Hello Rusty
After combing through messages on the net from family historians I
have managed to assemble some information about "The Lady of the Lake"
which sailed between Britain and South Africa in the 1850s. As you
probably know, part of the work is in eliminating other ships with the
same name and following up leads which come to nothing; but I hope I
have found enough to be of interest, and also pointed you towards
contacts who might possibly know more.
That 1859 voyage to Port Elizabeth started from Aberdeen in Scotland.
For a few years before that the ship also sailed between English ports
and South Africa, making two or three trips a year.
The "Lady of the Lake" was registered in London and sailed between
Britain and South Africa in the 1850s. It was a barque, with the
rigging "sheathed in felt and yellow metal" and "partly fastened with
iron bolts". Its tonnage was "337 tons using old measurements and 329
tons using new measurements". It had been built in Chittagong (now in
Bangladesh) in 1820 and lengthened in 1848. It was owned by Stainbank,
and in 1854 it was captained by R.Scott.
Frustratingly, I can find no other reference to the Stainbank owner or
owners, nor any other ship owned by them. I was interested to find
that Stainbank was the name of a prominent family in Natal from at
least 1900. One Stainbank was first speaker of the Natal Parliament,
while another bequeathed land for a nature reserve.
There's one more possible reference to your "Lady of the Lake". There
was a 340/350 ton barque whose master was named Scott sailing to
Australia in 1850. Might it have been the same vessel?
Here are the details and links.
1859 (& 1854) SAILING FROM SCOTLAND TO SOUTH AFRICA
===================================================
Message from someone whose ancestors came from Scotland and arrived in
South Africa in May 1859:
"I noticed mention of [your] family arriving in South Africa on the
Lady of the Lake in 1855. I have family who arrived in May
1859 aboard that ship. Would you know of a passenger list or perhaps
the shipping company which might still hold records of the family
address in
Scotland prior to there departure in 1859."
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/SOUTH-AFRICA/2000-09/0969506005
Message from someone about "Lady of the Lake" sailing from Aberdeen:
"The Lady of the Lake out of Aberdeen.........Does anyone know who
owned and/or run the above ship in the 1850's particularly 1859 when
it sailed to Port Elizabeth SA."
http://www.oulton.org/cwa/newsships.nsf/47c450f76b88bcb1852565660012986f/bb3970ec2ddd4bee85256963003377f1!OpenDocument
Genealogical information on a family with roots in Aberdeenshire:
One member is " Presumed to have arrived in Durban, Natal during
December 1854 aboard The Lady of the Lake."
(scroll down page to number 9)
http://www.kittybrewster.com/m_1.htm
1850s SAILINGS FROM BRITAIN TO SOUTH AFRICA
===========================================
Message about ancestors arriving in South Africa from London in 1855
on "Lady of the Lake":
"10-1855 He arrived with wife and child on the 'Lady of the
Lake'....They sailed from London and were steerage passengers."
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/SOUTH-AFRICA/2000-09/0969378533
Message about ancestors going from London to Natal:
"I am working on [relatives] who emigrated to South Africa during 1856
....
I recently found a passenger list who might refer to them. Now I am
interested whether any info is available about ships during that time.
It seems as if they departed from London on 27 May 1856 on the "Lady
of
the Lake" They arrived at Port Natal on 22 August 1856 as steerage
passengers and came as missionaries.
Will it be possible to find descriptions/photos/drawings or whatever
about this ship? She sailed about 2-3 times per year to South Africa."
http://www.oulton.org/cwa/newsships.nsf/47c450f76b88bcb1852565660012986f/eb6c8474cf4d763d852568f500462e78!OpenDocument
LLoyd's Register entries for "Lady of the Lake"
===============================================
The LLoyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping shows this entry
for 1853/4:
LADY OF THE LAKE - 1853/1854
Master: Captain R. Scott
Rigging: Barque; sheathed in felt and yellow metal in 1853; partly
fastened with iron bolts
Tonnage: 337 tons using old measurements and 329 tons using old
measurements
Construction: 1820 in Chittagong; vessel lengthened in 1848
Owners: Stainbank
Port of registry: London
Port of survey: London
Voyage: sailed for Natal
LLoyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping
http://www.webruler.com/gprovost/ShipsL.htm
Sinilar information here:
"In the 1856 Lloyd's Register, there is no destination listed.
However, in the previous years, the vessel did sail for Natal. Here
are the details for 1856:
LADY OF THE LAKE
Master: none listed
Rigging: Bark; sheathed in felt and yellow metal in 1853; partly
fastened
with iron bolts
Tonnage: 337 tons using old measurements and 329 tons using new
measurements
Construction: 1820 in Chtg'g (anyone can decipher this one?);
vessel lengthened in 1848
Owners: Stainbank
Port of registry: London
Port of survey: London
Voyage: none listed
In 1854, the Captain was R. Scott and the vessel sailed for Natal."
message from The Ship's List archives
http://www.oulton.org/cwa/newsships.nsf/47c450f76b88bcb1852565660012986f/52d918f4305f91fb852568f70068b4bf!OpenDocument
OTHER REFERENCES
================
"Lady of the Lake" barque of right size with a Captain Scott as
master:
http://www.blaxland.com/ozships/passlist/L/1/1.htm
"Mr Stainbank, a member of a prominent Natal family"
http://www.rapidttp.co.za/milhist/vol081kg.html
Stainbanks in Natal
://www.google.co.uk/search?q=stainbank+natal+OR+%22south+africa%22++-mears++&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=20&sa=N
As I said earlier, the information I've found mostly comes from family
historians who are researching this ship and/or ancestors who
immigrated to South Africa. Your best bet for finding more may be to
sign up for the same message boards and try to contact the people who
have similar interests to yours. You'll find email addresses when you
click on the links to the messages included in this answer.
After various dead ends, these two sites proved useful:
THE SHIP'S LIST
===============
The Ship's List: Email Discussion List & Mail Archives
http://www.oulton.org/cwa/newsships.nsf
I obtained 33 search results for "Lady of the Lake", although of
course they were not all about the right ship. To view the same
messages go to the link immediately above and -
1 click on 'view the mail archives'
2 click on 'search TheShip'sList'(top right)
3 enter "Lady of the Lake" in the search box
ROOTSWEB
========
RootsWeb.com also had a couple of leads:
http://rootsweb.com/
You can search their site using Google:
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=+site:archiver.rootsweb.com+rootsweb+%22lady+of+the+lake%22+%22south+africa%22+OR+%22port+elizabeth%22
You can make use of their South Africa mailing lists:
http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/ZAF/
Or their South Africa message board:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=localities.africa.southafrica
Once I had information from the two sites above, I tried some Google
searches with the name of the ship, bark, barque, relevant place names
and Scott and Stainbank too.
I hope this information is helpful. Thank-you for an interesting
research project which I enjoyed, although I would have liked to find
even more detail. Please let me know if any links malfunction or if I
can assist you further in any way.
Good luck!
Leli |
