AGNES lost Point Lynas 26 October 1859

Disgrifiad

The AGNES was a wooden brig built at Neath in 1818 and one of the ships lost during the Royal Charter Gale, 25-26 October 1859. The vessel's registry documentation from the Port of Beaumaris provides us with a technical description:

116 24/100 tons burthen. 1 deck, 2 masts; length from the inner part of the main stem to the stern post of the Stern Post aloft 68.6ft; her breadth in midships is 19.9ft; her depth in hold at midships is 12.6ft, that she is a brig rigged with a standing bowsprit, is square sterned, carvel built, framework and planking of wood.

If you pass your mouse over this image of the AGNES's register entry, you'll find a wealth of other information about the Welsh people who were associated with the vessel. For example, two masters are recorded - John Hughes, at the top of the page, was the master in January 1851. This changed to Richard Lewis in January 1853 - see the lower right hand corner.

There is also the list of owners along with the number of shares each owned - John Hughes of Amlwch, distributor of stamps (2 shares); John Henry Treweek of Amlwch, mine agent (32 shares); Samuel Marshall of Amlwch, farmer (2 shares); John Wynne Paynter of Maenllwyn, merchant (8 shares); the legal representatives of William Holdsworth of Liverpool, merchant, deceased (8 shares); The legal representatives of the late John Hughes of Amlwch, mariner, deceased (4); Catherine Williams nearest kin and administratrix of Ellen Hughes, late of Newhaven, Amlwch Port, widow, deceased (4 shares); and the legal representatives of George Paynter of Milford, merchant, deceased (4).

The association to the Treweek family at Amlwch is significant. James Treweek, came to Amlwch from Cornwall in 1811 to be the Mona mine agent; his son Nicholas whom he encouraged to begin a ship building venture at Amlwch in 1825, and John Henry Treweek replaced James Treweek as mine agent in 1847.

James Treweek had experience of mining in Cornwall and brought those methods with him. Through this family's influence, Amlwch drew workers from all over to work in the mine and the town soon became a bustling port.

This registration document for the AGNES is poignant because it relates to the period immediately following the death of James Treweek in 1851. He is shown owning 32 shares when the AGNES was registered in January 1851. The transaction recorded at the bottom of the page on 14 December 1853 show his executors - Nicholas Treweek, John Henry Treweek and Thomas Davies Griffiths - transferring his interest to his son, John Henry Treweek.

The AGNES is recorded in Lloyds Register of British and Foreign Shipping 1857. This source provides details about the repairs the vessel underwent (new wales in 1833, large repairs in 1843, a new deck and repairs in 1851, and more repairs in 1856). These are likely to have been done in Nicholas Treweek's shipyard on the western side of the Amlwch inlet.

The AGNES was wrecked between Point Lynas and her home port of Amlwch during the storm. Her crew were drowned.

Sources include:
Board of Trade Wreck Return 1859 Table 19 pg26 (528)
Board of Trade Harbours of Refuge Inquiries 1859 pg123 (565)
Lloyds Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1857 - 30 June 1858, 190 in A
Port of Beaumaris Shipping Register 1845 - 1855, Gwynedd Archive Service Caernarvon XSR 9, 3 in 1851
Wynne-Jones, I, 2001, Shipwrecks of North Wales, 4 ed, p152


Follow this link to find out more about the Victorian entrepreneurs James and Nicholas Treweek:
http://www.amlwchhistory.co.uk/ships.html

What can the census of 1851 tells us about the people who worked in shipbuilding at Amlwch and who might have carried out the repairs to the AGNES (new deck and repairs in 1851)?

The occupation of one of her owners, John Hughes of Amlwch, is rather unusual. To which Victorian invention introduced in 1840 might this relate?

The technical information for the AGNES describes her as a brig. What kind of vessel is this?