Info needed on ship Brecknels/Bricknells, Appears not to exist!

[DavidJP]

Hi all,

I am having a bit of trouble finding out anything about a particular ship that my 3x gt grandfather was Master/Captain of.

My 3x gt grandfather was George Hill (1822-1903) who was born in Yetholm, Roxburghshire, Scotland.

He was a Master Mariner in the merchant navy. His numbers were 9155 & 41.576. I have a lot of detail of his merchant career, however, there has always been a bit of a mystery.

A gt gt uncle wrote in the late 1970's on a family tree the following:

"George Hill, Captain Brig Brecknels"

Now this ship does not appear in any of his records of his voyages.

However, a few days ago, I stumbled across a "Masters (originally Mates, but with a couple of letters added!) Claim for Certificate of Service" dated 28th Dec 1850 at the port of Dartmouth, on ancestry.

Seven ships are listed showing him as apprentice, seaman, mate & master. The very last ship listed is a ship by the name of "Bricknells" of 172 tons belonging to the port of North Shields of which he is master. Hopefully the particulars of service part of the above document should be attached below.

Having checked both the Clip website & googled I can find nothing about the ship Brecknels/Bricknells.

Questions, why can I not find anything about this ship? Did it ever exist? Why does this ship not appear on his official record of his voyages?

Can anyone help?

Many thanks in advance.

Kind regards

David

[ShaunJ]

 Found this Danish reference in Google Books:

"Jacob Petersens skibsportrætter - M/S Museet for Søfart
mfs.dk/wp-content/uploads/2016/.../jacob_petersen_oversigthg.pdf
Translate this page
375. 1849. Engelsk brig BRECKNELLS af Blyth. Olie på lærred. Betegnet: Brig Breckneles of Blyth Capt.n George Hill. Signeret: I.P. 1849. Hoved- og biportræt ud for Helsingør. Foran hovedportrættet Toldkammeret og Kronborg. Reg. hos F."

Which translates as a reference to a painting:
Jacob Petersen ship portraits - M / S Museum of Maritime mfs.dk/wp-content/uploads/2016/.../jacob_petersen_oversigthg.pdf

375. 1849. English brig BRECKNELLS of Blyth. Oil on canvas. Inscribed: Brig Breckneles of Blyth Capt.n George Hill. Signed: I.P. 1849. Financial biportræt out of Elsinore. In front of the main portrait of Customs and Kronborg. Reg. At F.

[DavidJP]

ShaunJ,

Many thanks indeed! That is absolutely brilliant!

I remember my late grandmother mentioning something about a painting of the ship (possibly a family story about it, but I can't remember unfortunately), but again had never been able to substantiate this. Any idea where the painting is now, does the reference give any indication of its whereabouts? Needless to say I am now dying to see this painting!

Many, many thanks again.

Kind regards

David

[ShaunJ]

It's in a catalogue of the works of Jacob Petersen produced by the Maritime Museum of Denmark.

Google translation:

"375. 1849
English brig BRECKNELLS of Blyth.
Oil on canvas.
Inscribed: Brig Breckneles of Blyth Capt.n George Hill.
Signed: I.P. 1849
Main and biportræt out of Elsinore. In front of the main portrait of Customs and Kronborg. Reg. At F.
Holm Petersen-1994.
Lloyd's reg. 1849: b. Newcastle in 1849, 172 tons, master G. Hill, owner Darling & Co., destin .: Newcastle -
Wismar.
Basic material attached. No representation of the ship.
(ID not set)"

I think the reference to "F Holm-Petersen 1994" must be the name of the owner in 1994

[seaweed]

She is listed in Lloyd's Reg 1849
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Mz0SAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:0Ftz6zT302-gFzEJxA5c6C&lr=#v=onepage&q&f=false

[stanmapstone]

Newcastle Courant - Friday 23 March 1849, Sound List, Brecknells, Hill, from Newcastle to Wismar.
Newcastle Courant - Friday 29 June 1849, Arrived at Foreign Ports. Wismar, June 16, the Brecknells, Hill from Shields
Newcastle Journal - Saturday 18 August 1849 Exports from Newcastle, Friday Aug. 10th. Brecknells, Hill, Carthagena, 63 chs coals, 58 tons 6 cwt cinders, W.Swanston. There are entries for the following years until  the last entry I can find with Hill is in the  Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser - Saturday 15 February 1851, Limerick, February 12. Arrived the Brecknells, Hill, from Galatz.
The Times (London, England), Thursday, Sep 22, 1853. Liverpool Sept. 21, the Brecknells, arrived here, sailed from Paraiba, Aug. 7; se encountered the gale on the 11th. inst.
The Times (London, England), Friday, Sep 22, 1854. Liverpool, Sept 21, arrived the Brecknells from Paraiba.
There are no more entries.

Stan

[DavidJP]

Hi ShaunJ, seaweed & Stan,

Many thanks indeed for your replies, very much appreciated.

ShaunJ, Many thanks for the follow up details re painting of Brecknells, much appreciated.

Seaweed, Many thanks for link to 1849 Lloyds register detail, much appreciated.

Stan, Many thanks for newspaper details, that is brilliant & much appreciated. My 3x gt grandfather George Hill had it seems left the Brecknells by the end of July 1851 as his records appear to show him on board a different ship. Unfortunately, I have been unable thus far to identify either this ships name or the name of his next ship! I shall keep at it tho!

My thanks to you all again, your assistance is very much appreciated indeed.

Kind regards

David

[Westoe]

Hello David,

I notice that the first newspaper reference that Stan Mapstone gave you is from the "Sound List". That's very useful to you.

You'll find George Hill in his 172-ton vessel in March 1849 plus a listing of his cargo in the Sound Tolls database. You can also download the actual image from the register.

http://dietrich.soundtoll.nl/public/names.php?id=1474426

That would be a good accompaniment to a photo of the painting.

Cheers,
Westoe

[Westoe]

Hello again, David,

Further to my last:-

The link that I gave you listed George Hill's outward cargo from Newcastle to Wismar. Although the records are in Danish, they are not difficult to navigate. Some of the commodities listed are self-explanatory e.g. kul and vitriol.

Do not fall into the easy trap of assuming that Baltic voyages automatically meant coal out and timber home. There is an extracted database of commodities here and you will find it quite eye-opening:
http://dietrich.soundtoll.nl/public/cargoes.php

To find the listing of George Hill's homeward cargo on that voyage, you will have to root through the Shipmaster listings for G./George/Georg/etc. Hill/Hil/Hihl/etc. paying particular attention to the vessel tonnages and the dates. Vessel names are not given in the Sound Toll Registers; you'll have to extrapolate and deduce.

Also, do not be misled by an apparently wrong destination port. Very few foreign voyages went directly from A to B and back to A. More often, a round-trip voyage meant visiting several ports. In fact the usual descriptive wording of a proposed voyage on crew agreements often ends with something like "and thence to any port in the UK".

Cheers,
Westoe