Sarah Ann Technical Specification

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.

A shipping company which was formed through a long connection of family shipowners which included William, Richard, Joseph Benjamin Lister and William Scott Merryweather. William Merryweather was an auctioneer and purchased shares in his first sailing vessel soon after the Victoria Dock opened in Hartlepool in 1840. His son, Joseph Benjamin Lister Merryweather formed a partnership with Robert Coverdale & Charles Scotson Todd in 1873. On 31 August 1878 the partnership was dissolved by mutual consent and Joseph and his son, William Scott, became partners. Their first ship was the Sarah Ann named after Joseph’s wife.  

William added ships to the company after his father’s death. The last ship was sold in 1915 and he carried on a business as a shipbroker.

Family History:

Richard Merryweather was born in 1815 at Welbury, Yorkshire to parents William and Elizabeth. He became an auctioneer and in the late 1850s and early 1860s had shares in sailing vessels. Richard was married to Elizabeth Mould at Buckingham in 1841. By 1851 the couple were living at Southgate, Hartlepool and by 1861 at Cleveland, House, High Street, Hartlepool with their five children.  Richard died on 3 October 1891 aged 76 at Hartlepool leaving effects of £72.

William Merryweather was born in April 1791 at Welbury, Yorkshire to parents Richard and Margaret (nee Snaith). He married Elizabeth (nee Lister) in October 1813 at Welbury. Elizabeth died in 1854. William was remarried in February 1860 to Eleanor Forster. He died in February 1866 and is buried in St Hilda’s Churchyard alongside his first wife. On his death his effects were less than £1,500.

William and Elizabeth’s first son, also William, was born at Welbury in 1815. He became a porter merchant and then a shipowner. In June 1844 he married Margaret Ann Hauxwell at Hartlepool. William died in July 1853 at Stockton-on-Tees.

Joseph Benjamin Lister Merryweather was born to William and Elizabeth in 1836 at Hartlepool. In June 1859 he married Sarah Ann Scott at Wakefield. By 1881 the family were living at Alverthorpe, Wakefield. Joseph died on 22 December 1902 at Welbury Grange near Northallerton leaving effects of £38,173.

William Scott Merryweather was born in January 1860 at Hartlepool to Joseph and Sarah. He married Emily Elizabeth Wattley in 1885. At this time he was living at ‘Ethelbert’, Victoria Road. He was a member of the Town Council for many years and a J.P. By 1911 he was living at ‘Wrenwood’, Park Avenue, West Hartlepool. William died in July 1930 at Welbury leaving just £40 to his widow.

Official No. 70121: Code Letters NTSP.

Owners: 1875 Coverdale & Co, West Hartlepool: 1879 JBL Merryweather & Co, West Hartlepool.

Masters: 1875-77 R Clark: 1877-80 G Kennedy: 1880-81 J Dixon: September 1881 Hay: 1884-88 CA Todd.

Voyages: from Sulina for Falmouth with wheat & a crew of 22 in a NW Force 11 gale about 70 miles SW by W of Lizard in the English Channel Sarah Ann suffered damage & her cargo shifted on13 November 1875.  One life lost; August 1881 from Barrow for New York:  January 1886 from Baltimore for Avonmouth.

Northern Daily Mail, March 27th, 1886:
‘Rescue by a West Hartlepool Steamer—A letter has been received by Mr Merryweather, managing owner of the SS Sarah Ann of West Hartlepool giving details of a rescue affected in the Atlantic of four of the crew of the brigantine Ten Brothers of & from Martinique, bound to Boston with a cargo of sugar. When the disabled vessel was sighted she was water-logged & totally dis-masted & had been so for 55 days of the 70 she had been at sea. The lifeboat by which the rescue was affected was in the command of Mr Andrews, the mate & it was so severely damaged by the heavy sea running at the time that it was little short of a miracle that she ever got back to the steamer. The entire crew of the brigantine were Negroes & the master & mate were quite drunk & not only resisted all persuasion to leave the sinking vessel, with which they declared they would go down, but they most inhumanely prevented a small boy from being rescued with the other four. Such had been their privitations that one man had died on the morning previous to the rescue & lay dead on the deck, whilst two of the rescued four were so crippled that they had to be sent to hospital at Galway. Judging from the weather experienced since the rescue-Captain Todd has every reason to fear that the brigantine would sink within a very few hours, she being 700 miles or more from land when the rescue occurred.’
(Unable to find any further record of Ten Brothers)

South Durham & Cleveland Mercury, March 17th, 1888:
‘A Lloyds’ telegram says, Sarah Ann anchored off Lundy. Master reports on Sunday morning, Trevose Head bearing ESE about eight miles saw the City of Exeter steamer of Exeter, from Penarth for St Nasaire, flying signals of distress. Bore up when he signalled ‘will you take me in tow’ while getting ready he signalled again ‘we are leaking & the boats stove.’ We commenced to get our lifeboat out but before succeeding saw the vessel roll over & sink. We managed to save one seaman, named Simonsen, a Norwegian, whom we landed at Lundy.’

With a cargo of wheat & a crew of 21 Sarah Ann disappeared after 11 November 1888. 21 lives lost.

Northern Daily Mail, November 28th, 1888:
‘No further tidings have been received; we regret to say, of Messrs Merryweather & Co’s screw-steamer the Sarah Ann of West Hartlepool. On the 11th inst she passed the Dardanelles on the voyage from Tagenrog for Naples & at the time she was in the Archipelago a severe snowstorm occurred. Most of her crew were shipped at Penarth.

Lives lost November 1888:

Bracey, WJ, able seaman, Cardiff

Deans, G, second mate, Cardiff

Dryburg, J, third engineer, Dyke St, West Hartlepool

Farrow, W, able seaman, Cardiff

Harrison, TJ, fireman, Cardiff

James N, second engineer, Cambourne, Cornwall

Jefferson, M, boatswain, Cardiff

Johnson, W, cook, Cardiff

Jones, A, fireman, Cardiff

Jown, A, steward, Cardiff

King, H, able seaman, Cardiff

Larsen, E, able seaman, Cardiff

Prodham, CJ, chief engineer, Rium Terrace, Hart Road, West Hartlepool

Rees, J, fireman, Cardiff

Reice, WD, able seaman, Cardiff

Shotton, WJ, able seaman, Cardiff

Sinclair, E, chief mate, Pilgrim St, West Hartlepool

Snowdon, J, fireman, Cardiff

Thomas, H, donkeyman, Cardiff

Todd, A, engineer’s steward, Cardiff

Todd, CA, master, St Paul’s Road, West Hartlepool