CADWALADER JONES |
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| Two masted topsail
schooner. 103 GRT. 81.5', 21.8', 10.9'. Built at Borth y Gest in 1878 by
John Hughes for Morris Owen. Master and part owner. Captain John
Cadwalader , 2, Salem Terrace, Criccieth. Amongst the share holders were
John Jones, Braich y Saint ( J.C's father), Owen Jones, Penterfelin
(another relative), a Baptist and a Wesleyan minister, a local coal
merchant and two ship surveyors from Portmadoc. John Cadwalader was the
grandson of John Cadwalader "Pen y Bryn" Criccieth whose
brother William was my direct ancestor. I suspect that the vessel was
named after his uncle, Cadwalader Jones of Braich y Saint farm
Pentrefelin. The figurehead was of John Cadwalader in some sort of masonic regalia/sash etc. There is a vague possibility that this figurehead survived after the eventual loss of the little schooner. JC's wife was from another well known local seafaring family - "Ty'n y Gwynt" and "Porth yr Aur" both at the foot of the castle in Criccieth. |
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CADWALADER JONES was one of the smaller schooners, built when Portmadoc
was booming. She was a typical vessel and a forerunner of the more
famous "Western Ocean Yachts". She worked twelve years in the
slate and general coastal trade then voyages to Newfoundland and
Labrador for salt cod between 1890 and 1906. By then JC was in his
sixties so he settled for the (relatively) easier life of the coastal
tade where she remained until 1916 when she was sold out of Portmadoc..
JC then retired, dying in 1926. |
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For a taste of life in these little ships I can think of no beter than the "yarn" from Emrys Hughes's notes which are included in "Porthmadog Ships" (Aled Eames, the co-author of this book devotes a chapter on the Cadwalader Jones in which he details many of its voyages, finances, extracts from the cargo book and other well researched information). Extract (with aknowledgement to the authors - I'm sure they would not have minded me transcribing it) |
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1900 or thereabouts Capt. T.J.Evans of Criccieth commanded the steam
ship Iolo Morgannwg. He was at Huelva, Spain and found four
Portmadoc ships windbound viz: - Cadwalader Jones, Rose of Torridge,
C.E. Spooner and the Linus.
After spending the evening together, the master of the Iolo
Morgannwg offered to tow them all out to sea the next day. They
finished the evening on the Cadwalader Jones. and her master
John 'Cadwalad' drew the attention of his guests to a flying fish
suspended on a thread from the cabin skylight. It was pointing to a
change in wind - a fair wind. The master of the steamer told him to stop
talking nonsense. Next morning, however, when Captain Evans came on deck, all the Portmadoc vessels had left the anchorage and when he got out to sea he saw them well on the way to the U.K. Cadwalader Jones inshore. The little schooner arrived at her destination several days before the others. |
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| As mentioned above, towards the end of her Portmadoc period the little schooner was mostly in the coastal trade. In the following extract from "Llongwr o Rhoslan", John Jones Williams (who sailed on the ship in 1911) gives a vivid description of the poor conditions on the, by then, elderly ship - poor food and poor pay. | |
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.....Wedi bod cartref am sbel cefais waith ar y sgwner "Cadwalader Jones" ym Mhorthmadog. Hen wr mewn tipyn o oed oedd y Capen, John Cadwalader, dyn chaled a chynnil iawn. Byddai bob amser yn dweud y drefn bob gormod o de neu fara'n cael ei defnyddio, a phrin iawn oedd y bwyd bob amser. ......Cofiaf yn dda fynd i lawr i'w caban y tro cyntaf a rhyw aroglau cryf yn dod o rywle. Pwcedaid o fargarin oedd yno, yr 'hen ddyn' wedi ei chael yn rhad rywle. Nid oeddwn erioed wedi gweld margarin cyn hynny a dyna be gawsom tra buom ar y llong, ac er gwaethaf yr oraglau ofnadwy oherwydd fod y margarin wedi toddi ryw tro ac wedi fferu wedyn, yr oeddwn yn byw ac yn twchu ar fargarin a bara caled. .... Ein hof blesar fyddai dal mecryll, ac yr oeddem yn od o lwcus. Pan ofynais i'r hen gapten beth wnawn i frecwast, ei ateb oedd 'Dal fecryll a gwna nhw', a mecryll fyddai i frecwast ac i de. |
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However, I have recently obtained a copy of two of her crew agreements for 1919 which do not fit in with this story. In these she is still called "Cadwalader Jones" , registered in Caernarvon and her managing owner is Wm A. Jenkins of Baltic Building in Swansea. Her Master and mate during these voyages are all North Devon men, from Appledore and Bude. She was trading between Swansea and France. There's no indication of outward cargo and return trips were in ballast. . Interestingly, in the first (home trade) agreement she has two Irishmen as crew whose rating is given as Seaman RNR. In the official log book they are down as "gunners". The last agreement in Gwynedd Archives is for 1912: The last in Kew is 1919. The ones from 1913 through the Great War are in Memorial University of Newfoundland. and also 1920 and 1921. There is a gap until her final agreement which is in 1933 as a yacht. I wonder if she was a "Q" ship during WWI. ?? There doesn't seem to be a definitive list of these vessels. That's why they were originaly called "Mystery Ships". Why else would she have "gunners" onboard? The war ended Nov 1918 but the two RNR lads would not have been demobbed untill a few months afterwards. This is intriguing! Perhaps it has something to do with the following.
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The next story was that she was then (1925) involved in a gun- running scandal in London when she was raided and seized by the customs. She was bought from the court, by a Captain Kirby for 130 pounds and renamed the Myonie R. Kirby. He used her in the china clay trade from Cornwal to Antwerp . Poor freights caused him to lay her up and in 1930 he sold her to a Commander Stapleton. On the first trip they got into trouble and had to be towed into Brixham by the lifeboat. Unable to pay the salvage claim he had to sell her. Some Germans bought her for 80 pounds(!) and fitted her with engines. This photo
was taken in Millwall docks in November 1933 just before she set off
on a world cruise with a crew of ten "adventurers". The
index of the crew agreements at the MU of Newfoundlands states the
vessel is now a "Yacht". Sources,
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In
1916, after 38 years trading from Portmadoc, the schooner was sold but
still had some adventurous years ahead of her. One story has her
trading in the Argentine as the Sophie between 1916 and 1925.