Eddlethorpe Gallery

John Coverdale purchased shares in sailing vessels from about 1852 and by the 1860’s had become the sole owner of a fleet of sailing vessels.

John entered into partnership with Charles Scotson Todd under the company name of Coverdale, Todd & Co. On 30 June 1882 this partnership was dissolved and on the same day John went into business with his son, Robert Hauxwell Coverdale, as his partner. The company became Coverdale & Son with their business premises at Victoria Terrace, West Hartlepool.

Robert took over the company when his father died and it became R.H. Coverdale. When Robert died the company reverted back to John Coverdale & Son which eventually ceased trading in 1914. The company of Coverdale Bros. carried on until 1917.

Family History:

John Coverdale was born in 1814 at Sneaton, near Whitby, in Yorkshire. John became a master mariner and in the early 1850's he moved to Hartlepool from Sneaton already part owner and master of the sailing vessel Madonna in which he had invested in October 1852. In 1854 he was part owner and master of the Schofield. John had married Mary Hauxwell at Stockton-on-Tees in 1852 and by the 1860's the couple were living at Radcliffe Terrace with their two children Jane and Robert. He retired from the sea and became owner and manager of a fleet of sailing vessels. When iron constructed ships became the new revolution he sold his wooden vessels and went into steam shipping.

During his lifetime he took an active interest in municipal life and was the people’s warden at St Hilda’s Church, a member and then chairman of the Hartlepool Pilotage Commissioners, a lifetime trustee of Henry Smith’s charity, a member of the Hartlepool School Board and one of the governors of the Hartlepools Hospital.

John died aged 70 at his residence, South Crescent, Hartlepool, on 15th February 1885 leaving effects of £21,330.

Robert Coverdale was born in December 1858 to parents John and Mary (nee Hauxwell) Coverdale. He married Catherine Sanderson in 1878 and they lived at 18 Cliff Terrace, Hartlepool.

Robert died aged 47 on 20th February 1906 at Hartlepool leaving effects of £101,046. He was interred at Spion Kop Cemetery.

Wooden vessels in John’s fleet other than those listed below were; brig Albion built 1811 owned from about 1855 to 1857; snow Come On built 1854 owned from 1866 to 1872; barque Sarepta built 1856 owned from 1866 to 1872.

Steamships owned by the Coverdale companies other than those listed below were; Muriel Coverdale built 1905 owned from 1905 to 1913; Frank Coverdale built 1903 owned from 1903 to August 1912; Gladys built 1890 owned from 1890 to 1906.

Official No. 86385: Code Letters HCVF.

Owners: 1882 CS Todd & Co, Hartlepool: 1887 Robert Hauxwell Coverdale, West Hartlepool: 1888 John Coverdale & Son, West Hartlepool

Masters: 1882-1888 Robert Boutfleur: 1888 Humphreys: 1889-91 Scholefield: 1891 T Webster.

Eddlethorpe left Sulina on 11 June 1891 with a cargo of 2,260 tons of wheat bound for Rotterdam. On 25 June, when near Ushant, the vessel struck on something unseen. She managed to be got free after a few minutes & carried on to Rotterdam. When she arrived back in Hartlepool she was put into dry dock where it was found that some of her bottom plates were bulged in & the plate on the port side forward there was a plate clean cut upwards. The inquiry held into the cause of the damage came to the conclusion that the vessel had struck on a submerged wreck.

On a voyage from Constantinople for Odessa in ballast she was in collision with the London steamer Rugby when passing Bebek near Constantinople in the Bosphorus on 19 November 1891. Eddlethorpe sunk immediately & the Rugbywas badly damaged. A steam launch belonging to the Russian Embassy happened to be in the vicinity at the time & picked up most of the crew of Eddlethorpe. Three lives lost, including the master who died soon after being picked up of injuries sustained in the collision.

Shields Daily News, Friday, June 20^th, 1891:
WEST HARTLEPOOL STEAMER SUNK. THE CAPTAIN AND SOME OF THE CREW LOST. Messrs. J. Coverdale and Sons, of West Hartlepool, received intelligence by telegram, yesterday, to the effect that their s.s. Eddlethorpe (Captain Webster), had been sunk after collision with the s.s. Rugby, in the Bosphorous, while on her passage to Odessa.
She sank in few minutes from the effects of the collision, in seven fathoms of water. Captain Webster was taken out of the water in such an exhausted state that be died almost immediately on being got on board of a Russian gunboat. The rest the crew, all of whom belong to Hartlepool, have, it is hoped, been saved.
LIST OF THE CREW. A West Hartlepool correspondent writes:—So far further details of the foundering of the s.s. Eddlethorpe have come to hand, but further information is anxiously anticipated.
The following is list of her crew:—Thomas Webster, Park Square, West Hartlepool, master: J Dixon, first mate, Hartlepool; R. Prentice, second mate, Hartlepool; W Nicholls, steward, Hartlepool; Wm. Nunnery, cook; W. Sweeney, A.B.; C. Russell, A.B.; Carl Svingard, A.B.; Olaf Vingo, A.B.; Hans Anderson, A.B.; John Dald, A.B.; Alfred Ayrton, first engineer, West Hartlepool; Thos. McGilton, second engineer; Wm. Dawson, third engineer; G. Goldsworth, donkeyman; J.P. Charner, fireman; W. Sullivan, fireman; W. Stewart, fireman; T. Atkinson, fireman; H. Haggerty, fireman; L. Clements, boy.
Constantinople. Nov. 19 —A disastrous collision, attended with loss of life, occurred this morning, between two English steamers, in the Bosphorous. One of these, the Eddlethorpe, Captain Webster, with a cargo of eleven hundred tons, was on her way from Port Said to Odessa, and, when passing Bebek, was run into by the English steamer Rugby. The former vessel sank immediately, and the Rugby was seriously damaged. The loss of life might have been more serious than was actually the case, but steam launch belonging to the Russian Embassy fortunately happened to be passing at the time, and succeeded in rescuing several men belonging to the Eddlethorpe. Three other sailors of the same vessel are missing, and Captain Webster has died of injuries received in the collision.

Lives lost November 1891:

Dawson, William, 3^rd engineer, Wolverhampton

McGilton, Thomas, 2^nd engineer, Durham St, West Hartlepool

Webster, T, master, Park Terrace, West Hartlepool

C.S. Todd went into business with John Coverdale under the company name Coverdale, Todd & Co. On 30 June 1882 the partnership was dissolved and Charles continued a business of steamship owners, brokers and commission agents under C.S. Todd & Co., with his premises at 74 Church Street, West Hartlepool. In 1887 Charles went bankrupt. At the time he owed, amongst other debts, around £13,000 to the shipbuilders William Gray & Co.

Family History:

Charles Scotson Todd was born in 1837 at Hartlepool to parents John and Mary (nee Scotson) Todd. He was indentured on the vessel Briton's Pride at the age of 17 in 1854. He gained his second mate's certificate  in January 1859, his first mate's certificate in January 1862 and his master's certificate in January 1864, all at Hartlepool. (Certificate No. 19833). Charles married Mary Grace Kearlsey at Hartlepool in January 1866 and they had three sons and a daughter. Charles had shares in ships from 1871. By the late 1870s the family were living at Greatham.

Charles died aged 66 in July 1903 at Stockton-on-Tees.