MARY EVANS, a three masted barque, was built in 1861 by Hutchinson
& Co. at Newcastle with a tonnage of 306grt, a length
of 114ft 3in, and a beam of 26ft 8in. Registered in London
she was the first ship owned by David Jenkins, purchased in
July 1861. In 1882 she was sold to B.B. Nicholl of Sydney
NSW and in 1884 sold was again to J.E. Mitchell of Sydney.
She moved to Brisbane under the ownership of J. Gullard in
1886 and in 1893 was sold to John Moncrieff of Brisbane and
was dismantled in the same year. She retained her original
name throughout her career.
EASTWARD HO was built in 1861
by Bollen at Egmont Bay on Prince Edward Island with a tonnage
of 386grt, a length of 117ft 3in and a beam of 31ft 6in. A
barque rigged ship she was built for Edward Heard of Charlottetown,
Prince Edwards Island and acquired by David Jenkins in June
1862 with her registry in London. She was sold to H.Cliff
of St Quentin in France but traded out of London with the
same name and made several voyages on charter to Jenkins.
In 1872 she was sold to Japanese owners at Yokohama and trace
of her was subsequently lost.
PEMBROKESHIRE (1) was built
in 1864 by Allan & Co. at Pembroke Dock with a tonnage
of 721grt, a length of 157ft 4in and a beam of 31ft 6in. Ship
rigged she was the first vessel built specifically for David
Jenkins and initiated the 'Shire' tradition. Registered in
London she traded to China on the tea run. In 1872 she was
re-rigged as a barque with a crew of 23. She was sold in 1887
to A.B. Troop of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, the largest
family shipowners in Canadian history and on 29th July 1887
during a voyage from London to Rio de Janeiro she was wrecked
on the Abrolhos Islands off Brazil.
WEBFOOT was built in 1856 by
Shiverick Bros. at East Dennis, Massachusetts with a tonnage
of 1061grt, a length of 180ft 8in and a beam of 37ft 6in.
Ship rigged she was built for P.S. Crowell of Boston and on
8th April 1864 grounded outside Dunkirk and abandoned to the
underwriters. Acquired by David Jenkins she was repaired and
put back into service without a change of name and was the
largest sailing ship ever owned by Jenkins. She was sold to
W.J.Woodside of Belfast in 1885 and on 12th November 1886
during a voyage from Port Townsend, California to Callao she
sprang a leak off Royal Roads, Panama then caught fire and
had to be abandoned.
CARDIGANSHIRE (1) was built
in 1864 by Gaddarn & Co. at Neyland, Pembroke with a tonnage
of 365grt, a length of 124ft and a beam of 26ft 4in. Barquentine
rigged she was completed for Shire Line in September of that
year and commenced trading with a cargo of bunkering coal
to west Africa. In 1865 she was transferred to the China tea
run. She was sold to Robert Jones of Criccieth, Carnarvonshire
in 1882 and on 17th February 1892 became waterlogged in mid-Atlantic
during a voyage from Monte Christi (Dominican Republic) to
Le Havre with a cargo of sugar and was abandoned.
CARMARTHENSHIRE (1) was built
by Long & Co. at Pembroke Dock with a tonnage of 812grt,
a length of 174ft 6in and a beam of 32ft 7in. Completed for
Shire Line she was barquentine rigged and confirmed that Jenkins
was set on naming his newly built ships after Welsh counties.
On 10th January 1885 she was wrecked off Terschelling Islands,
Holland whilst on a voyage from Bangkok to Bremen.
CARNARVONSHIRE (1) was built
in 1868 by Gaddarn & Co. at Neyland, Pembroke with a tonnage
of 388grt, a length of 132ft 2in and a beam of 26ft 2in. Barquentine
rigged she was completed for the Far East trade returning
with tea, making one round trip per annum in common with most
other clippers. In 1880 she was sold to R.D. Richards of Barmouth,
Merionethshire and by 1886 was owned by G.B. Wadsworth of
Goole by which time there were three ships with the same name
on the Registry. On 5th January 1893 during a voyage to Cardiff
she was wrecked off Para, Brazil.
SOUTHERN QUEEN was built in
1866 by Ruddick at New Brunswick with a tonnage of 790grt,
a length of 157ft 2in and a beam of 33ft 2in. Ship rigged
she was brought to Liverpool, put up for sale, and purchased
by G.Campbell of Liverpool. Acquired by Jenkins in 1868 she
was initially deployed on the China tea run and then on the
India run when the Darjeeling teas increased their popularity..
As the Ceylon tea trade began to oust the China tea she traded
on the London - Colombo run and was able to complete two voyages
per year.. In 1888 she was sold to Henry Curwen of Liverpool
and in 1889 ownership was shown as O. Lohne of Mandal, Norway.
She was scrapped in 1896.
GLAMORGANSHIRE (1) was built
in 1869 by Gaddarn at Neyland, Pembroke with a tonnage of
472grt, a length of 148ft, and a beam of 27ft 5in. Barque
rigged she was completed in the March and traded to Karachi
with coal, on to China and Japan with Indian jute and then
home with tea and silks. She was sold in 1884 to J.M. Kirby
of London and in 1885 became the Sola under the ownership
of S. Otto & Son of Christiansand. In 1898 she was sold
to J. Chr. Nilsen without a change of name or registry and
on 6th December 1900 was wrecked off Maranham Bar during a
voyage from South America to Cardiff.
DENBIGHSHIRE (1) was built
in 1870 by Gaddarn at Neyland, Pembroke with a tonnage of
483grt, a length of 156ft 5IN, and a beam of 28ft 2in. Sister
of the Glamorganshire she was delivered in the June and placed
on the London-China-Japan route. She was sold in 1885 to C.N.
Pappalos of Syra and renamed Omonia. On 6th January 1893 she
was wrecked close by Eupatoria near Sebastopol in the Crimea
whilst on a voyage to Azov at the mouth of the River Don.
W.W.SMITH was built in 1857
at St. Helier in Jersey with a tonnage of 661grt, a length
of 175ft 9in and a beam of 31ft 4in. Ship rigged she was built
for Melhuish & Co of Liverpool and in 1859 she was owned
by Holzburg & Co. another Liverpool shipowner. In 1867
she was sold to Hind & Co. of Liverpool and acquired by
Shire Line in 1870 without a change of name. She was Shire's
last sailing ship which replaced the Eastward Ho and was deployed
on the Cardiff to Colombo run with Coal out and tea home.
In 1875 she was re-rigged as a barque and in 1878 became a
coal hulk.
FLINTSHIRE (1) was built in
1872 by London & Clasgow Shipbuilding Co. at Glasgow with
a tonnage of 1565grt, a length of 270ft 7in, a beam of 32ft
8in and a service speed of 9 knots. Completed in July of that
year she was powered by an inverted compound engine and inaugurated
Shire's regular steam service to China through the recently
opened Suez Canal. In 1873 she was chartered for one year
to the Eastern & Australian Mail Steam Co. for their Singapore
- Torres Strait - Sydney mail service following the loss of
the Sunfoo. On 22nd June 1874 she went aground in Clevelend
Bay, Townsville but refloated two days later with some damage
to the hull. In 1888 she was sold to Lim Tiang Hee of Singapore
without a change of name and, in 1889, was acquired by Blue
Funnel for the Alfred Holt Group's services out of Singapore.
Transferred to the Holt subsidiary East India Ocean S.S. Co.
in 1891 she later transferred to the Dutch subsidiary Nederlande
Stoomboot Maats. 'Oceaan' of Amsterdam so that she could trade
to the Dutch East Indies in 1892. She reverted back to the
East India Ocean S.S. Co in 1895 and was sold to Okazaki Takichi
of Kobe, Japan and renamed Yayeyama Maru in 1896. On 12th
December 1898 she was lost following a collision off Nagasaki.
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