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Maria - a general history

Built 1837 at Stockton-on-Tees: Official No. 2764: Code Letters HQMF.

Owners: Hesleton, Stockton-on-Tees; 1852 Robert Forbes, Sunderland; 1860 R Gibson, Sunderland; 1860 John Coverdale (5 Radcliffe Terrace) & William Laidler, Hartlepool; May 1861 John Coverdale, William Laidler & William Williamson junior, Hartlepool; October 1875 John Coverdale, George Wood, John Hunter & John Patton, Hartlepool.

Masters: 1848 J Baxter; 1850 J Boagey; 1851-53 Robert Forbes; 1854 Andrew Wales; 1855-59 Robert Forbes; 1860-65 T Abbs; 1865 Granger; 1865 Sanderson; 1868-69 T Abbs; 1870-77 George Wood; 1881 Robert Shingles.

1860 insured with the Hartlepool Mutual Marine Insurance Association for £250-value £1200

February 1872 she was insured with the Hartlepool Mutual Marine Insurance Association for £450-value £800.

August 1865 the master, Sanderson, mysteriously disappeared while his vessel was moored in the Thames. It was ascertained that he had cashed a cheque for £90 before his disappearance. Sanderson, who resided at Victoria Place in Hartlepool, left a wife & two young children; August 1877 when the vessel was moored in the Thames the master, George Wood aged 52, was boarding via a plank which slipped & he fell to the mud below. He was taken to the infirmary & pronounced fit the following day. During the voyage back to Hartlepool he became ill & died two days later.

Bound from Hartlepool for London with a cargo of coal Maria struck about a mile north of Cove Hithe Point, Lowestoft on 14 October 1881 & was wrecked. The crew were rescued by the Kissingland lifeboat.

Crew June 1881;

Abbott, Benjamin, ordinary seaman, 19, London

Acaster, Thomas, able seaman, 50

Barrow, George, able seaman, 28, London

McCoomb, Lawrence, ordinary seaman, 37, Nevis, West Indies

Michaelin, James, ordinary seaman, 16, Stockton-on-Tees (first voyage)

Shingles, Robert, master, 37, Mundesley, Norfolk

Shingles, William, mate, 42, Mundesley, Norfolk

Stevenson, Robert, able seaman, 31, Bristol

White, John, ordinary seaman, 19, Hartlepool

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