{"id":4987,"date":"2022-03-15T12:49:22","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T12:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kildare.ie\/ehistory\/?p=4987"},"modified":"2025-10-29T12:25:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:25:52","slug":"the-lady-nelson-shipwrecked-14-october-1849-an-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/the-lady-nelson-shipwrecked-14-october-1849-an-update\/","title":{"rendered":"THE LADY NELSON. SHIPWRECKED 14 OCTOBER 1849. AN UPDATE"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lady Nelson – Shipwrecked 14 October\u00a0 1809 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

An Update<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Robinson, M.Phil.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2012, I published a paper on the loss of the Lady Nelson.\u00a0 In the intervening years, further information on this ship has come to light, which has prompted me to update my original publication.<\/p>\n

There are approximately 900 shipwrecks off the Kerry coast.\u00a0 On Christmas Day 2020, a two-hour programme on some of these wreckages, which included the Lady Nelson, was broadcast on Radio Kerry.<\/p>\n

This, then, is an update on my original paper.<\/p>\n

On October 14 1809, the Lady Nelson, Captain Bernard Wade, was shipwrecked on a voyage from Oporto to Liverpool, off the Skelligs, Co. Kerry.\u00a0 The 200 tonne vessel contained a cargo of wine and fruit.\u00a0 25 souls perished in the disaster.<\/p>\n

The Freeman\u2019s Journal<\/em> of October 25 1809 reported the tragedy thus:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A further report in the same newspaper of the following day gave additional details of the shipwreck:<\/p>\n

Several casks of wine have within the last week been thrown ashore and picked up by boats on the western coast of the county Kerry \u2013 a part of the wreck of a vessel was also discovered by a boat of Mr. Rice\u2019s, and brought to Dingle; on which were found the captain, his wife and child, and maid-servant, quite dead, and two men, part of the crew, nearly in the same state; the latter, however, by proper care and attention, are now perfectly restored.\u00a0 From these men (one of whom is a Swede and the other an Italian) it has been learned, that the vessel was the Lady Nelson of Dublin, Captain Wade, from Oporto to Liverpool, dashed to pieces on Saturday 14th inst. on the Lecon Rocks, between the Skellix and the Main Land, and that her crew consisted of 22 sailors, one man, two women, and a child, passengers, all of whom perished except themselves, who were four days and nights exposed to hunger in the wreck before they were taken up.\u00a0 The cargo of the Lady Nelson consisted of 450 pipes of port wine, 12 of which were driven on shore at Valentia and secured by Mr. Berill, Surveyor of the Port.<\/em><\/p>\n

This report differs from the first in that it listed two women as passengers instead of three.\u00a0 The gentleman passenger referred to in the report of October 25 was identified by the following report in the Examiner of London<\/em>, dated October 24 1809, \u2018Lord St. Asaph it is said has received confirmation of the loss of the Lady Nelson of Liverpool.\u00a0 All on board perished including his Lordship\u2019s son \u2013 an officer of the Coldstream Guards\u2019.<\/p>\n

This victim was Ensign the Hon. John Ashburnham, (born June 3 1789) whose family seat was Ashburnham Palace Sussex in England.\u00a0 I surmise that this young man had served in the British Army, in the Napoleonic Wars and that he perished while returning home from Portugal.\u00a0 He was the fourth child of George, 3rd Earl of Ashburnham (styled Viscount St. Asaph from birth) and his first wife Thynn, daughter of 3rd Viscount Weymouth.\u00a0 Unfortunately for him, George Ashburnham chose to return home on the Lady Nelson.\u00a0 He was 20 years of age.<\/p>\n

Lloyds Marine Register<\/em> dated October 29 1809, referred to the tragedy with the following entry: \u2018The Lady Nelson, Wade from Oporto to Liverpool, was totally lost near the Skelligs coast of Ireland 14th inst.\u00a0 Only 2 of the crew saved.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n

The Public Ledger<\/em> and Daily Advertiser<\/em> issue of 12th\u00a0September 1809 contained the following short notice.<\/p>\n

Arrived<\/strong><\/p>\n

At Oporto, The Lady Nelson, Wade<\/strong><\/p>\n

This notice announced the arrival of the Lady Nelson in Oporto prior to picking up its cargo of wine and fruit, in advance of its final fateful voyage.<\/p>\n

Another maritime website referred to the Lady Nelson as a full Rigger, 201 tonnes.\u00a0 It listed its cargo as wine, fruit and guns.\u00a0 The latter were 6 x 6 pounder and 4 x 12 pounder carronades.\u00a0 The full Rigger is a sailing vessel with three or more masts \u2013 all of them square rigged.\u00a0 The carronade was a short smooth bore iron cannon which was developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an iron works in Falkirk, Scotland.\u00a0 Used from the 1770s to 1850s, this cannon\u2019s main function was to serve as a powerful, short range, anti-ship and anti-crew weapon.\u00a0 It was also used in the American Civil War in the 1860s.<\/p>\n

This was not the first venture by The Lady Nelson to the Kerry coast.\u00a0 In January 1808, the year prior to its fatal final passage, this ship undertook a similar voyage.\u00a0 The Saunders Newsletter<\/em> issue of 26th January 1808 reported that:<\/p>\n

The brig Lady Nelson, Master Bernard Wade, from Oporto, with a cargo of wine & cc arrived at Limerick on Thursday last; on the preceding Saturday, when off the Blaskets, she was hailed by a large armed schooner, full of men, supposed to be a French privateer, who fired two shots at the Lady Nelson.\u00a0 But the latter having eight carriage guns, returned a full broadside, with full effect and that she had the pleasure of seeing the privateer run onshore.<\/p>\n

This venture, together with its final voyage, also from Oporto to Liverpool, suggests that this was an annual trade route for the Lady Nelson.\u00a0 The intrepid nature of merchant sea travel in this era is well illustrated by this newspaper report.\u00a0 The good fortune to evade capture and destruction on this occasion was not replicated in the following year, 1809, when, on the same voyage, The Lady Nelson met her doom.<\/p>\n

Samuel Kelly, in his book, referenced later in this paper, told of one Thomas Williams.<\/p>\n

In March 1804, he, a mere boy, was captured by a French privateer.\u00a0 In May 1814, he was released, having spent ten years in various jails and marched over 3,000 miles in chains \u2013 10 years of dungeons, rags and semi-starvation.<\/p>\n

It was a risk that all merchant seamen in this era faced.\u00a0 Probably, not for the first time, The Lady Nelson had a lucky escape.<\/p>\n

Earliest mention of the Lady Nelson in the Lloyd Registers is found for 1802.\u00a0 The ship (net tonnage 200 tonnes) was listed as being owned by Scott and Co. and the captain was named as D. Beck.\u00a0 Its trade route was given as plying between Greenock (Scotland) and Newfoundland (Canada).\u00a0 This report also stated that the ship had been captured as a prize.\u00a0 The Act of Union treaty of 1707 effected the union of Scotland and England under the name of Great Britain.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Subsequent to this, Greenock became the main port on the west coast of Scotland.\u00a0 It prospered due to trade with the Americas, importing sugar from the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

In 1803, the Lady Nelson was listed with the same ownership as the previous year and with R. McAlister succeeding D. Beck as captain of the ship.\u00a0 The following year, 1804, the ship plied between Greenock and Lisbon (Portugal).\u00a0 For 1805, the Register detailed Crawford and Co. as the new owners with McAlister still named as captain.\u00a0 However, this year\u2019s entry stated that the ship had ten guns and that it journeyed between Greenock and Newfoundland.\u00a0\u00a0 For 1806, the Lady Nelson was captained by B. Wade and ownership passed to Shaw & Co.\u00a0 Based in Greenock, the vessel plied between Dublin and Oporto.\u00a0 For this year alone, the vessel is listed as a privateer.\u00a0 This type of vessel was an armed ship which was privately owned and manned.\u00a0 It was commissioned by governments to attack and capture enemy boats.\u00a0 This ship\u2019s details remained unchanged for 1807.\u00a0 For 1808, the registers show unchanged ownership and captaincy with its trade routes being Dublin to Oporto and London to Brazil.\u00a0 For the fateful year of 1809, the Lady Nelson was listed as having undergone a thorough repair with the vessel being sheathed with copper over boards.\u00a0 As in the previous year, there was no change in ownership or captaincy.\u00a0 Its trade routes were again given as Dublin to Oporto and London to Brazil.<\/p>\n

This latter trade route suggests that it was part of the Slave Trade Triangle.\u00a0 The transatlantic slave trade took place between the continents of Europe, Africa and America from 17th to 19th Century.\u00a0 It was so-called as it comprised three different voyages which formed a triangular trade pattern.<\/p>\n

Firstly from Europe to Africa, European slave-traders, including the British, bought enslaved Africans, which they exchanged for goods.\u00a0 These goods, such as cloth, guns, tools and alcohol, were shipped from European ports including London, Bristol and Liverpool.<\/p>\n

The second leg of the slave trade was called the Middle Passage and involved the shipment of slaves from Africa to the Americas. Those who survived the brutal journey were sold as slaves to work on plantations.<\/p>\n

The third part of the triangle involved the return from the Americas to Europe of plantation goods.\u00a0 These products included coffee, tobacco, rice and later cotton, which were brought to European ports, including Liverpool.<\/p>\n

Evidence of The Lady Nelson\u2019s trade route is shown by this advertisement in the Public Ledge<\/em>r \u2013 Daily Advertiser<\/em> of London, issue of 1st July 1808.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Transcription:<\/p>\n

Has Half of Her Cargo Engaged,<\/em><\/p>\n

With Liberty to touch at Madeira, to be dispatched immediately, with or without Convoy, direct to RIO JANEIRO.\u00a0 The new Coppered fast sailing ship LADY NELSON, A.1, Bernard Wade Commander; coppered and armed with ten carriage guns.\u00a0 Lying at Iron.Gate, Burthen 200 tonnes.\u00a0 For Freight or Passage, apply to<\/em><\/p>\n

RICHARD COOKES and JACKSON, Water-Lane, opposite the Custom House; Will\u2019s Coffee-house, Cornhill; and in Exchange Hours on the Portugal, Spanish and Italian walks.<\/em><\/p>\n

This advertisement requesting cargo and\/or passengers showed a trade route to Brazil via a Madeira-stopover from London.\u00a0 The Madeira Islands are situated some 450kms. North of the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa.<\/p>\n

The Lancaster Gazette<\/em> issue of 27 May 1809 showed the Lady Nelson cargo on the return trip from Brazil to probably Liverpool.<\/p>\n

Brazilia<\/em><\/p>\n

Lady Nelson, B. Wade, from Rio Janeiro with 933 bales of Tallow, 2,893 dried hides, 11,158 horns, 45 sarons cotton, two cases of sugar, 50 bags coffee, five bales nutria skins, 50 quintals rosewood, 650 pieces do, two casks \u2013 case merchantize.<\/em><\/p>\n

This advertisement informed purchasers and potential buyers of this merchandise in what turned out to be the Lady Nelson\u2019s final trade voyage from Brazil to England.\u00a0 The nutria skins included in the cargo are a reference to a large rodent whose pelts were used in clothing manufacture.\u00a0 The rosewood reference is to a hardwood used in the manufacture of high-end furniture, which the better-off classes required.<\/p>\n

The abolition of the British slave trade took place in February 1807, two years before the loss of the Lady Nelson.\u00a0 However, the slave trade continued for some years afterwards.\u00a0 It was finally abolished throughout the British Empire by an act of Parliament in 1833.\u00a0 At its peak, in 1799, it is estimated that ships from Liverpool carried over 45,000 slaves from Africa to the Americas.<\/p>\n

While researching family history some twenty years ago, the writer was shown a small table which family tradition claimed came from a ship wreck.\u00a0 Further enquiries in other family branch lines in the same North Kildare area revealed an inscription written on the flyleaf of an old book.\u00a0 It read:<\/p>\n

He was lost 14 Oct 1812<\/p>\n

Bernard Wade Robinson<\/p>\n

October 14th<\/sup> 1841 being<\/p>\n

29 years after the loss<\/p>\n

of the Lady Nelson and<\/p>\n

of Captain Bernard Wade and<\/p>\n

crew, which virry great loss<\/p>\n

happened on that day<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bernard W Robinson<\/p>\n

His namesake died on 16th May 1875<\/p>\n

May the Lord have Mercy on their Souls<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bernard Wade Robinson (1818 \u2013 1875)<\/p>\n

\u2018May the Lord have Mercy on Their Souls\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

The first line of entry was correct regarding the day and month, but wrong by three years (1809 instead of 1812) regarding the year of the tragedy.<\/p>\n

The first two parts of the inscription were written by Bernard Wade Robinson (1818 \u2013 1875) who was the nephew of Bernard Wade, Captain of the Lady Nelson.\u00a0 Bernard Wade\u2019s sister, Johanna (1772 \u2013 1863), married Garret Robinson (1773 \u2013 1849) of Kilreany, Co. Kildare.\u00a0 This marriage took place on 14th<\/sup> February 1803 in St. Mary\u2019s R.C. Church, now the Pro-Cathedral, Dublin.\u00a0 The witnesses were Margaret Gaynor and Elizabeth Daly.\u00a0 Garret was an emerging middleman\/grazier who traded his farm produce in Dublin and possibly beyond.\u00a0 I surmise he met Bernard Wade and engaged in business with him regarding the sale of alcoholic beverages.\u00a0 Subsequently, Garret married Johanna Wade and their son Bernard wrote the above inscription which showed the impact of the shipwreck on the family.<\/p>\n

The unpublished diaries of Garret Robinson record the sale of alcohol \u2013 a curious venture for a Co. Kildare farmer.<\/p>\n

Watson\u2019s Almanac lists Alexander Robinson as a merchant at 3 Fleet St. Dublin in 1789.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Also, Ralph Shaw is listed as a merchant at 9 White\u2019s Lane (now George\u2019s Lane) in 1800.\u00a0 These are probably the same people referred to in Garret Robinson\u2019s diaries.<\/p>\n

Garret Robinson descended from Daniel McRobin (1690 \u2013 1777) and his wife (n\u00e9e) Catherine Shaw (1696 \u2013 1764), his grandparents and James McRobin (1734 \u2013 1809) and his wife Ann (n\u00e9e) Shough (Shaw) (1744 \u2013 1786), his parents.\u00a0 The family surname changed from McRobin to Robinson circa 1786.\u00a0 Members of this family also lived in Dublin at this time.\u00a0 Daniel McRobin\/Robinson was a cooper and lived at 18a Thomas St. in 1789.\u00a0 Another possible kinsman was Daniel McRobin, who had a porter and chop- house on the corner of Dame St. and George\u2019s Lane (now George\u2019s St.) in 1778.\u00a0 It is noted that both were involved in the alcohol beverage industry.<\/p>\n

Other possible maritime family connections were: in 1789 Robinson and Shaw ships brokers, 4 Bagnio Slip, Dublin; in 1772 Eleanor and James Robinson, ships brokers, 4 Bagnio Slip, Dublin and in 1782, James Robinson, ship broker, 2 Bagnio Slip.\u00a0 As Garret Robinson\u2019s mother and grandmother were both named Shaw, it is possible that these families were connected.\u00a0 The Lady Nelson\u2019s owner in 1809 was also named Shaw.\u00a0 The population of Dublin at this time was only about 180,000, making the probability of kinship of people of the same name far more likely.<\/p>\n

I speculate that at some point in his business venture, Garret Robinson became involved in business with Bernard Wade, the captain of the Lady Nelson, and married his sister Johanna.<\/p>\n

The former retailed the product (wine etc.) while the latter or his agent imported the goods.\u00a0 Prior to his association with the Lady Nelson, Bernard Wade was captain of a vessel named \u201cMary\u201d, 165 tonnes, for the years 1804\/1805.\u00a0 This ship was owned by Shaw & Co. (the same owners of the Lady Nelson) and it plied between Dublin and Oporto.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Lloyd\u2019s Registers for 1802 and 1803 are missing.\u00a0 For 1801, the Mary\u2019s captain was given as Scallan and it journeyed between Liverpool and Dublin.\u00a0 In 1799 its captaincy changed from Williams to Scallan with all other details unchanged.<\/p>\n

The shipwreck of the Lady Nelson off the Kerry coast with a cargo of wine and fruit begs the question, was business (legal or otherwise) being conducted with Maurice \u2018Hunting Cap\u2019 O\u2019Connell (1728 \u2013 1825)?\u00a0 Maurice was the uncle of the Irish patriot, Daniel O\u2019Connell (1775 \u2013 1847), who was also known as the Liberator, due to his achievement of Catholic Emancipation in Ireland in 1829. \u00a0Maurice controlled vast estates in Co. Kerry and had grown rich from smuggling.\u00a0 He amassed great fortune and achieved power and influence through his business activities.\u00a0 When charged with smuggling by Revenue Officer Whitwell Butler in 1782, O\u2019Connell was able to ensure that the case was tried in Kerry.\u00a0 Not surprisingly, he was acquitted by a jury most probably composed of his own customers and associates.\u00a0 In a land lease to one of his tenants in 1793, Maurice O\u2019Connell included the provision that \u2018\u00bd of all wrecks, lagans and salvages on said lands (in this case Ballinskelligs) to go to Thomas Segerson (his agent) provided the latter or his reps. assist in procuring and performing salvage<\/em>\u2019.\u00a0 In 1805, regarding correspondence with his uncle and benefactor, Daniel O\u2019Connell noted, \u2018A windfall of 40 barrels of brandy washed up from a wreck, on which the \u2018old gentleman\u2019 cleared \u00a31,000\u2026but not a word about that<\/em>\u2019.\u00a0 Daniel O\u2019Connell inherited these estates on the death of his uncle in 1825.<\/p>\n

The English county of Dorset has similarities to Kerry.\u00a0 Both are far from the control of central government and both had subsequently weak compliance with government laws in this era.\u00a0 Both are also maritime counties.\u00a0 Smuggling has long been important in Dorset and was tacitly approved of by most people, even the gentry.\u00a0 Thomas Hardy, the noted poet and novelist, wrote extensively of the struggles and striving of rural life in his native Dorset.\u00a0 It is said that Hardy\u2019s grandfather had stored up to eighty tubs of brandy (each containing four gallons of smuggled brandy) in the cottage where Hardy was born.\u00a0 This made the whole house smell of spirits.\u00a0 Indeed, in Hardy\u2019s mother\u2019s time, an apparently very large woman would appear, asking if, \u201cany of it were wanted cheap\u201d.\u00a0 She carried smuggled spirits in bladders under her clothes.\u00a0 In Lyme, it was said that wise people stayed indoors when the phrase, \u2018a white hare or rabbit about\u2019 was used.\u00a0 It meant that a cargo of smuggled spirits had arrived and it was best not to notice.<\/p>\n

A clergyman, Rev. S.G. Osbourne, suggested in 1849 that, \u201csmuggling gave a large amount of employment to the peasantry of the county and directly and indirectly put a great deal of money in their way\u201d.\u00a0 He added that its suppression was one of the causes of the poverty of the labourer in 19th century Dorset.<\/p>\n

I believe that these sentiments resonate with Kerry inhabitants in this era also.<\/p>\n

The term \u2018pipe\u2019 refers to a worm-shaped volume of 92 gallons.\u00a0 It was designed to suit transportation of wine on the River Douro to Oporto from inland Portugal.\u00a0\u00a0 The cargo of the ill-fated Lady Nelson consisted of 450 pipes of wine.\u00a0 Garret Robinson\u2019s diaries refer to his sale of similar wine volumes.\u00a0 The diaries also contain a page reserved for family birth and death details.\u00a0 This was filled in by succeeding generations of the family.\u00a0 A single-line entry recorded the tragedy: \u2018Bernard Wade and his wife died 14th Oct 1809\u2019.<\/p>\n

There was no further alcohol sales recorded in the diaries after this date.\u00a0 Garret\u2019s terse single-line entry recorded the end of a venture which must have caused great dismay, not to mention economic setback.<\/p>\n

Garret Robinson became a substantial farmer in Co. Kildare and his will, made in 1849, contains the following, \u2018My will and desire is that my said wife (Johanna) shall continue to reside in my dwelling house during her life with the same authority and command that she had during my life<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n

This suggests that Johanna brought a substantial dowry to her marriage with Garret.<\/p>\n

The loss of not alone her brother (Bernard), but also his wife and child, must have affected her and the family greatly.\u00a0 The Christian name Bernard subsequently became common in many branches of the Robinson family and testifies to the strong family resonance of the name.<\/p>\n

Some thirty years after the loss of the Lady Nelson, Lady Chatterton recalled the saga as told by the survivors:<\/p>\n

In the winter of 18– [sic] the Lady Nelson from Oporto to London (Liverpool?) laden with wine and fruit, struck on the large Skelligs and went to pieces.\u00a0 The mate had warned the captain during the evening of his proximity to this dangerous rock; but the captain, who was drunken and jealous, (his wife having seconded the representations of the mate), refused to put the vessel about and in a couple of hours she struck.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The mate and three hands saved themselves upon a part of the wreck, which was drifting about for three days, during which time they subsisted on the oranges and other fruit which, when the ships went to pieces, covered the sea around them.\u00a0 The mate, who was an excellent swimmer, procured these oranges by plunging off the spar and bringing them to his companions.\u00a0 On the third day, one man became delirious, saying that he should go ashore to dine.\u00a0 He threw himself off the spar and sank.<\/em><\/p>\n

Shortly afterwards, the survivors were picked up by a fishing boat belonging to Dingle, which had come out looking for a wreck.\u00a0 The crew consisted of a father and his four sons, and had two pipes of wine in tow when they perceived the sufferers, finding their progress impeded by the casks and that the tide was sweeping the seamen into the breakers, where they must have been dashed to pieces, the old man nobly cut the tow line, abandoning what must have been a fortune to his family, and by great exertion picked the men up just when the delay of a second would have caused their destruction.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Lady Nelson port is still famous in Kerry and a glass of it is sometimes offered as a \u2018bon bouche\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>It is no wonder that the toast to the Lady Nelson was drunk after the tragedy, as only twelve pipes out of four hundred and fifty were recovered by customs.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>This vivid story rivals anything written by Robert Louis Stevenson.\u00a0 All the ingredients for high drama are present: sex; alcohol; jealousy; anger; dangerous seas; loss of cargo, ship and life and not least, the saving of the survivors who were nobly rescued at the expense of the salvage, thus allowing this tale to be told.<\/p>\n

Garret and Johanna Robinson are buried in Carrig cemetery near Edenderry, Co. Offaly with their son Bernard, who wrote the book inscription recalling the tragedy.\u00a0 The headstone inscription reads:<\/p>\n

Sacred<\/em><\/p>\n

To the memory of<\/em><\/p>\n

Garret Robinson Esq.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of<\/em><\/p>\n

Kilreany<\/em><\/p>\n

Who departed this life the 16th day of August<\/em><\/p>\n

1849 aged 76 years<\/em><\/p>\n

Also of his beloved wife<\/em><\/p>\n

Johanna Robinson<\/em><\/p>\n

Who departed this life on the 12th day of April<\/em><\/p>\n

1863 aged 91 years<\/em><\/p>\n

Also Bernard Wade Robinson<\/em><\/p>\n

Who Departed this life on the 16th<\/sup> day of May<\/em><\/p>\n

1875 aged 55 years<\/em><\/p>\n

It is noted that the name Wade was incorporated into the family and it continues to this day in this branch of the Robinsons.\u00a0 A query to the Guildhall Library London regarding the Lady Nelson brought the response that the vessel was built in New York in 1799.\u00a0 The owner was Hunt and her usual voyage was between London and Brazil.<\/p>\n

Family belief (so far unsubstantiated) is that Bernard Wade and his sister Johanna came from Liverpool.\u00a0 Garret Robinson\u2019s diaries contain an inscription circa 1803 which supports this belief:<\/p>\n

For Capt. Bernard Wade<\/p>\n

To the care of Mssrs Jrdan (Jordan) of Liverpool<\/p>\n

White House Merchant<\/p>\n

The inscription is surrounded by a mass of financial calculations.\u00a0 Another diary entry dated September 1806 reads, \u2018Cash lent Mrs. Eleanor Wade paid \u00a36 \u2013 16 \u2013 6\u2019.<\/p>\n

Could this have been the wife of Bernard Wade and sister in law of Garret Robinson?<\/p>\n

The fate of being shipwrecked almost befell Garret Robinson\u2019s brother, Father John Robinson (1767 \u2013 1822).\u00a0 Father John attended the Irish College Salamanca as a seminarian.\u00a0 His boat journey to Bilbao, en route to Salamanca, almost resulted in tragedy, as this letter to his father in 1787 details:<\/p>\n

I am shure there was no one breathing has ever been attended with worse luck at sea than I.\u00a0 thanks be to God I am yet living which certainly is a great miracle for we have been three times cast on shore by the impetuous tempests that continually prevail.\u00a0 The wind was so favourable at the first going off In six days after we left London we got within fifteen leagues of Bilbao but a most sudden and terrible hurricane arising we were driven in less than twenty hours to Torbay a bay of the English Channel on the coast of Devonshire where we continued about two days when a favourable breese arising we put to sea again but with no better luck than before for we no longer got Clear of the rocks which are very numerous there than a tempest arising which drove us immediately back to Ireland but to what part of I certainly cannot tell for neither the Captain nor the pilot themselves know where we were only just to guess, the wind changing we were drove to France.\u00a0 So that now I may say I have been in England, Ireland, Isle of Man, and France and the much wished for Spain.\u00a0 Now I am safely arrived In Bilbao thanks be to God in good health though in a most feeble weak and emaciated condition but I hope with God\u2019s assistance to be as strong as ever shortly for I have recovered vastly since I came onto the shore.<\/em><\/p>\n

Father John Robinson was twenty years of age when this intrepid sea journey occurred, the same age as Ensign John Ashburnham who died on the Lady Nelson.\u00a0 \u00a0The perilous nature of seafaring is evidenced by Edward Burke\u2019s assertion that there were fifteen thousand shipwrecks estimated to have occurred off the Irish coast between 932 and 1997.\u00a0 Captain Bligh of \u2018Bounty\u2019 fame who surveyed Dublin Bay in 1800 acknowledged that terrible weather conditions contributed to that total.\u00a0 He also blamed the inexperience of masters and crews in many merchant ships as well as the meanness of many ship\u2019s owners.\u00a0\u00a0 The latter refused to pay for sufficient cable for ships anchors.\u00a0 He added that chain link cables would often snap due to inferior metal used in their construction.<\/p>\n

In the case of the Lady Nelson, if Lady Chatterton is to be believed, it was marital infidelity which sealed the fate of the vessel, resulting in the loss of its cargo, including 41,400 gallons of wine. \u00a0It is curious that Captain Wade had his wife and child on board the ship on this fateful business voyage.\u00a0 Perhaps it is fair to say that, if they had not been on board, the disaster would not have happened.\u00a0 Garret Robinson\u2019s diary for 1801 valued the pipe of wine at \u00a362.\u00a0 This indicates that the wine cargo of the Lady Nelson was worth about \u00a328,000.\u00a0 This equates to a wine cargo value of about \u00a32.25 million in today\u2019s money.\u00a0 Tragically, 25 lives were lost in the disaster.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Great Skellig by Richard Brydges Beechy<\/em><\/p>\n

Probably the last scene visible to the terrified people on board the Lady Nelson on this fateful night was The Great Skellig.\u00a0 This dramatic painting, entitled, \u201cThe Great Skellig\u201d, was executed in 1883 by Richard Brydges Beechey (1808 \u2013 1895).\u00a0 Brydges Beechey was an Anglo-Irish painter and Admiral in the Royal Navy.\u00a0 Like his father and some of his brothers, he was a celebrated artist who illustrated various ports and naval scenes.<\/p>\n

Samuel Kelly was the grandson of an army surgeon who had settled in Birr, Kings County, now Offaly.\u00a0 Kelly\u2019s father was also a seaman.\u00a0 Samuel was born in June 1764 at St. Ives, Cornwall.\u00a0 In 1778, his first sea employment was on a packet bound for Madeira.\u00a0 Sea-sickness plagued him for weeks and when he landed at Madeira, the Captain permitted him to accompany him and the passengers on shore to view the town, which he found very pleasant and gratifying.<\/p>\n

Here we landed a negro boy (Marcus) who Mr. Hall had purchased on the last voyage to the West Indies for Mr. Bell, the postmaster here, as a livery servant.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1781, while in Jamaica, he witnessed two seamen flogged for desertion, a most cruel punishment, especially as the desertions are sometimes occasioned by severe and cruel treatment.<\/p>\n

The men were fixed to a kind of gallows in a boat and exposed to a tropical sun while going through their punishment.<\/em><\/p>\n

He was informed that one of the men expired on the same day.<\/p>\n

Also, in 1781, on another ship, the provisions were of infamous quality; the beef appeared coarse, the barrels of pork consisted of pigs\u2019 heads with iron rings in their nose, pigs\u2019 feet and pigs\u2019 tails with much hair thereon.\u00a0 Each man had six pound of bread and five pounds of salted meat per week but neither beer or spirits were allowed.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1783, a ship on which he was employed was much-haunted with rats.<\/p>\n

We therefore employed a rat-catcher from Portsmouth, who laid oatmeal balls containing poison in different parts of the vessel and on my going down in the afterhold two or three hours after it had been deposited, I heard a most pitiful outcry from members of these animals and killed one or two that were unable to escape from me.\u00a0 The stink from the dead in a little while was very disagreeable and I think we found some buckets full of rats amongst the cast, which we threw overboard.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1789, having been shipmaster of the JOHN<\/em>, which sailed between Liverpool and Philadelphia, Samuel Kelly saw his wages rise to five pounds per month, having been three pounds per month while he was mate on his previous ship, THETSIS.<\/em><\/p>\n

He went on to say that, during his whole time that he commanded a vessel (except his last voyage), that he never made more than 75 pounds per annum.\u00a0 He stated, \u201cThis was a miserable income for the duty, anxiety and responsibility of a shipmaster\u201d.<\/p>\n

In 1790, while in Philadelphia, Samuel Kelly attended at the door of the Senate to get a sight of the president (George Washington) on opening the Session.<\/p>\n

I placed myself on the steps of the House.\u00a0 He soon afterwards arrived in an old coach, formally belonging to Governor Penn\u2026..\u00a0 He wore black velvet with a silk bag on his hair and was so much like the picture of him that I had seen in England that I could easily have selected him from a thousand men.\u00a0 The Senate was well-crowded by the time I arrived at the top of the stairs but I got near the door to hear part of the speech and remained at the lower door when the President appeared again.\u00a0 He stood a minute on the steps to thank the police officers for their attendance and then dismissed them from further ceremony.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1792, while Kelly was in Malaga, an execution for murder occurred.\u00a0 The man was a convict in jail, where he quarreled with a fellow prisoner and killed him:<\/p>\n

I waylaid the procession in the morning, having previously viewed the gallows on the beach.\u00a0 The criminal was drawn in a hurdle by an ass on which a man rode who was to be flogged.\u00a0 The sides of the matted hurdle were supported in the hands of the magistrates or other respectable men, fully dressed in black.\u00a0 A large concourse of ecclesiastics, police officers and troops were in the parade.\u00a0 After the whole had passed, I returned to my business, not being desirous to see the execution but towards 4 o\u2019clock, my curiosity led me to the spot where I found the man hanging.\u00a0 The man was clothed in white flannel.\u00a0 Before him on the ground was a table on which a crucifix was placed, I think of silver, with lighted wax candles but whether the latter were intended to enlighted the sun or enliven the dead, I know not. \u00a0I also understood that every shopkeeper was obliged to contribute towards his dress and every carpenter towards the gallows.\u00a0 That after condemnation his cell was hung with red cloth and everything that he desired to eat or drink was provided for him; cordials were also given to him by gentlemen to the place of execution.\u00a0 This condescension was a lesson of charity and contended to promote humility.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Also in 1792, Samuel Kelly landed for the first time in Ireland, where he docked his vessel, JOHN<\/em>, in Newry.\u00a0 He went to the house of the merchant, the consignee of the cargo, where he was given a good dinner and a good bed for the night.\u00a0 After walking the town, Kelly returned to the house and reached in the pocket of his great coat for a handkerchief he had left there.\u00a0 Alas, it was gone and this assured him that there exists a thief, even in Ireland.<\/p>\n

The town of Newry swarmed with beggars and he observed those lame, or placed on a hand-barrow and laid before the next neighbour\u2019s door, who removed each person to the next house, either giving alms or not, and in this manner, the cripples were transported through the town\u2026\u00a0 The lanes and highways were often crowded with emigrants for America, which was a far-from-pleasant sight.<\/p>\n

In 1793, while in Bristol, Kelly observed a privateer, the BROTHERS, <\/em>which sent in two prizes, captured ships, but they proved what seamen termed, \u2018Flemish\u2019.\u00a0 One was a Swede, which was soon liberated.\u00a0 The other, a Dane, with a French cargo for the West Indies, remained for the decision of the Court of Admiralty, which was finally liberated – a loss to the owners of the privateer of some thousands.\u00a0 The officers of the BROTHERS<\/em> had wantonly tortured the Danish captain by means of a thumb-screw in hopes he would confess what nation owned his cargo, but they failed to obtain the desired information, leaving the owners of their ship open to the penalties of the law incurred by their bad conduct.<\/p>\n

In 1794, while in Jamaica, Kelly found himself surrounded by slave ships from Africa, \u201cThe stench from which about daylight was intolerable and the noise through the day very unpleasant\u201d.\u00a0 He therefore removed his ship to the windward and eastward of the nuisance.<\/p>\n

These extracts from Samuel Kelly\u2019s account of his first seventeen years at sea testify to an interesting and adventurous life.\u00a0 Bernard Wade left no account of his life at sea but it cannot be doubted that his maritime experiences were not dissimilar to that of Samuel Kelly.\u00a0 This was an era when England was at war with one power or another.<\/p>\n

I have been unable to determine where Bernard Wade came from.\u00a0 A perusal of Wade family pedigrees from Westmeath and Meath do not show a connection to this mariner.\u00a0 As his sister Johanna was married in Dublin, it is possible that he came from there.<\/p>\n

This episode from the Cromwellian colonisation of Ireland reveals a possible connection.<\/p>\n

It was observed that many people were slipping into the country (Ireland) with arms and Irish privateers also became active against commonwealth shipping around the coast.<\/p>\n

On 7th April 1656, Captain Henry Hatsell reported to Colonel John Clarke that his ship, the FRIENDSHIP out of Plymouth had been bound for Ireland with salt and deal timber when it had been attacked and taken off the Scilly Isles by Nicholas Hayes, an Irishman holding a commission from James, Duke of York, who put his quartermaster, Harry Wade and six other men, four being desperate Irishmen, into her with an order to carry her to St. Sebastian for condemnation.\u00a0 Wade appeared to have tired of the Royalists or have serving his captain for he sent two of his Irishmen under his command off to the nearest island in a boat on some errand and when they had gone, he ceased the other two Irishmen and had them bound.\u00a0 When the first two returned, he similarly bound them and put all four into a boat.\u00a0 He then freed Captain Hatsell and his crew.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Bernard Wade\u2019s nephew, Edward Robinson (1814 \u2013 1905) and his wife Bridget n\u00e9e Knight (1831 \u2013 1906) of Kilrainey, Kildare, had a son, Harry and this Christian name persists to this day in this family.\u00a0 A life at sea was a profession that ran in families, as in Samuel Kelly\u2019s case.\u00a0\u00a0 It is possible that Bernard Wade descended from Harry Wade, who, some 200 years prior, had taken part in the Cromwellian wars.\u00a0 The name Harry reappeared as a consequence in his descendants.\u00a0 Edward Robinson\u2019s branch of this family changed their name to Wade Robinson \u2013 a change which persists to this day.<\/p>\n

The writer is a great-great-great-grandnephew of Bernard Wade.\u00a0 Most families have Christian names which recur in successive generations.\u00a0 He chose the name Bernard as his confirmation name without knowing its significance.<\/p>\n

He does now.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Freeman\u2019s Journal, <\/em>October 25 1809<\/li>\n
  2. Freeman\u2019s Journal<\/em>, October 26 1809<\/li>\n
  3. The Examiner, <\/em>London,<\/em> December 24 1809<\/li>\n
  4. Lloyd\u2019s Register of Shipping<\/em>, www.Maritime Archives.co.uk\/Registers.Aspx<\/li>\n
  5. www.Irishshipwrecks.com<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. www.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/George_Ashburnham<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. James Robinson, The Robinsons of North Kildare<\/em>, McRobin Publications 1997<\/li>\n
  8. Will No. T16704, Garret Robinson, National Archives, Dublin<\/li>\n
  9. Lady Chatterton<\/em>, Rambles in the South of Ireland<\/em> Vol. 1<\/em>, Published by Saunders & Otley, London, 1839<\/li>\n
  10. John Watson, The Gentleman and Citizens Almanac<\/em>, National Library, Ref. Ir01541:1<\/li>\n
  11. The Dublin Evening Post<\/em>, December 15 1778<\/li>\n
  12. www.merseygateway.org<\/a><\/li>\n
  13. http:abolition.e2hn(ornn).org\/slavery<\/li>\n
  14. www.h2g2.com<\/a><\/li>\n
  15. www.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/greenock#early<\/a><\/li>\n
  16. http:\/\/britannica.com<\/a><\/li>\n
  17. Colin Sludds, The Building of Dun Laoghaire Harbour, Dublin Historical Record<\/em>, Vol. LX1V, No. 1, Spring, 2011<\/li>\n
  18. Edward Bourke, Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast 1993 \u2013 1997<\/em>, Vol. 2, ISPN 0952303711<\/li>\n
  19. The Mammoth Book of Life Before the Mast<\/em>, Edited by John E. Lewis, Robinson, London, 2001<\/li>\n
  20. Http:\/\/Derrynane.com\/Activities\/Derrynane_House<\/a><\/li>\n
  21. O\u2019Connell Estate Papers, UCDA, Reference P-12-7 & P-12-A<\/li>\n
  22. Http:\/\/Dictionary.reference.com\/Browse\/Privateer<\/a><\/li>\n
  23. EN.Wikipedia.org\/wiki\/carronade<\/li>\n
  24. www.IrishWrecksOnline.net<\/a><\/li>\n
  25. Http:\/\/Salfalra.com\/Other\/Historical-UK-Inflation<\/a><\/li>\n
  26. Charles Chenevix Trench, The Great Dan<\/em>, Triad Grafton, 1986<\/li>\n
  27. https:\/\/www.radiokerry.ie\/podcasts\/<\/a><\/li>\n
  28. Saunders Newsletter<\/em>, Tuesday 26th January 1808<\/li>\n
  29. Public Ledger\/Daily Advertiser, London, 1st July 1808<\/li>\n
  30. The Lancaster Gazette<\/em>, 27th May 1809<\/li>\n
  31. The Public Ledger \u2013 Daily Advertiser, 12th September 1809<\/li>\n
  32. R.C. Parish Registers, St. Mary\u2019s, Pro-Cathedral, Dublin, 14th\u00a0February 1803<\/li>\n
  33. The Great Skellig<\/em>, by Richard Brydges Beechy, The Maritime Museum of Ireland, Haigh Terrace, Dun Laoghaire<\/li>\n
  34. Samuel Kelly, An 18th Century Seaman<\/em>, Cornish Classics,<\/em> 2005<\/li>\n
  35. Hell or Connaught \u2013 The Cromwellian Colonisation of Ireland (1652 \u2013 1660)<\/em>, Peter Beresford Ellis, P.178<\/li>\n
  36. John Fowles, Jo Draper, Thomas Hardy\u2019s England<\/em>, Guild Publishing, London, 1984, Page 134.\u00a0 ISBN 0-224402974-6<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I wish to thank all branches of the Robinson family who helped me in my research and in particular Colleen, who has been of invaluable assistance.<\/p>\n

    My sincere thanks go to the staff of the following institutions for their unfailing assistance and courtesy:\u00a0 The Royal Irish Academy; The National Library of Ireland; The National Archive and South Dublin County Libraries, Tallaght, Dublin 24 and the National Maritime Museum of Ireland.<\/p>\n

    Finally, my thanks go to my daughter June for her commendable wordsmith skills and never ending patience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Lady Nelson – Shipwrecked 14 October\u00a0 1809 \u00a0 An Update James Robinson, M.Phil. In 2012, I published a paper on the loss of the Lady Nelson.\u00a0 In the intervening years, further information on this ship has come to light, which has prompted me to update my original publication. There are approximately 900 shipwrecks off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-history"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Kildare Local Studies","author_link":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/author\/localstudies\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8029,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4987\/revisions\/8029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kildarelibraries.ie\/ehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}