William was born in February 1820 in Harrington to Thomas Scarrow, shipwright and Mary. William had two older brothers, John and Joseph, and an older sister Jane. William Scarrow is my direct ancestor - my great great grandfather.

In 1834 at the age of 14, three years after his brother Joseph, William started as an apprentice on the brig Elizabeth, sailing on numerous voyages between Whitehaven and either Dublin or North America. By 1840, he had become a regular seaman, and in 1841 joined his brother Joseph as mate on the snow, Blucher.

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 and mates, rather than sit exams, a certificate could be obtained by showing experience relevant to the position applied for. With regard to William, he obtained a Mate's Certificate of Service based on his experience, but later obtained a Master's Certificate of Competency, for which he would have had to have sat exams.

Above is shown the claim form William was required to submit to receive his Mate's Certificate of Service. Below is shown the certifcate itself.

Between 1841 and 1849, William and Joseph undertook many voyages together, mainly to the Caribbean. A round trip to Demerara, which was the most frequented of the Caribbean destinations, would take between 5 and 6 months. During this period, William also undertook a single voyage on the ship John Moore, to Bombay. A full list of William's voyages is shown in the table at the end of the page.

Between 1850 and 1856, William was employed as mate on several vessels, namely Jessie, Nicholson, Quebec Packet and Lady Gordon. His first voyage as master was made in 1856 on the brig Minerva, transferring coal between Whitehaven and Dublin. The following year, on 17 March 1857, William married Ann Hopkins in Harrington.

The image below is of the barque Lady Gordon, on which William sailed as mate in 1856 to Quebec

Having undertaken at least 14 return trips to Dublin on Minerva over a two year period, William then went back to sail with Joseph on two trips to Demerara in 1858 and 1859. After these two trips, in 1859, the first of William's children, Thomas was born in Workington.

William had a further three children, a daughter Mary born 1863 in Liverpool, a second daughter Jane born in Workington in 1865 and a second son Joseph born in Workington in 1868.

The period 1860 to 1870 marked only sporadic merchant navy work for William, with records of occasional voyages found in 1864, 1865, 1867 and 1868. In this period, William again worked as both master and mate, but went to a variety of destinations including Mataro, Bordeaux, Archangelsk and Quebec. No records of any voyages beyond 1868, by which time William was 48, have been found. However, in the 1871 census, William was still giving his occupation as a sailor.

William died in Workington on the 22nd March 1878 at the age of 58. A year later, Ann married George Pickering, and the family all moved to Cleveland.

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.