Sowerby Gallery

R.M. Middleton founded Middleton & Co. with the purchase of the steamship Rose Middleton from William Gray in 1874. All of the company’s eight ships were built in Hartlepool, four by William Gray and four by Withy. When the first Alverton was wrecked in 1879 they gave the name to another ship purchased in 1880.

The last of the ships were sold in 1886 and 1887, although Robert continued as a shipbroker and shipowner.

'Notice is hereby given that the partnership heretofore subsisting between us, the undersigned, Robert Hayes Carrick, of Bute Docks, Cardiff, in the county of Glamorgan; Otto Kramer Trechmann, of West Hartlepool, in the county of Durham; Albert Frederick Trechmann, of West Hartlepool aforesaid; and Robert Morton Middleton (the younger), formerly of West Hartlepool aforesaid, but now of Ealing, in the county of Middlesex, carrying on business as Ship and Steamship Owners, Ship and Steamship Managers, Ship and Insurance Brokers, Coal Exporters, and Commission Agents, at Cardiff and Barry Dock, in the county of Glamorgan, and Newport, in the county of Monmouth, under the style of "Trechmann, Carrick & Company," has by mutual consent been dissolved by the retirement of the said Robert Morton Middleton from the said Partnership, as from the 12th day of November, 1897. All debts due to and owing by the said late firm will be received and paid by the said Robert Hayes Carrick, Otto Kramer Trechmann, and Albert Frederick Trechmann, who will continue to carry on the said partnership business of Trechmann, Carrick, and Company" at Cardiff, Barry Dock, and Newport aforesaid. 12th November, 1897.'

Family History:

Robert Morton Middleton was born on 25^th January 1846 at Sowerby, Yorkshire to parents Robert Morton (banker’s agent for Backhouse Bank) and Mary Ann (nee Hutton) Middleton.  He grew up in Northallerton and also went into banking as a clerk for Backhouse Bank. Robert moved to Hartlepool and married Rose Helen Meredith on 7^th July 1870 at Christ Church. During their marriage they had five daughters and a son.

On the 1871 census Robert was listed as a banking accountant living at York Road, Stranton with his wife. By 1881 he was listed as a shipowner living at Hudworth Cottage, Castle Eden with his wife and five daughters. On the 1891 census Robert was listed as a shipowner and investment agent living at Ealing, Middlesex with his wife, four daughters and their son.

Robert was a keen botanist and a collector of natural history specimens and became a fellow of the Linnean Society. He stayed for a short while in Tennessee and then in Valparaiso, Chile. In 1890 he donated a large number of specimens to McGill University in Canada. He returned to England, probably in 1891 as he is listed in the census as living at Ealing, and was a temporary assistant at the Natural History Museum until his death.

Correspondence to and from Robert regarding natural history can be found on the internet.

 Robert died of appendicitis aged 63 on 9^th August 1909 at Carshalton, Surrey leaving effects of £9,268. His wife, Rose, died in 1923.

Founded in 1874 by Robert Ropner, the company owned, managed & built ships.

Official No. 78422: Code Letters SGWC.

Owners: 1878 Robert Morton Middleton & Co. West Hartlepool: 1887 R. Ropner & Co, West Hartlepool.

Masters: 1879 Porter; 1880-82 W Lynas: 1883-85 JB Millard: 1885-89 RH Doddridge: 1890-91 J Lawrie: 1892 DL Shield: 1897 George Gill.

Voyages: In April 1881 she was sailing from Malta for Bremen.

Bound from Pitea for Umea & Paimboeu with a cargo of timber Sowerbywas wrecked in the Gulf of Bothnia on 28 October 1897. No lives lost.

Northern Daily Mail 6 November 1897:

‘Mr George Gill, captain of the screw, steamer Sowerby, one of Messrs Ropner & Co’s boats, that was lost on the 28th ult off the Swedish coast, arrived home in West Hartlepool late last night. The crew are not local but some of the officers belong to the town. Mr Wherritt, the chief officer, is a native of West Hartlepool. The chief engineer, Mr Clem Minto, is well known at Hartlepool, although Yankee by birth. The second engineer, Mr Newman, is connected with the Newmans of Lynn Street, West Hartlepool. The second mate lives at Sunderland. A Mail man had a talk with Captain Gill this afternoon. He said that Sowerby took out a pilot from Harno, at the entrance to Hernosand on the evening of the 27th. The vessel was laden with deals, battens & boards & was bound for a French port in the Bay of Biscay. About noon the next day they passed the Grundkelle lightship & then shaped a course for the Understen lighthouse. The siren of the lighthouse was heard, & it appears that mistaking this for the siren of a steamer, there being a similarity in some cases, although on this point it is not possible to speak without some caution, had something to do with the vessel being steered with a view to clear the supposed steamer. Shortly after the look-out man reported rocks ahead. The helm was starboarded to pass the rocks, but the vessel did not do so. She struck on the port side & slid up the face of the rock. The steamer also listed to port. There was deep water astern. The lighthouse people & others came down to see what was the matter & subsequently the captain sent away the chief mate, three men, & a man from the island in one of the boats belonging to the island, to the mainland some dozen or more miles away, for assistance. The captain & three men stayed behind, but had to leave the vessel at about eight o’clock that evening owing to the water coming in in great volume. It was dark when the men left. They had little shelter & were somewhat surprised at the inhospitable reception of the people on the island. On the 29th after they had been 15 or 16 hours on the island, a Government steamer came & took them off.’

Crew October 1897:

Minto, Clem, chief engineer, b. USA resided Hartlepool

Newman 2^nd engineer, West Hartlepool

Wherritt, chief officer, West Hartlepool