George Mainand's ship record

[MAPS]

Hi there, I'm having some diffculties deciphering the following. George Thomas Mainland had three voyages with the "Mersey"the first in 18 ?? the port I can't read. The second was to Valparaiso in 1856. The third to Sydney in 1858. I'm not sure of the exact dates or which are Arrivals or Deps. The two earlier ships I think are "Princess Victoria/o" and "Janes".
Can someone please help me to decipher this lot ?

Thanks in advance, MAPS

[seaweed]

I cannot make out the port of arrival for the 1856/55 voyage. The only way to be certain is to look at the vessels logbooks/Crew Agreements
, Available from here https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4068572
And
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4068912

You could also look at Lloyds List available on line.

MERSEY was registered in Liverpool, 607 GRT, Built Nova Scotia 1851, owned by Schwabe. George Mainland appears as her master in Lloyd's Reg 1857.
The second voyage appears to be a voyage from Leith (Port Number 60) to Valparaiso. Sailing Leith 6/Aug/1856 arrived 16/Oct/1856. She made a similar voyage in 1855. Mainland Master. Sailing Leith 10/Jan/1855, sailed Portsmouth 27/Jan/1855. She was reported at Callao on the 28/April/1855.
Third Voyage Sailed Liverpool 12/Feb/1858 arrived Sydney 31/May/1858.
Cannot make out his final voyage.
Searching online Newspaper reports may give you more detail. Other than that, back to Logbooks and Crew agreements.

[goldie61]

First voyage on the Mersey - looks like 'Melbourne' (the ink ran out on the 'u' in the middle).
The date looks like 30/7.      but then no year given?

[ShaunJ]

The final ship is the Nereide.

You can find out a lot about his ships from newspaper archive searches - try "Captain Mainland" "George Mainland" "Mersey Mainland" "Mainland Commander" etc.

[MAPS]

To; Seaweed, Goldie and ShaunJ,

Thank you all very much for your input and advice. It's pretty much covered all I needed to know. As for the "Nereide" I've managed to find quite a bit in newspapers and surfing the Net. Captain Mainland was hired by the Govt/Benevolent Society to carry cargo for a Mission Station to the Sierra Leone port. The ship caught fire, was sunk and "brought back to life again". Alas not for Capt. Mainland who caught yellow fever and died while waiting for the ship to be repaired.
Thanks again everyone !   MAPS
PS. Just so you know Skoosh, Capt .Thomas Mainland was the son of the Orkney born George Mainland snr. who went down with his ship the Knapton in 1820/21

[MAPS]

Hi there,
I’d just like to pick your brains before finishing off this topic.                                         I would like to know why in some instances George Mainland is called a Commander and others Master and then later Captain ?  Is there an official difference or was it the journalists from that period just making it up.                                                              George got his Certificate of Competency as Master in 1850 but before that time 1846-1847 he was named sometimes as Master. He went to the Greenwich Hospital school from off his ninth year.
What is meant (in “the Shipping News) by;  “arrived from the river for… Sierra Leone”. I’ve seen this more often now since reading all the Shipping News columns, but with different ports ?
Thank you all once more for the really good advice you’ve given me. 
MAPS
 

[Karen McDonald]

Hi MAPS,

Re: Rank:

Wikipedia has to be enjoyed with caution, but this page is very helpful (assuming it is correct  ):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commander_(Royal_Navy)

Best regards,
Karen

[ShaunJ]

This is not a Royal Navy issue.

In the merchant navy and journalese, I think the terms master, captain and commander were interchangeable.

[Karen McDonald]

This is not a Royal Navy issue.

So sorry. I was under the impression that the Greenwich Hospital School was connected to the Royal Navy.