Gwrtheyrn Castle

Type:                  Iron barque

Tonnage:             803 GRT, 778 NRT

Dimensions:         191'7", 31'8",19'2"

Built:                   1876 By Osbourne, Graham & Co., Sunderland

Bought                1881

1876 January Launched at the shipyard of Osbourne, Graham & Co., Sunderland, for R. Rees, Nevin, Wales. Assigned the official British Reg. No. 70315 and signal PJRN.

First master was William Owen of Portmadoc who had shares in her

R.Rees got into financial difficulties and R.Thomas, who had been investing in his and W.Thomas Bodlondeb's ships, took over the management.

1881 Owned by R. Thomas & Co., Criccieth .

1882 26th January. Articles opened at Newcastle. MO R.Thomas of Nevin. Master: Robert Davies of Nevin (DB)

1882 20th May to 31st July articles deposited at Iqique, Chile. (DB)

1884 Master William Wilson of Nevin (5 years previously had been |A.B on her) (JID)

1882 20th Nov to 18th Dec. Articles deposited at Hamburg (DB)

1883 4th Jan. Articles closed at Newcastle. (DB)

1886 9th Oct. Articles opened at Fleetwood. MO: R.Thomas, Criccieth. Master: John Parry of Nevin (DB)

Criccieth crew members: Richard Morris Roberts b 1865 and John Williams b 1866 (DB)

1886 19th Feb to 11th March articles deposited at Valpariso (DB)

1887 16th June. Articles closed at Fleetwood. (DB)

1889 Captain W. Hansord. From 1877 to 1903 All Masters and mates were from Nevin except Capt Hansord from Liverpool. JID(But I think he lived in Criccieth. I recently saw his grave in Criccieth Churchyard RDC )

1894 Capt. William Jones, Nevin takes command (JID)

1896 Liverpool to Rio then round the Horn to Lota then back to Dublin. Capt. William Davies, Nevin.. His third voyage (JID)

1897 Dublin to Swansea, Mauritius, Rangoon, Rio de Janeiro, Talcahuano,, Tatal, Melbourne, Newcastle NSW, and a final rounding of the Horn to Antwerp. Master: William Davies of Nevin. (JID)

1900/01? Close articles Antwerp?

1901 Feb Sailed Liverpool, Capt W.Davies of Nevin, to Brisbane (8 deserted) Newcastle NSW, Mauritius (1 deserted), Sydney (1 deserted), Cape Town, Sydney, Newcastle NSW (1 deserted), Coquimbo to the North of Valparaiso, Pisagua (1 deserted). The Homeward bound run took them to Falmouth, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Liverpool (JID)

1903 July. Close articles at Liverpool.

1906 Sold to Antonio Gotusso, Portofino. (LB, AE)

1913 April Sold to Jakobstads Rederi AB (K. Ström), Jakobstad, Finland, for FIM 38.000 and was renamed Ira. Some FIM 12.00 was spent on repairs and outfitting. Captain Torsten Röösgren. (LB)

1914 October Laid up at Jakobstad. (LB)

191_ Sold to Oy Tonnage AB, Raumo. (LB)

1922 Sold to Scott, fell & Co, Sydney, and was renamed Gwrtheyrn Castle. (LB, AE)

1923 Re-built as a coal hulk in Sydney. (AE)

1929 Reported as hulk in Sydney (JID)

Sources

NM Greenwich: Crew articles for

MUN: Crew Articles for

PRO Kew: Crew Articles / Official Logs: 1883, 1887, 1904, (1883 and 1887 checked by Debbie Beavis)

GH: Graeme Haigh

DB: Debbie Beavis

Books etc: Later History from Lars Bruzelius,

JID.. John Ivor Davies"Growing up amongst Sailors"

LB: Lars Bruzelius

AE : Aled Eames

Extracts from Crew articles and other documents held at The PRO are reproduced with permission

(c) Crown Copyright