Crew – and pups – safe

The recent news story concerning farmer’s wife Jane Whyte and her courageous rescue in October 1884 of the captain and crew of the Dundee-owned and registered steamer William Hope caught the attention of Montrose Port Authority honorary archivist John Aitken.

“One of the first published reports of the William Hope’s demise appeared on the same day as the recorded loss of the Lily, said to be the last of the Baltic brigs built and owned in Montrose,” he says. “It was on a passage from Killybegs, in Ireland, where she had discharged a cargo of Canadian timber, to Aberdeen when a gale blew up while passing through the Sound of Harris.

“Fortunately, all her crew plus two Newfoundland pups were saved. Presumably the pups had been acquired as watchdogs during her time trading on the Canadian coast.

“The Lily’s wooden figurehead was salvaged and resided in a local hotel at nearby Rodel until put up for auction in Edinburgh several years ago. As a result, this hand-carved, full-size female figure has now disappeared from public view.

“The William Hope was less than two years old when she was driven up the beach at Aberdour Bay a few miles west of Rosehearty, near Fraserburgh. She had been built by Hawthorn & Co. at Leith in 1882.

“Her initial cost was given as £2,400, with the original owner being J. W. Hope also of the Forth port. She was then sold on to Alfred Gordon Primerose (sic) of Dundee and captained by George Golder.

“Being in ballast from Fraserburgh to Burghead she was pushed well up the beach. Should the weather have stayed moderate there was apparently a good chance of her being towed off.

“However a strong gale blew up and she was considered a constructive total loss soon after. In early December it was reported that James Mitchell of the Montrose Foundry Co. had purchased the boiler and engine for £265.

“Coincidentally my great grandfather, also John Aitken, was a 27-year-old merchant seaman belonging to Leith when the William Hope was completed there in 1882.”