, he had earned his 2nd Class Engineer’s Certificate of Competency, whilst his 1st Class certificate followed in August 1877. Castleton was his eleventh ship, and by now, as Chief Engineer, he was earning £16 per month, more than double his 1873 wage.

Although the steamer’s exact cargoes are not indicated in her agreements, they do show the daily food rations and some of the daily occurrences on board, such as crew members who did not appear for departure, those who were sick and even reports of crew members who deserted in foreign ports. [See AFTC, Volume 8, Issue 10, October 2000, pp 41-43]

In October 1886, in preparation for yet another voyage, Captain HENRY engaged a crew of 22, one of whom was John George BREW, who signed on again as Chief Engineer. Soon, a valuable cargo of Welsh coal filled Castleton’s holds, and she was readied for departure.

The steamer departed Penarth on Thursday morning, 14 October 1886, destined for the port of St. Lucia, in the West Indies. The Cardiff newspaper, Western Mail, confirmed the departure in that day’s edition, noting, "Cleared (outwards)...St. Lucia, Castleton, B, 1,500 coal". However, this would be her last voyage, and it ended barely a day after it began.

A weather map which appeared in the Western Mail on 15 October 1886

Newspaper reports between 16 and 30 October 1886 indicate that a heavy gale sprang up off England’s southwest coast the day after Castleton’s departure, which claimed many ships. On 16 October 1886, in a headline report, the Western Mail, stated,

"A terrific storm, with heavy rain, prevailed in the South and West of England yesterday. Great damage was done to shipping, many wrecks being reported....the extent of damage sustained cannot yet be correctly estimated…Strong squalls of wind and heavy rain commenced at a very early hour, each gust seeming to come with redoubled force, until by daylight a perfect hurricane was raging....".

On Tuesday, 19 October, a Western Mail headline stated "Fearful Disasters in Bideford Bay. Wreckage of six vessels washed ashore". Then, within the underlying article, came at last some indication of Castleton’s fate: "Reports from Bideford Bay state that a large amount of wreckage has been washed ashore there, and portions have been identified as belonging to various vessels. It is said that, amongst others, portions have been picked up belonging to the....Castleton, about 1,500 tons...."

Newspapers around Bideford Bay, in Devon, also published many reports in October 1886 regarding the vast damage caused by the storms, and the bodies and wreckage of many ships which had been washed ashore. Yet almost an entire week passed before there was any further news of Castleton. The Western Mail offers the most insight into the fate of my great great grandfather and his fellow crew, initially speculating on their possible survival but then later reporting apparent unequivocal evidence that Castleton had indeed foundered with all hands. On 25 October the paper reported,

"The Steamship Castleton. Respecting the apprehensions that have been felt by some as to the safety of the steamship Castleton...the opinion of those best able to judge is that the vessel has passed safely through the gale. The name-board washed ashore was hung aft near the wheel, and has been washed overboard on previous voyages when the weather was not half so bad as that experienced on the 15th and the 16th; the other wreckage washed ashore was simply washed off the deck, and would not imperil the navigation of the ship."

The following day, the Western Mail added to speculation that the ship may have survived the gale, but one can almost detect the writer's lack of confidence in what he was reporting,

"It is interesting to note that the screw steamer Alacrity, of Cardiff, left the Roath Basin, Cardiff, with a load of coal on the 14th inst. for Gibraltar, and arrived there on Friday last all well; also that the Alaska, of Cardiff, left the Roath Basin on the same date with a cargo of coal for Genoa, and arrived at that port on Thursday last, all well. Both vessels left by the same tide as the Castleton, and successfully weathered the gale, and it may, therefore, be reasonably hoped that that vessel will be heard of in due course as having safely arrived at her port of destination in the West Indies."

However, just four days later, all hope of Castleton’s survival was crushed when reports were received of further wreckage from the steamer that had washed ashore on the Devonshire coast. Her owner, Matthew COPE, sent his Marine Superintendent and the ship’s previous Chief Officer to survey Bideford Bay in an attempt to clarify the situation. On 30 October, the Western Mail reported their findings, thus:

"The Steamship Castleton. Hope as to her safety abandoned. Identification of wreckage"…This vessel was bound from Penarth to St. Lucia with a cargo of coal, and when the gales subsided small portions of wreckage were washed ashore on the Devonshire Coast. As the quantity was not large the owners did not attach much importance to the circumstances. But subsequently, in order to clear up matters, they judged it expedient to send their marine superintendent, Mr. J. Plews, and Mr. Watson, late chief officer of the ship, down to the place for the purpose of identifying the wreckage. These gentlemen accordingly left Cardiff a few days ago in a tug for Bideford Bay. They landed at Appledore, crossed the river to the Instow side, went over the Burrows to the lifeboat house, and came back again to what is called the Pebble Ridge. In the course of their investigation they had to go several miles inland, where they found numerous articles belonging to the ship, which had been removed by the inhabitants. Amongst the wreckage which they identified were the engine-room and cabin skylight, cabin fittings, several of the hatches of the upper and 'tween decks, and "fore and afters," shifting boards easily recognised, having 7in. figures in red painted on them, a pitch pine boom, the poop ladder, sheer legs of the pole compass, the large after steering wheel, portions of the life and other boats, also some of the bottom boards, and 70ft. of the main rail. From the appearance of the rail it is the general opinion of nautical men that the steamer must have been in collision with some vessel or vessels and then foundered. The outside of the rail for some distance is crushed, as if a heavy body had been forced against it....Thus the whole of the evidence collected seems to place beyond all doubt the fact that the Castleton must be numbered among those ill-fated vessels which foundered during the late storm."

I was unable to find any further reports of Castleton in the Western Mail after October 1886. Indeed, there were many reports of lost vessels, but none of them bore the name Castleton.

A list of the crew, now assumed to have perished, was printed in at least three separate newspapers, and possibly in several others. I have attempted to corroborate the names using Castleton’s final crew agreement and the Index to Marine Deaths 1886-90 (at the Family Records Centre in London), and was able to find additional information on most of the men.

.
Name	Age	Capacity	Cert. of Comp.	Born
.	.	.	.	.
William HENRY	38	Master	No. 92277	Porthcawl
Daniel KENNY	27	1st Mate	No. 12680	Youghal
George HOWARD	44	2nd mate	No. 11155	Preston
James PRESCOTT	29	Carpenter	-	Porthcawl
Maurice MORETTI	34	Steward	-	Venice
Gurge MANUEL	27	Cook	-	Lisbon
George GAMBLING	52	Boatswain	-	Fareham
John George BREW	36	1st Engineer	No. 12854	Woolwich
Robert A. McCONOCHIE	25	2nd Engineer	No. 20505	St. Petersburg
Walter WILLIAMS	28	3rd Engineer	-	Cardiff
Agust OLSSON	26	Donkey-man	-	Föhrenburg
William FARRELL	29	Fireman	-	Galway
August NIETZIOL	27	Fireman	-	Hamburg
D. DREIER	25	Fireman	-	Bremerhaven
John HAMILTON	23	Fireman	-	Edinburgh
Henry BEVAN	28	Fireman	-	Bristol
C. HOLM	29	Seaman	-	Söderham
Laurence LACY	38	Seaman	-	Wexford
F. SMITH	29	Seaman	-	Bridgewater
William BURNETT	34	Seaman	-	Sweden
Michael BURKE	33	Seaman	-	Kilross
Andrew MALLAR	20	Seaman	-	Dundee
Francis PALMER	17	Engineer's Steward	-	Bristol

Many bodies were washed up on the beaches of Bideford Bay after the storms, and although one was believed to have been that of steward Maurice MORETTI, it could not could be positively identified, owing to decomposition and mutilation.

“…several more bodies have been washed up at different spots around the coast of Bideford Bay. The were all doubtless bodies of unfortunate seamen who met their death by drowning during the recent severe gale. In every case composition was so far advanced as to render the identification by the features absolutely impossible. They were, therefore, buried directly the coroner’s inquests could be held.”

We do know, however, John George left behind a young, pregnant widow and two children aged seven and nine in the town of Gateshead, just across the Tyne from Newcastle, in the north of England. We can only speculate as to how they learned of his death, but assume his wife Jane (nee CHATER) was told after a short report appeared in Newcastle’s Daily Chronicle, which listed the names of the dead seamen.

From what we can ascertain, the family lived in near poverty, surviving on what John George brought home after each voyage. He was usually away at sea several months at a time, and Jane was left to do her best to make ends meet. Her sister Mary, who was a dressmaker, lived with them while John George was away. This might suggest Jane also extended her meager budget in the same way.

Jane bore seven children to John George, but unfortunately, despite her efforts to feed her young family, not all of them survived infancy. During one furlough, John George arrived home in time to bury one child, witness the birth of another, and then bury it, too, before he headed back to sea for another voyage. In fact, no less than four of their children died of malnourishment or diet-related illnesses before they reached the age of two. The couple’s seventh child was born twenty weeks after John George perished, and Jane herself died before that child turned eleven.

My ancestors were no-one of note; they were not gentry, nor owners of land. Rather, they were like millions of others in Nineteenth Century England - people who simply dealt with life’s hardships as best they could. They lived a seemingly endless struggle to survive, often barely able to afford basic necessities. They fought the odds and, sadly, sometimes they lost.