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Minerva - a general history
Official No. 67556; Code Letters NTVG.
Owners: 1874 William H. Wise & Son, West Hartlepool; 1878 William Gray & Co, West Hartlepool.
Masters: 1877 David Blacklaw (b.1856 Hartlepool C.N. 83872 South Shields 1869); 1879-83 Murton; 1883 James Nurton; 1884-88 Robert Crudas Appleton (b.1857 York C.N. 17863 Shields); 1889 Tregarthen; 1889-90 James Fraser Brigstocke (C.N. 15324 Leith 1875).
Minerva left the Surrey Commercial Dock in the Thames on 28 October 1886 bound for Sunderland in water ballast. She had on board a crew of 23 & three stowaways. At about 3.30pm she reached Gravesend where the pilot was landed. She proceeded down Gravesend Reach when she came within sight of the SS Borderer which was owned by the Borderer SS Co of Liverpool. The Bordererhad left Boston on 16 October 1886 bound to London with a general cargo & 418 head of cattle. She had a crew of 48, 17 cattle-men & two stowaways on board & had picked up a Trinity House pilot, William Monger, at Dungeness. The weather was clear & the two vessels whistled at each other to indicate the course they were taking but they collided. The Borderer struck the Minerva on her starboard side cutting her down to the water’s edge where she sank in two or three minutes. With the exception of six, the crew were picked up by the Borderer’s boat, a coastguard boat & the Red Rose tug. One of the crew that was picked up subsequently died. The master later stated that some of the crew had lost their lives through spending precious seconds trying to save their personal belongings. At the inquiry witnesses who were crew on the Minerva blamed the collision on the Borderer signalling that she was under a starboard helm & not carrying out the rule. Frederick Manley, master of the Borderer,said it was due to the Minerva not starboarding in time but he did query to the pilot whether they should have been at full speed when there were so many small vessels in the vicinity. The results found that the Borderer’s speed was too great & the signal given was incorrect so the actions of the pilot aboard the Borderer were at fault & the master also deserved blame for not taking control of the vessel if he questioned the pilot’s actions. The Minerva was exonerated from any blame & neither masters’ certificates were suspended. She was raised & re-floated on 27 November of the same year by the Thames Conservancy Commissioners & taken to West Hartlepool for repair.
The Minerva was at Messina, Algeria to load copper-ore for Swansea. On 13 July 1890, during a severe gale, she broke from her moorings & drifted onto a sunken reef where she stuck fast. The master thought they could weather the storm & gave the order for all to remain aboard. Although the steamer was only about 150 yards from shore the seas were too violent for any rescue to be attempted as the natives only had light craft. There were four ship’s boats, two lifeboats, a dinghy & a gig. As the gale continued to increase in violence some of the crew decided to leave but the lifeboats & the gig were smashed as terrific waves washed over the ship. One of the lifeboats had five men in it at the time. A man was washed away but four clung to the remnants of the lifeboat & reached shore. Seven of the crew struggled through the heavy surf in the dinghy & eventually they also reached the safety of the shore. About two hours later the steamer broke in two with five men in the fore-rigging & the others, including the master, in the aft part of the vessel. The fore part gradually disappeared beneath the waves taking some of the crew with it. Huge waves were breaking over the part of the vessel that remained on the rocks with one washing James Young overboard. He managed to grab a piece of wreckage & was partly washed & partly swam ashore. Most of the men were taken to hospital because of the bruising they had suffered. Six men were still aboard when, at about 9pm, in the darkness the remains of the Minerva silently sank out of sight with only one, Isaac Girlang managing to somehow save himself. In total 14 of the crew survived but eight, including the master were drowned. The bodies of John Nash, John Morgan & William Fuller washed ashore & were buried by their comrades.
Lives lost October 1886: Craig, John/ James, engineer’s steward, 26, Darlington; Mitchell, Johnson, carpenter, West Hartlepool; Nelson, William, fireman, Whitby; Paige, Thomas, fireman, Whitby; Phillips, James, able seaman, Dundee
Steel, Charles A, 3rd engineer, Sunderland; Wells/Wills, David, able seaman, Dundee;
Survivors October 1886: Appleton, Robert C, master; Harrison, William, chief mate; Holliday, Thomas, 2nd engineer; Nobel, James, steersman; Williams, John, 2nd mate
Lives lost July 1890: Brigstock, James Fraser, master, b.1846 Portobello, resided Leith; Carr, William, 3rd engineer, North Shields; Fenwick, chief mate, 23, North Shields; Fuller, William, fireman, London; Johnson, Edward, able seaman, Swansea; Macdonald, chief engineer, Jarrow; Morgan, John, steward, Swansea; Nash, John, donkeyman, Swansea
Survivors July 1890: Allen; Burns; Doyle; Girlang, Isaac; Heming; Johnson; Kelly; Kemp, 2nd mate, North Shields; Lawler; Laken; Mills/Miller, Henry, 2nd engineer, West Hartlepool; Taylor; Walls; Young, James.
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Minerva crew
Donated by Maureen AndersonPart of the MA collection
Dated 1885
A deck scene aboard the SS Minerva moored at Atlantic Dock, Brooklyn on 13 January 1885. The photo is of the master Robert C. Appleton, his crew & two men, one in a bowler hat & one in a top hat, who are probably visitors.
More detail »W. Gray & Co. Ltd.
William Gray established a woollen & linen drapery business in Hartlepool in 1843. Also having an interest in shipping he acquired shares in sailing vessels from 1844.
Some of the other shareholders included: Robert (draper) & John Gray (Blyth); Matthew Gray (North Blyth); James Robson (Newcastle-on-Tyne); Henry Taylor (Liverpool); James Monks (Durham); Alexander Robertson (solicitor, Peterhead.
Henry Taylor Purvis; John Callender (draper); Phillip Howard (master mariner); James McBeath (master mariner); James Smith (master mariner); Jane Hall; John Fothergill; Jens Christian Nielsen; William Coward; William Horner; Frederick & Joseph Edward Murrell; all of Hartlepool.
William also had shares in sailing vessels along with John Punshon Denton. Eventually the two formed a partnership in shipbuilding with their first ship, Dalhousie, laid down on 4 July 1863. In December 1871 John Denton died. A dispute arose over the company’s profits which was eventually resolved in 1874 with the firm becoming William Gray & Company. In August 1874 the company’s first ship, Sexta, was launched.
William Gray was born on 18 January 1823 at Blyth, Northumberland to parents Anne Jane (nee Bryham) & Matthew Gray. He married Dorothy Wilson Hall on 15 May 1849 at St. Mary, Lewisham, Kent. In the 1851 census the couple were living at 2 Marine Terrace, Hartlepool. By 1861 the census recorded William as being a linen & woollen draper & shipowner & by 1871 as a shipbuilder. The couple had five daughters and two sons. Their eldest son, Matthew, died suddenly of pneumonia in June 1896 aged just 41.
William died aged 76 on 12 September 1898 leaving effects of £1500422. His widow, Dorothy died aged 81 on 7 September 1906.
William Cresswell Gray was born in 1867 at Tunstall Manor to parents Dorothy (nee Hall) & William Gray. He married Kate Casebourne in 1891 and they had four daughters and one son.
William took over as chairman of the company after the death of his father. He was created a baronet in 1917 and was given the freedom of Hartlepool and West Hartlepool in 1920.
William died aged 57 on 1 November 1924 at Bedale, Yorkshire leaving effects of £417347.
William Gray (3rd generation) was born on 18 August 1895 at Hartlepool to parents Kate (nee Casebourne) & William Cresswell Gray. He was educated at Loretto School in Scotland, and passed direct from the school in 1914 to the Green Howards, where he rose to the rank of captain. He was several times mentioned in despatches, but was subsequently wounded and taken prisoner in 1915. He returned safely in 1918 following the Armistice. He married Mary Leigh at London in 1929.
Following the death of his father William took over the company in 1925. The recession and interest on money borrowed for development had left the company in financial difficulties but this was overcome and shipbuilding continued. The company made a substantial contribution to the war effort during WW2. After the war the company held its own with shipbuilding and repair work. In 1956 William Talbot Gray, the third William Gray’s son, became a joint managing director. He was killed in a car accident in 1971 aged 40. The company went into voluntary liquidation in 1962 and closed completely in 1963. William retired to Orchard Cottage, The Drive, Egglestone, Barnard Castle.
William died aged 82 on 28 January 1978 at Barnard Castle leaving effects of £116121.
Ships owned by William Gray & Co. that were not built in Hartlepool are recorded below under 'a general history'.
More detail »Wise & Co.
W.H. Wise & Co. was formed with the purchase of their first steamer Woodlark in 1871. The Nellie Wise followed in 1872. The company continued trading until 1902 when their last ship, Bewick, foundered in September of that year.
Family History:
William Henry Wise (senior) was born in London in 1822 and became a banker in Backhouse Bank. He married Dorothy Shevill in 1847. By 1861 the family had moved to Hartlepool and were living at Stranton, West Hartlepool. William (senior) died at Fern Villas, Stranton on 3 February 1881 aged 59. He left effects of £6,307.
William Henry Wise (junior) was born in 1850 at Darlington to parents William Henry Wise and Dorothy (nee Shevill). He married Alice Clarkson in 1884 at Dewsbury. On the 1891 census the couple were listed as staying at Yewtree Cottage, St Briavel, Gloucestershire with their son and daughter. By 1901 William and Alice were living in Grange Road, West Hartlepool with their three sons and three daughters and by 1911 the family had moved to Seabank, Falmouth.
William died aged 84 at Mount Hawke near Truro on 27 April 1935 leaving effects of £4,775.
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