Casgliadau Arlein

Remains of the Lady Quirk in the bed of the River Tawe adjacent to the St.Thomas Bridges, looing north.

LADY QUIRK was built as RAYMOND by Lefurgey in Prince Edward Island and launched November 1876 as a 200 ton wooden brigantine (= 2 masts) 104'8" x 24'3" x 12'9", one deck, partly fixed with iron bolts. In 1929 name changed to Lady Quirk and rig altered to barquentine (= 3 masts). She was described as '3 masted' (with no rig type defined) in 1930. She was described as a barquentine in 1931. She was rigged as a 3 masted schooner from 1932 onwards. Cadet ship from 1934 onwards. Sailed until 1947, and was described as 'broken up' later in 1947 and not listed thereafter. A good life for a softwood vessel. Owners: D.Evans 1878-1883; F.Evans 1884-1877; Evan Davies of New Quay, Cardiganshire 1878-1893; T.R.Dadd of Whitstable 1894-1913; Joiner Brothers of Whitstable 1913-1915; J.Murdoch of Poole, Dorset 1915-1927; Edward M.Tumilty of Dovercourt, Essex 1927-1929; Charles J.Quirk of Gordon Square, London WC1 1929-1933; Mrs.Annie Quirk 1933-1934; F.W.Somerfield and others 1934-1937; Francis A.Turnnidge of Leigh-on-Sea, Essex 1938-1947; F.J.Reid 1947. Port of Registry: Aberystwyth 1877; Swansea 1878-1884; Aberystwyth 1885-1895; Faversham 1896-1915; Fowey 1915-1928; Douglas, Isle of Man 1929-1947. The Swansea maritime history website http://www.swanseadocks.co.uk/River%20Tawe.htm (retrieved 4/2010) states that she was found to be leaking after bringing a cargo of China clay into Swansea in 1947 and was 'laid up' in the New Cut where she ultimately rotted away. Her Fowey registry in the 1920s and her final cargo being China clay suggest she was largely in the South Wales - West Country trade in the inter-war period and later. This fits well with the RCAHM statement (http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/34281/details/SWANSEA+DOCKS+HULK%3BLADY+QUIRK/ retrieved 4/2010); this information sent to RCAHMW 4/2010 and thus the Coflein may be altered in due course) that she had been in the coal trade. However the RCAHM date for her abandonment is clearly wrong - in 1910 the New Cut was in commercial use and the port authority would not have suffered a vessel to be abandoned there. Her Swansea registry for the early part of her life suggests an involvement in the coal trade - and she may well have carried metaliferrous ores into Swansea in that period. i.e. no confirmed connection to the copper ore trade based on the above evidence, though such a connection is possible Although Lloyds listed the Lady Quirk as a cadet ship from 1934, www.trainingships.royalnavy.co.uk/names.htm (retrieved 4/2010), which lists civilian as well as Royal Naval training ships, gives a commencement date of 1930, and auctioneers Michael Stainer Ltd sold in 1999 an oil painting by Arthur Bradbury ARAWA entitled 'Training ship barquentine Lady Quirk, Poole Quay, March 1930'. It would seem that C.J.Qwuirk acquired her in 1929 specifically to convert into a cadet ship and that she commenced that role in, or just prior to, 1930. www.trainingships.royalnavy.co.uk/names.htm eroniously states that she 'ended her days as HQ ship of Essex Yacht Club' - this seems to be confusion with that club's HQ ship from 1947 to 1975 Lady Savile (www.essexyachtclub.co.uk retrieved 4/2010), though the residence of Lady Quirk's wartime owner F.A.Turnnidge was Leigh-on-Sea, Essex which suggests a possible connection through him to that club. There are two photos of the Lady Quirk in the Graham Farr collection, held by the Friends of Purton; she is mentioned in Sea Breezes 1946 as 'being on the reserve' (suggesting a wartime Royal Naval role); she featured in Gower, vol.41, p.41 and on p.202 of D.M.NacGregor 'Merchant Sailing Ships 1850-1875: heyday of sail' (Annapolis, MD, USA: Naval Institute Press, n.d., c.1984).