Elmete Gallery

Elmete left Buenos Aires on 28 January 1895 on a voyage for Antwerp with a cargo of wool in bales, grain in bags & 1,240 live sheep. She had a crew of 22 hands & 7 cattle men. At noon on 4 February she was at 21 41 S by 39 54 W at full speed & steering NE by NE ¾ N. At 8pm this was altered to NE & at 8.15 again altered to NE by N ½ N to allow for any extra set of current from the SW. On 5 February a building was observed on an island which was about 10 miles distant which the master thought to be Abrolhos Island off the coast of Brazil so altered course to E.  He thought that the rocks to the west of the island, by the appearance of the chart, would be visible above water. At about 9.30pm a rock was seen about five miles distant which the master thought was the southernmost point of the reef so his vessel was clear of danger but she struck on hidden rocks & held fast & by midnight there was about 5 feet of water in her holds. On 7 February the American Barque Mourovia bore down & stood by but on 12 February the Elmete slipped off the reef & foundered. The barque took the crew on board & landed them at Barbados. The island that the master had seen was Corva Vermelbe so his calculations had taken them about 30 miles off course. The inquiry found that there were no sailing directions on board; the Court did not attribute blame to the owners for this deficiency, but considered that the master ought to have taken care to provide himself with proper sailing directions which he was empowered to do by the owners. The Court did not consider the evidence conclusive as to the exact spot on which she struck-and there was no reason to suppose that the reef on which she stranded was not marked on the Admiralty chart. The master was found in default & his certificate was suspended for six months with a recommendation he be granted a mate's certificate for the period.

George Pyman was born in May 1822 in Sandsend, North Yorkshire. He went to sea as an apprentice and by 1843 he was Master of the vessel Nameless.

He married Elizabeth English in 1843 and they had two daughters and seven sons.

In 1850 he left the sea and the family settled in West Hartlepool where he went into partnership with his brother-in-law Francis English, as grocers and ship chandlers. In about 1854 he changed direction and went into partnership with Thomas Scurr as shipbrokers for the local collieries. They owned shares in a number of sailing vessels. Other shareholders included Francis English, John Smurthwaite, Thomas Wood & Ralph Ward Jackson.

Thomas Scurr died in 1861 and George then formed his own company as George Pyman & Co. In 1865 he purchased his first steamship, the George Pyman, and gradually shares in the brigs were sold off. Eventually the company became the largest owners of steamships in the north of the U.K.

In 1873 Thomas Bell of Newcastle joined as a partner in the firm. From 1879 the company opened branches in Hull, Grimsby, Immingham and Glasgow. When George retired in 1882 the Bell family took over the running of the company.

Pyman, Watson & Co. was set up in Cardiff in 1874 by John, one of George’s sons along with Thomas Edward Watson and Francis and Frederick, another two of his sons, set up Pyman Bros. in London in 1903. Some of these companies ships were registered in West Hartlepool.

George was elected a Poor Law Guardian in 1861, an Improvement Commissioner in 1868, and was sitting on the Durham County Bench from 1872. In 1879 he was appointed Vice Consul for Belgium and in 1888 was elected the second Mayor of West Hartlepool. In 1895 he received the honour of being made a Freeman of the Borough. George died in November 1900 at his home, Raithwaite Hall.

There is a wealth of further information in Peter Hogg’s book ‘The Pyman Story’.