Family connections

Stories of the boats, and crews who sailed them, are gathered from many sources. These include port records, paperwork for the tugs used to beach the boats and the personal reminiscences of people who worked on the river. Whole families were often involved in shipping, and many of their descendants still live in the area. One such was the Nurse family. Jim Nurse is one of the Friends of Purton and was able to provide first-hand information. “The Nurses had shipping connections for generations, and were typical boat owners,” says Paul. “Usually, an owner’s son would be given a seven-year apprenticeship on a vessel, then, if he came through, his father would buy him his own boat. The family’s house would be extended to accommodate a married son’s new family, and you can still see many of these houses today. The son would carry the business, with wives often taking over if their husband died.” Sadly, this was not unusual. “George Nurse was captain of the brigantine the Guide, but was lost off the coast of Anglesey in 1883. He was swept overboard in bad weather when he was trying to calculate their position against South Stack lighthouse. There are many such tales of tragedy and hardship.” The Guide, later the Shamrock, and another Nurse family ship, the schooner Island Maid, later the Orby, lie in the ships’ graveyard. Built in 1854 and 1863 respectively, in their early days they mostly operated to and from the Mediterranean. Their role then changed to transport either fruit or cattle between Corunna in Spain and the south coast of England. In both cases, speed was of the essence, and the Guide and Island Maid lost out with the arrival of the new steam ships. They were brought to the South West, ending their days as barges on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. The Guide was beached in 1950 and the Island Maid circa 1945.