A systematic registration of sailing ships began in 1787 and, although there have been many changes throughout the years, this system is still in use today. The allocation of official numbers was started in 1855. This number was carved into one of the beams and remained with the ship as long as it was under British Registry, even though the name of the vessel and the port of registry may have changed several times.
The shipping register gives the port number and date of registry, the official number, name of the vessel, where and when it was built, its rig, dimensions, etc. It also lists the names of the owners and their occupation. This vessel, the Black Watch, was built at Windsor, M.S. in 1877 and launched on May 28th. It was a ship of 1318.44 tons. The owners included the builder, Bennett Smith who was also the managing owner, a number of merchants, ship owners, a farmer, and a master mariner. Two of the owners were from Halifax.
There were always 64 shares and, as these shares were bought or sold, the "transactions" were entered in the space at the bottom of the page. On 30 May, 1877 John Mann sold two shares to James Mann of Newport.
From an account book of Thomas Aylward, one of the owners, we know he paid $3,127.92 for his four shares. This brings the total cost of the vessel to just over $50,000.
While many vessels made large profits for their owners, this vessel, as you can see, had a very short life. It was wrecked at Fair Isle, Shetland Islands, 19 September, 1877. Mr. Aylward received $1,316.02 from the insurance company and therefore had a loss of $1,809.20. This represents a loss of nearly $29,000 for the ship.
Courtesy: Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa and Miss Gwendolyn Shan, Windsor, N.S.
