Joseph Scarrow, Master Mariner of Harrington, Whitehaven, Liverpool and London

Joseph Scarrow, Master Mariner

Joseph was born 24 March 1816 in Harrington to Thomas Scarrow, shipwright and Mary. Joseph had an elder brother John, a younger brother William, and a sister Jane. When John, a Master Mariner, died in 1830, he passed his sailing equipment onto Joseph. A year later, in 1831 at the age of 15, Joseph started as an apprentice on the brig Hope, sailing on numerous voyages between Whitehaven and North America. By 1836, had become Mate on the same vessel, and continued to sail on similar routes.

On 29 January 1839, Joseph married Ann Barnes in Harrington. Later that year Joseph transferred to the snow Blucher as Mate, which, although registered at Whitehaven, undertook voyages from Liverpool or Glasgow to the Caribbean. During a stop in St. Thomas in 1840, the Blucher's Captain, William Brown, died along with several other crew, and Joseph took command of the vessel for its voyage back to Glasgow. Blucher was a reasonably large vessel at 224 tons, and from the crew lists, would typically sail with a crew of 14. Joseph remained the master of Blucher until 1848 when he purchased a new ship, the brig Albion. During his time as master of Blucher, his younger brother William was employed as Mate, and together they undertook many voyages to the Caribbean, South America and South West Africa. In this period, Joseph had three children, a son Thomas born 1842, a daughter Jane born 10 December 1843 and another son George born 10 Feb 1846. George's twin William died at birth.

Below is an extract from an 1844 crew list of the snow Blucher:

Blucher Crew List 1844, Master Joseph Scarrow

Albion was a slightly lighter vessel at 180 tons, but still required a crew of 14. It had a single deck, 2 masts, and was brig rigged with standing bowsprit. It had a woman's figurehead at the bow and a square stern. Joseph sailed the Albion continuously until 1862, predominantly on trips to the Caribbean, but also with occasional voyages to Canada, Brazil and Argentina. He increasingly departed from Liverpool or London, where presumably the cargos attracted a higher premium. Typical exports from the Caribbean ports would include sugar, rum and coffee, with manufactured goods sailing from Britain. William sailed as mate on Albion in 1848, 1849, 1858 and 1859. At other times, William sailed as Mate or Master on a selection of other Cumbrian ships.

Certification of mariners was formalised in the early 1850s, with masters, mates and engineers now requiring qualifications in order to hold positions of responsibility on merchant vessels. For existing masters, rather than sit exams, a certificate could be obtained by showing experience relevant to the position applied for. For successful applicants, this would result in the issue of a Certificate of Service shown below:

Joseph Scarrow's Master's Certificate of Service

Joseph had four further children, Mary Ann, born 28 January 1849, Mary, born 25 December 1850, Sarah Ann, born November 1853 and Ann Barnes, born 16 September 1857. Unfortunately, only Mary lived beyond early childhood.

In 1862, Joseph bought a new ship, the barque Teesdale, which at 330 tonnes was almost twice the size of Albion. With this vessel, he sailed east from London to China. On 27 June 1863, during only his second trip on Teesdale, to Penang, Joseph died due to the effects of drink. He was aged 47. A full list of Joseph's voyages is shown in the table at the end of the page. Surprisingly, there existed a Mechant Seaman's Fund, so his widow Ann received some money from the state after Joseph's death.

Merchant Seaman's Fund Pension Ticket Ann Scarrow

Joseph's will is shown below:

The table below shows the list of Joseph's voyages between 1831 and 1863. The sources of information are as follows:

Certificate of Competencies and applications; Lloyds list; both held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, UK.

Lloyds Captains Register held at the Guildhall Library, London, UK.

BT98(Agreements and Crew List), BT112(Register of Seamen, Series II), BT115(Alphabetical Register of Masters) and BT124(Registers of Certificates of Service, Masters and Mates, Foreign Trade), all held at the Public Records Office, Kew, UK.

Cumberland Pacquet newspaper, held at the Carlisle Record Office.

The cargos carried are, in all but a few cases, a best guess, based on the principle imports and exports of these ports at that point in time.

Age	Rank	Ship	From	To	-	Date	Cargo	Remarks
15	Appr.	Hope	Whitehaven	Quebec	From	1831	Manu. Goods, Iron	Master: Douglas
15	Appr.	Hope	Quebec	Whitehaven	To	1831	Timber	Master: J Huddart
16	Appr.	Hope	Whitehaven	Quebec	From	1832	Manu. Goods, Iron	Master: Dawes
16	Appr.	Hope	Quebec	Whitehaven	To	1832	Timber	Master: Gregg
17	Appr.	Hope	Whitehaven	Quebec	From	1833	Manu. Goods, Iron	Master: Gregg
17	Appr.	Hope	Quebec	Whitehaven	To	1833	Timber
18	Appr.	Hope	Whitehaven	Americas	From	1834	Manu. Goods, Iron, Linen	Master: J Huddart
18	Appr.	Hope	Americas	Whitehaven	To	1834	Grain, Tobacco
19	Appr.	Hope	Liverpool	Baltimore	Dep	12 Jan 1835	Manu. Goods, Iron, Linen	Master: J Huddart
19	Appr.	Hope	St. Johns	Lancaster	Arr	4 Aug 1835	Grain, Tobacco	arr. Baltimore 17 Apr 1835
19	Appr.	Hope	Lancaster	Quebec	Dep	Aug 1835	Manu. Goods, Iron	Master: J Huddart
19	Appr.	Hope	Quebec	Dublin	Arr	2 Dec 1835	Timber	arr. Quebec 8 Oct 1835
19	Appr.	Hope	Dublin	Harrington	Arr	27 Dec 1835	Textiles
20	Mate	Hope	Dublin	Quebec	Arr	9 Jun 1836	Irish Linen	Master: Middleton
20	Mate	Hope	Quebec	Maryport	Arr	26 Sep 1836	Timber
20	Mate	Hope	Harrington	Dublin	Dep	15 Oct 1836	Coal	2 return voyages. Docked at Harrington 5 Nov to 23 Nov 1836
20	Mate	Hope	Dublin	Harrington	Arr	18 Dec 1836	Textiles
21	Mate	Hope	Dublin	Quebec	Dep	17 Apr 1837	Irish Linen
21	Mate	Hope	Quebec	Lancaster	Arr	5 Aug 1837	Timber
22	Mate	Hope	Whitehaven	Quebec	Dep	30 Mar 1838	Manu. Goods, Iron	arr. Quebec 1 Jun. BT98/532 no further crew lists for Hope
22	Mate	Hope	Quebec	Whitehaven	Arr	Jul 1838	Timber
22	Mate	Hope	Whitehaven	Quebec	Dep	27 Jul 1838	Manu. Goods, Iron
22	Mate	Hope	Quebec	Drogheda	Arr	Dec 1838	Timber
23	Mate	Blucher	Liverpool	Jamaica	Dep	14 Mar 1839	Manu. Goods, Crockery
23	Mate	Blucher	Jamaica	Greenock	Arr	24 Sep 1839	Sugar, Molasses, Rum, Ginger, Cocoa
23	Mate	Blucher	Greenock	St. Thomas, Virgin Isl.	Dep	21 Oct 1839	Manu. Goods	Captain William Brown, died age 25, in St. Thomas on 25 Feb 1840
24	Master	Blucher	St. Thomas, Virgin Isl.	Glasgow	Arr	25 Jul 1840	Sugar	Four other crew died including 2nd Mate William Thomas
24	Master	Blucher	Glasgow	Demerara	Dep	22 Aug 1840	Manu. Goods
25	Master	Blucher	Demerara	Liverpool	Arr	22 Mar 1841	Sugar, Rum, Coffee
25	Master	Blucher	Liverpool	Kingston, Jamaica	Dep	18 Aug 1841	Manu. Goods, Crockery	Mate: William Scarrow
26	Master	Blucher	Kingston, Jamaica	Liverpool	Arr	30 Mar 1842	Sugar, Molasses, Rum, Ginger, Cocoa
26	Master	Blucher	Liverpool	Pernambuco (Recife)	Dep	21 Aug 1842	Manu. Goods, Crockery
27	Master	Blucher	Pernambuco (Recife)	Liverpool	Arr	13 Jan 1843	Sugar
27	Master	Blucher	Liverpool	Bahia (Salvador)	Dep	1 Mar 1843	Manu. Goods, Crockery
27	Master	Blucher	Bahia, Brazil	Whitehaven	Arr	21 Sep 1843	Sugar, Cocoa, Tobacco
27	Master	Blucher	Liverpool	Ichaboe Isl, Namibia	Dep	26 Oct 1843	Manu. Goods, Crockery
28	Master	Blucher	Ichaboe Isl, Namibia	Southampton	Arr	27 Jul 1844	Guano
28	Master	Blucher	Southampton	Bahia (Salvador)	Dep	19 Aug 1844	Manu. Goods	arr. Bahia 30 Dec 1844
29	Master	Blucher	Bahia, Brazil	Hamburg	Arr	30 Apr 1845	Sugar, Cocoa, Tobacco
29	Master	Blucher	Hamburg	Quebec	Dep	19 Jul 1845	Wool, Cotton, Manu. Gds, Steel	arr. Quebec 8 Sep 1845
29	Master	Blucher	Quebec	Dublin	Arr	18 Nov 1845	Timber
30	Master	Blucher	Liverpool	Quebec	Dep	12 Apr 1846	Manu. Goods, Crockery	Mate: William Scarrow. arr. Quebec 19 Jul 1846
30	Master	Blucher	Quebec	Chester	Arr	1 Sep 1846	Timber
30	Master	Blucher	Whitehaven	Berbice	Dep	2 Oct 1846	Manu. Goods, Iron, Linen	Mate: William Scarrow
31	Master	Blucher	Berbice	Workington	Arr	3 Apr 1847	Sugar, Rum, Coffee
31	Master	Blucher	Workington	Demerara	Dep	9 May 1847	Manu. Goods, Iron, Linen	Mate: William Scarrow. arr. Demerara 1 Jul 1847
31	Master	Blucher	Demerara	Newcastle	Arr	30 Oct 1847	Sugar, Rum, Coffee
32	Master	Albion	Harrington	Dalhousie, Canada	Dep	10 Apr 1848	Manu. Goods, Iron, Linen	Mate: William Scarrow.
32	Master	Albion	Dalhousie, Canada	Workington	Arr	3 Sep 1848	Timber
32	Master	Albion	Harrington	Limerick	Dep	28 Sep 1848	Coal	Mate: William Scarrow, Coasting trade
33	Master	Albion	Limerick	London	Arr	16 Jan 1849	Agricultural produce
33	Master	Albion	Liverpool	Dalhousie, Canada	Dep	26 Apr 1849	Manu. Goods, Crockery	Mate: William Scarrow, arr Johns 7 Jun 1849
33	Master	Albion	Newfoundland, Canada	Carlisle	Arr	4 Sep 1849	Wool, Cotton, Manu. Gds, Steel
33	Master	Albion	Harrington	Dublin	Dep	3 Oct 1849	Coal	Coasting Trade, Reg Ticket 40424
34	Master	Albion	Dublin	Whitehaven	Arr	8 Jan 1850	Textiles
35	Master	Albion	London	St. Vincent	Dep	10 Mar 1851	Manu. Goods	arr. St. Vincent 9 May 1851
35	Master	Albion	St. Vincent	London	Arr	30 Jul 1851	Sugar, Rum, Molasses
35	Master	Albion	London	Rio de Janeiro	Dep	1 Sep 1851	Manu. Goods	John Menzies (Cook) drowned 7 Nov 1851
36	Master	Albion	Barbados	London	Arr	26 May1852	Sugar, Rum, Molasses	arr. Rio Jan 16 1852, Arr Barbados 24 Feb 1852
36	Master	Albion	London	Berbice	Dep	17 Jun 1852	Manu. Goods	via Shields, both outward and return
36	Master	Albion	Berbice	London	Arr	12 Dec 1852	Sugar, Rum, Coffee
37	Master	Albion	London	St. Vincent	Dep	10 Feb 1853	Manu. Goods	arr. St. Vincent 16 Mar 1853
37	Master	Albion	St. Vincent	London	Arr	20 Jun 1853	Sugar, Rum, Molasses
37	Master	Albion	Liverpool	Cape Verde	Dep	17 Jul 1853	Manu. Goods	arr. Cape Verde 30 Aug 1853
38	Master	Albion	Buenos Aries	Plymouth	Arr	8 May 1854	Wool	arr. B.A. 24 Jan 1854. William Robertson deserted
38	Master	Albion	Plymouth	Quebec	Dep	20 May 1854	Wool, Cotton, Manu. Gds, Steel
38	Master	Albion	Quebec	Whitehaven	Arr	11 Oct 1854	Timber
39	Master	Albion	Cardiff	Antigua	Dep	5 Mar 1855	Manu. Goods	dep. Antigua 30 Jul. (Lloyds Aug 16 col 17; Sep 18 col 23)
39	Master	Albion	Antigua	Liverpool	Arr	20 Sep 1855	Sugar, Indigo, Cotton, Ginger, Cocoa, Pimento
39	Master	Albion	Liverpool	Trinidad	Dep	27 Nov 1855	Manu. Goods, Crockery
39	Master	Albion	Trinidad	London	Arr	6 Apr 1856	Sugar, Rum, Molasses
40	Master	Albion	Poplar	Demerara	Dep	20 May 1856	Manu. Goods	via Gravesend
40	Master	Albion	Demerara	Workington	Arr	31 Oct 1856	Sugar, Rum, Coffee
41	Master	Albion	Workington	Demerara	Dep	20 Mar 1857	Manu. Goods, Iron, Linen	Crew member disembarked at Demerara
41	Master	Albion	Demerara	Workington	Arr	3 Sep 1857	Sugar, Rum, Coffee
41	Master	Albion	Workington	Demerara	Dep	12 Oct 1857	Manu. Goods, Iron, Linen	Mate: William Scarrow
42	Master	Albion	Essequibo	Workington	Arr	29 Mar 1858	Sugar, Rum, Coffee
42	Master	Albion	Liverpool	Demerara	Dep	26 Jun 1858	Manu. Goods, Crockery	Mate: William Scarrow
42	Master	Albion	Demerara	Liverpool	Arr	8 Dec 1858	Sugar, Rum, Coffee
43	Master	Albion	Liverpool	Demerara	Dep	21 Mar 1859	Manu. Goods, Crockery
43	Master	Albion	Demerara	Liverpool	Arr	1 Sep 1859	Sugar, Rum, Coffee
44	Master	Albion	Workington	Demerara	Dep	8 Mar 1860	Manu. Goods, Iron, Linen
44	Master	Albion	Demerara	Workington	Arr	20 Jul 1860	Sugar, Rum, Coffee
44	Master	Albion	Workington	Demerara	Dep	21 Aug 1860	Manu. Goods, Iron, Linen	arr. Demerara 12 Oct 1860. dep Demerara 27 Nov 1860
44	Master	Albion	Demerara	Workington	Arr	28 Jan 1861	Sugar, Rum, Coffee
45	Master	Albion	Workington	Demerara	Dep	30 Mar 1861	Manu. Goods, Iron, Linen	arr. Demerara 20 May 1861. dep Demerara 13 Jul 1861
45	Master	Albion	Demerara	Workington	Arr	7 Sep 1861	Sugar, Rum, Coffee
46	Master	Teesdale	London	China	Dep	23 Apr 1862	Manu. Goods	Barque 344 tons. Built at Stockton. Mahogany and Oak
46	Master	Teesdale	Colombo	London	Arr	3 Mar 1863	Coffee
47	Master	Teesdale	London	Penang	Dep	15 May 1863	Manu. Goods	Joseph died due to effects of drink 200nm W Liberia, after 1 month illness on 27 June 1863. Ship arr. Penang 6 Nov 1863
47	Master	Teesdale	Penang	Scilly	Arr	15 Apr 1864	Tin, Rubber, Copra

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