Posts Tagged ‘peru’

16
Feb

Research of the ship and the quilt

Print This Post Print This Post Email This Post Email This Post

Tim,

I thought that, after our family get-together last year at Vera’s and our conversation regarding the family journal “Round the Horn – 1867″, written by Prudence Strible Hill (wife of Captain George Strible Hill) that you might be interested in the fact that our daughter Dana (living now in Manzanillo Mexico) has started to develop a web site on the journal.

You can view the first part of the journal (the first 1/2 is now complete) at www.roundthehorn1867.com

We will be adding features (that we have researched back in 1996 and 1997, since Gordon and Vera brought the journal back from England in the mid 90’s) to the account, as time goes on, including:

Specifications and a complete published description of the the Ship “The Orient”, just after it was launched.

Where it was built and the name of the shipyard; A picture of the builder;

A picture of the owner of the ship at the time Captain Strible Hill was running the ship;

A picture of the flag that the Orient flew.

A picture of a sister ship to the Orient (we are still trying to get a picture of the “Orient”);

An account of various sailings of the Orient under Captain Strible Hill to England from New york including sailing dates;

Total sailing times and cargo aboard, and comparisons of sailing times against other three-masted packet ships of that period;

We have an advertisment (from the 1800s) that details the features of guano (bird excretment) that the Orient loaded in Peru on the final voyage (back around the Horn eastbound) to Holland, where the journal ends;

A published account of where and when the Orient was destroyed and sank in the Gulf of Mexico and references to the fact that several (tug boat) deckhands died trying, unsucessfully, to get a line on the ship to save it from going aground.

A copy of a newspaper (from California) that details the exact date that Prudence refers to in her journal on the day that they arrived in San Fransisco (from New York) and the exact date of departure from San Fransisco for Peru. This (ship arrivals and departures section of the newspaper) article legitimizes the journal.

We also have an article that (in handwritten form) shows a reference to Captain Strible Hill as a member of a an exclusive Mariners’ Club in New York and refers also to his club registration number.

We have the date of death of both the Captain and Prudence along with the location of the cemetery (for the Captain) in New York.

I am attempting to get a hold of a picture of the quilt that Prudence (we have seen picture years ago , before Gordon died) made during the voyage. She refers to working on the quilt several times, in the journal. We understand from Vera (called her last night-she had the flu, unfortunately) that Kay Robinson (in a rest home in Salmon Arm) has this quilt and we are hoping to get a picture of the quilt from someone in the Robinson family that can possibly recall having seen the quilt. This (the quilt) will become a living piece of the historical account.

Vera (tonight, and feeling much better) has given me a phone number for Betty Robinson in Denver, Colorado, so I have left a message and I am hoping to hear back from her to see if she could possibly arrange to get a picture from Kay and of course ensure that the quilt is kept in the family and not given away to someone that does not appreciate the significance of this piece of history.

Perhaps you could pass this journal web site connection to Pat and Paul. I will gladly answer any questions you and the other family members might have, Tim.

Regards

Hugh Parkinson to Dana Parkinson and Tim Becklake

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

12
Feb

Documents

Print This Post Print This Post Email This Post Email This Post

I have a stack of approx 2″ of background information including:

Picture of, and a bio on, the Orient’s builder, George Raynes.

A list of the ships that Raynes built, including the Orient.

Pictures of similar-sized, three-masted, packet ships (no picture so far of the Orient).

Picture of the George Raynes’ ship yard in Portsmouth, with a packet ship hull (no masts) on the weighs.

Article from the San Francisco newspaper (Mom and I retrieved from the archives in Sacramento Cal.) that details the arrival date in San Francisco of several ships on a particular day (including the Orient) that matches and authenticates the Prudence journal (including reference to the Captain) and the departure date for Calleo (Peru) to pick up the load of Guano.

Sketches of typical rigging (mast sizes, sail sizes, etc.) of typical packet ships of that era) with incredible detail.

A two-page (written at the time of launch of the Orient in very flowery language of the period ) very detailed description of the Orient. Likely enough detail to have a model built.

Several pages describing typical packet ships (of which Orient was one) crossing dates (arrival; departure, tonnages); name of the Captain (Hill); comparisons of the fastest and the slowest crossings from New York to England.

An account of the fact that the packet ships were also used to transport new immigrants to America including the range of the number of passengers.

Excerpt from the Society of Marine Captains (Hill was a member in New York) that describes George Strible Hill and his Mariner’s Certification number and his involvement in the society, all hand written by a recording secretary.

Date of birth and death (where he is buried in a New York cemetery c/w address of Cemetery ) of Captain Hill and the date of death of Prudence.

If in New York, it would be rather interesting to go to his grave and take a picture. It would be

interesting also to drop into Portsmouth to see what we could find on the location (street address

mentioned in article) of the George Raynes shipyard and dig a little deeper into trying to find a picture of the Orient.

A picture of the owner of the Orient during its Packet ship period.

A picture of the company flag that Orient flew.

An early advertisement in a trade journal that highlights the features and benefits of guano (bird crap) as a fertilizer. That was the load (guano) that the Orient picked up in Calleo, Peru to transport back to Holland where the journal ends.

An account of the amount of money that the Orient received for hauling a particular cargo to England from New York ($50,000.00).

An account of the fact that Capt. Hill was of such stature (in the shipping business) that he was allowed to take his wife (Prudence) with him on the crossings.

An account of the Orient running aground off the coast of France (due to the “stupidity” of the French pilot). and the fact the Capt. Hill was able to patch the broken hull back together enough to get the damaged packet ship hauled (by tugs) back to England for repair and that they were able to put the ship back on the run to New York.

A full account of the final months, weeks and down to the day (including the date and time) that the Orient was destroyed in a storm in the Gulf of Mexico off New Orleans. Tragically, five people were lost at sea trying to save the ship (which, by that time in its long service was chopped down (sails and cabins removed) to serve as a towed coal barge).

I would say we have enough material to flesh out a rather interesting, online, book. It will take some time to put all the articles together since some of them have started to fade (done in 96-97) and may have to be recopied at the libraries that I sourced the material from.

Regards

Dad
Hugh Parkinson to Dana Parkinson and Gail Parkinson

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Back to top
Page 1 of 11