Connection or coincidence?

[Lynnn]

Thanks to many of you I have some info on the Straker family.   My gt.gt.gt grandfather Joseph Straker b. 1806 was a Shipwright on Tyneside and I have discovered, now that I am totally hooked, that HMS Diamond, launched 1848, was renamed 'Joseph Straker' between 1866 and 1868.  Does anyone know how I could gain more info or am I barking up the wrong mast?

[Woody32]

http://www.antique-rings.co.uk/crestedsignet_main.htm


Could this be his ring?

Scroll down a bit to find "Joseph Straker" cs 005

[Lynnn]

Hi woody32

I really don't know.   Do you know what OBT prior to date means?   Thanks

[Michael Dixon]

A book available in Newcastle City Library and Tyne & Wear Archives might help!

It is called "The Dictionary of Tyne Sailing Ships 1820-1920", written by Richard Keys.  It lists all the ships that were registered to trade/work in and out of the River Tyne. It is in three sections, all in alpha order, the ships, the master mariners and the ship owners.

It lists many of the ships' voyages (and sinkings)

Michael Dixon

[Woody32]

Not sure lynn...but the date could be when he died...and thats why the ship was renamed to him.

[Michael Dixon]

HMS Diamond launched Sheerness Dockyard 29 Aug 1848,  120ft x 14.2ft
with 2 8"guns and 26 32 pound guns.

In April 1866 the Admiralty lesed the ship, renamed as the "Joseph Straker"as a "mission" ship at South Shields.

The staff included a chaplain, reader and lay helper. Chaplain S Streelan founded a temperance club amongst the pilots and seamen of South Shields.

The ship become redundant as a mission ship in May 1885 when the Mission got land premises on the Mill Dam in South Shields.

In Sept 1885 the ship was sold to a Thames breaker's yard.
~~~~~~~~----------

James, Joseph and John Straker were busy Master Mariners and ship owners from North Shields, especially Joseph Straker who owned and captained many ships.  Sometimes his ownership was "sole" or shared with other Strakers or other captains/merchants ( Normally a ship was owned as a total of  64 shares.  E.g. four partners having 16 shares each.

The busy Straker era was circa 1830/40s.

There were also a H Straker and a W Straker captaining and owning ships in 1860s


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Above info from the Dictionary of Tyne Sailing Ships... the book gave no indication of the source of the name of the Joseph Straker !

Michael Dixon

[Lynnn]

Woody - thanks for your reply and Michael - wow - what can I say except thanks so much for this further info.   What is frustrating is that I don't know how to prove this is 'my' Joseph Straker.   The dates fit - the busy period 1830/40s - Joseph would have been in his 20's/30's and he is described as a Shipwright in the 1841 census records.   He must have died before 1851 because his wife, Elizabeth,  is described as a mariner's widow in the census records.   The family names also fit as Joseph, James and John recur in every generation (but then they are very popular names).   Can anyone with much more experience than me suggest where do I go from here?

[Silverhawk]

Is Joseph the one living at Johnson's Hill, Westoe, on the 1841 Census?  If so, this link looks promising.  It gives his birthday as the 26th August 1801.  That still fits the census as he would have been 39 when it was taken, hence rounded down to 35.  His death is the 11th September 1846 on board the Leiter.

The ring mentioned by Woody32 could belong to his son, Joseph Jnr.  "OBT" could be shortform for obituary and age 33 in 1867 would correspond to within a year of little Joseph on the census.  The HMS Diamond was renamed HMS Joseph Straker in 1868, so the idea of it being named after Joseph Jnr seems to fit.

[Lynnn]

Silverhawk -  you are a marvel.    The owner of the website you mentioned is a close relative.   His Grandmother and mine were cousins!!   Oh how much excitement can a person take in a day?   All of a sudden I have so much information about the Straker family.

We still don't know about the connection to the ring.   Nor do we know if our Joseph was the shipbuilder/captain as mentioned earlier in this topic, or a ship's carpenter.     Thanks so much you extremely clever and thoughtful person.