Wooden barque Jane and Margaret, built John Jardine, Richibucto, New Brunswick 1836 of fir.
475 tons, 127 x 28.5 x 19 ft. Captain Wakes.
Voyage Liverpool to New York with cargo of 200 tons of coal, iron, casks, etc.
Crew of 17, 8 cabin passengers and 181 steerage passengers.
Left Liverpool on 6th Feb 1837 and wreckage found off Wicklow and Arklow a few days later.
A portion of her stern frame was later driven ashore on the Calf of Man with two bodies.
All aboard lost (206).
Barque JANE AND MARGARET, Wakes master, sailed from Liverpool,
on the 6th February, for New York, with 189 passengers and 17
in the crew, and was not afterwards heard of. Wreckage, identified as from
this vessel, was passed on the 14th February 1837, near Arklow off the coast of
Ireland. Portions of her timbers subsequently came ashore: stern with two bodies on
the Calf of Man (Isle of Man); larboard side on Isle of Walney; part towed
into Liverpol,... It seems most likely that she struck the banks of the east coast
of Ireland (Arklow Bank) and broke up, with some wreckage being driven by wind
and tide to the Isle of Man and Lancashire coast. There were no survivors.
Some reports of the wreckage found on the Calf of Man quote
her name as "Jane and Margaret of Hull". Hull seems an unlikely port
of registry for a transatlantic trader - however she was advertised
for sale by brokers Holderness and Chilton who had offices in Hull,
Liverpool and in Kingston (near Richibucto) in Canada. Other reports,
and the advertisement of her final voyage, describe her as American
- part of the Robinson Line.
She is not listed in Lloyd's Register.
From Gore's Liverpool General Advertiser - Thursday 11 August 1836
For SALE, The remarkably fine new Barque JANE & MARGARET, burthen
per register 474 tons, old measurement; built by John Jardine, Esq., Richibucto, and launched
May last; Length aloft, 127 feet; breadth of beam, 28 feet 6 inches; depth, 19 feet:
and carries a very large cargo at a light draft of water, and sails fast; discharging her
cargo at Brunswick Dock. For further particulars, apply HOLDERNESS and CHILTON, Hull, or to
HOLDERNESS and CHILTON, King-street. Should the Jane and Margaret not be
disposed of before the 18th August, she will be despatched for Richibucto.
[and she arrived Richibucto October 4 and set out back to Liverpool on November 4 with
a cargo of timber]
From Belfast Commercial Chronicle - Saturday 04 February 1837
FOR NEW YORK. SAIL THE 6th FEBRUARY, 1837. The First Class Coppered
American Ship JANE AND MARGARET, CAPTAIN VOKE[sic]
From Birmingham Journal - Saturday 18 February 1837
FATAL SHIPWRECK
The Jane and Margaret, Wakes, for New York, having board about 200
steerage passengers, besides several cabin passengers, including
ladies, left Liverpool on the morning tide on the 6th instant. She was a
stout vessel built in British America, and considered in every respect a
desirable conveyance. Yesterday the captain of the Wakefield, a small
schooner from Charlestown, arrived here, and states that on the 14th
instant, while bearing N. W. by N., about twenty miles from Wicklow in Ireland,
he passed the wreck of an American vessel, about 500 tons burden,
the mainmast broken on the deck, the mainyard lying across the deck, and
the vessel herself completely shattered. There was no one on board. He
saw a large quantity of pillows, beds, and bedding floating on the water.
He picked up a quantity of the lower deck planks, and part of the
cross-trees attached the upper part of the gallows, painted yellow,
about eight feet long. He also picked a hair trunk with brass letters
engraven on it, and a deal box marked, in a diamond, E 683, together with several
other articles which had floated from the wreck. The box bearing the
above mark and numbers had been shipped by Messrs Wood, Kurtz, and
Co., of Liverpool, on board the Jane and Margaret, with a quantity of
others. The portions of the wreck which have been picked up have also
been identified as belonging the unfortunate vessel; it is to be feared,
that of the whole passengers and crew which left Liverpool on board of
her only a few days previously, not one has been left to record the
history of their sufferings.
From Gore's Liverpool General Advertiser - Thursday 23 February 1837
ISLEMAN Feb.20: The counter of a large vessel, fir built, with "Jane and Margaret,
of Hull" on it, and considerable quantity of wreck, etc., have been driven on
shore on the Calf of Man. The loss of the Jane and Margaret, from
Liverpool to New York, was reported on the 17th inst.
From Morning Chronicle - Saturday 25 February 1837
LOSS OF THE JANE AND MARGARET FOR NEW YORK, WITH TWO HUNDRED PASSENGERS.
FURTHER PARTICULARS. Liverpool, Thursday, Feb. 23
All doubt as to the fate of this unfortunate vessel and her
cargo of human beings is now unhappily removed. Intelligence has
been received here from the Isle of Man which places the fact of
her total loss beyond question. In the early part of the present week
the hull of a large fir-built ship, bearing the words "Jane
and Margaret." was thrown on shore on the South of the Calf Island,
and other portions of the wreck have drifted onshore near
Castletown, Isle of Man. The hull of the vessel was found, on
examination, to contain two bodies: one of a young man,
apparently about twenty-five years of age, respectably dressed; he
had a small bible and prayer-book in his pocket, a watch, and a
quantity of sovereigns; the other body was that of a boy some nine
or ten years old. About the hull of the vessel were strewed large
quantities of wearing apparel, bed-clothes, etc., the property,
doubtless, of the wretched sufferers.
Judging from the intelligence
which reached here in the latter part of last week, and the
situation in which the wreck of an American vessel was seen on the
16th instant by the master of a small coasting vessel, who picked up
some packages near Arklow, in Ireland, which were identified as having
been shipped on board the Jane and Margaret, it is supposed that
the vessel must have struck on the Banks of Arklow, probably during
that night, and that all on board immediately perished. The recent
strong north-easterly winds have thrown a considerable portion
of the wreck on the western side of the Isle of Man.
The
consignees of the lost vessel state that the total number of
passengers who paid for berths to New York by her amounted to one
hundred and eighty-nine, one hundred and fifty-six of whom were
adults, and the remaining thirty-three were children and young persons
under fourteen years of age. The only cabin passengers were Rev. Mr.
Clements, a Dissenting minister [Wesleyan] from the north of Ireland [Lifford, Donegal], and his
family, which consisted of his wife, daughters (five young women
from 14-24 years of age), and a female servant. The great
majority of the passengers were males, principally from
Ireland - farmers, labourers, and operatives. There were a few who
might be ranked as small farmers, but the great bulk were persons
in the most humble class in life. The cargo consisted of coal (of
which there were about 200 tons on board), iron, casks, and
measurement goods.
The Jane and Margaret was a new ship, this being
her second voyage across the Atlantic. She was built of fir
timber, and was launched at St John's [sic], New Brunswick, no later than
April last year. She carried 475 tons per register, and
possessed the reputation of being a fast sailer and a good,
substantial sea vessel. The unfortunate calamity cannot be
attributed to any want of skill or professional ability on the
part of her commander, Captain Wakes, who, with the whole of
his crew, has shared the untimely fate of the passengers. Captain Wakes
formerly belonged to the British navy and was the personal friend of
Lieutenant Lowe, of this town [Liverpool] (the government inspector of
emigrant vessels), who speaks highly of his talents and
discrimination. He has been almost constantly employed during the
past fourteen years in commanding vessels trading between
Liverpool, New York, and London - more particularly the two latter
ports, in which trade he is well known.
No tidings have as yet
been heard of the two long boats belonging to the shipwrecked vessel, and a
hope (faint though it be) is entertained that, finding the vessel
going to pieces, the crew, and as many passengers as could get
into them, flew to the boats for succour, and have been picked up
by some outward-bound vessel. Such a deliverance may have occurred,
but probabilities are fearfully against it. No small boats would
live an hour in the midst of such storms as were raging at the
time the disaster happened. The awful truth is too apparent to admit of
any qualification, that by this appalling calamity no less than two
hundred and six human beings (including the captain and the crew
which consisted of seventeen persons) have been unexpectedly and instantly
sent to their account, "with all their imperfections on
their heads."
From Gore's Liverpool General Advertiser - Thursday 02 March 1837
The wreck which was seen on Saturday night, eighteen miles outside
the Light Ship, has been towed into the river and put on shore near the
Clarence Dock, by the Shamrock, steamer. It proves to be part of the Jane and
Margaret.
Westmorland Gazette - Saturday 04 March 1837
Several portions of wreck have been cast upon the Lancashire coast,
viz., on the Isle of Walney, ship's broadside, fir built; at Rampside, etc,
various portions of a vessel's hull; and the steamer,
Windermere, brought in on Wednesday a vessel's bow, of large tonnage,
and an anchor and part of a chain cabel[sic]; the anchor was about 18cwt (Our
Correspondent). These are no doubt parts of the doomed ship Jane and
Margaret.