Energy Gallery

As well as being a shipbuilder John Punshon Denton kept ownership of some of the ships he built and also owned and had shares in ships that were registered but not built in Hartlepool. Records that survive show vessels he at least partly owned from 1839. Some would have been for repair which he would then have sold on.

Other shareholders included: George Denton (John’s brother) Robert Elstob Hutton (master mariner & shipowner); John Elstob Hutton (insurance agent); George Wilkinson; Robert Wilson; Edward Lowden; James Winks; William Gray; Robert Gray; Thomas Rowell (bank agent); Thomas Sanderson (grocer); William Garrick (shipowner); Henry and James Proctor (master mariners); John Meldrum; (sailmaker); Jane Eden; Thomas Appleby; Robert Ropner; George Moon (shipowner, Sunderland); Thomas Belk; Robert Lawson Watson; William Huntingdon & Thomas Bell (Sunderland); Robert & William Ord (Sunderland); Elizabeth Hutton Wilkinson &  John Wilkinson (Craythorne); William Marsingdale Wilkinson (Manchester)

Brief Family Histories of some of the above mentioned shipowners:

George Denton was born on 6th September 1804 at Bishopwearmouth to parents Barbara (nee Punshon) and Richard Copeland Denton. He married Susanna Robinson (daughter of John Robinson) at Great Driffield, Yorkshire on 16^th October 1849 and they had five children:  George Robinson born 16^th August 1852; Arthur Copeland born c1853; Alfred born c1855; Ida Preston born c1857; Ernest born c1859. By 1861 the family were living at St Hilda Street, Hartlepool and by 1871 Victoria Place, Hartlepool.

George died aged 73 at Hartlepool on 30^th December 1877 leaving effects of under £300. His widow, Susanna, died in 1908.

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James Winks was born on 19^th April 1800 at North Shields to parents Margaret (nee Fenwick) and John Winks.  He married Alice Allen at Tynemouth in 1824 and they had one daughter. James was a shipwright and the family lived at Middleton.

James died aged 66 at Hartlepool on 28^th July 1866 leaving effects of under £300. His widow, Alice, died in 1888.

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Edward Lowden (also spelt Lowdon) was born in 1810 at Gosforth, Northumberland to parents Elizabeth (nee Nicholson) and Edward Lowden. He became a butcher and was also a lay-preacher.  By 1851 he was recorded as being a widower and in that year and 1861 he was boarding with James Winks and his wife at Middleton. In 1881 he was retired and living at Hanover Street, Stranton. Alice, James Winks widow, was living with him as a servant.

Edward died aged 78 on 28^th August 1888 at Farndale Terrace, Hartlepool.

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George Moon was born 21^st January 1812 at Sunderland to parents Elizabeth (nee Yule) and Henry Moon. He married Mary Ann Ord at Sunderland in 1842 and they had three daughters. In 1849 the family were living at Marine Terrace, Hartlepool. By 1861 they had moved to Hampstead.

George died age 81 at Windsor on 4^th November 1893 leaving effects of £19,676.

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Thomas Rowell was born c1808 at Weetslade, Northumberland to parents William and Catherine Rowell. He married Elizabeth Rowley and they had one daughter, Catherine, born in 1837. Thomas was a bank agent and was mayor of Hartlepool from 1842 to 1843. In 1851 the couple and their daughter were living at Southgate, Hartlepool with Thomas listed as a landed proprietor.

Thomas died aged 48 on 27^th March 1859 at Sedgewick House, Hartlepool leaving effects of under £100.

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John Meldrum was born on 10^th April 1794 at Sunderland to parents Mary (nee Pearson) and John Meldrum. He became a master sailmaker. John married Margaret White in 1842 at Sunderland and by 1851 the couple were living at Hartlepool.

John died aged 65 on 22^nd November 1859 at Hartlepool leaving effects of under £2,000.

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William Garrick was born on 17^th November 1798 at Orkney, Scotland to parents Margaret (nee Matteson) and John Garrick. He married Elizabeth Porteous on 14^th October 1828 at Sunderland. William became a shipping agent and shipowner.

William died on 1^st December 1847 at Hartlepool.

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Henry Proctor was born on 22^nd July 1822 at Lynn, Norfolk to parents Mary (nee Rudland) and James Proctor. He married Bell Watson on 31^st March 1846 at Bishopwearmouth. Henry first went to sea in 1836 and worked his way up to become a master mariner. He was mate of the Margaret of Hartlepool from 1843 to 1845 and was then master of several Sunderland registered ships.

Henry died aged 49 at Sunderland in 1871.

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Thomas Sanderson was born 21 January 1812 at Sunderland to parents Ann (nee Sandal) and Joseph Sanderson. He went to sea in 1823 as an apprentice and worked his way up to become a master mariner.  Thomas married Margaret Mary Sanderson in 1840 at Sunderland. Margaret died in 1847 and he married for the second time to Mary Wayman in 1854 at South Shields. When Thomas retired he became a grocer and provision Dealer.

Thomas died aged 66 on 24^th December 1878 at Sunderland.

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Joseph Nixon Eden was born 30^th April 1806 at South Shields to parents Jane Nixon and John Eden. He went to sea in 1819 as an apprentice and worked his way up to become a master mariner. Joseph married Jane Rennoldson on 1^st September 1831 at Devon.

Joseph died in 1855 at Stockton leaving his shares in the Voyager of Hartlepool to his widow, Jane Eden.

Official No. 16054; Code Letters LVTF.

Owners: Denton & Co, Hartlepool; 1843 Huntley & Co, Hartlepool; 1850 Brown & Co, Stockton-on-Tees; 1858 Anthony Harris & Richard Brown (Middlesbrough) Stockton-on-Tees.

Masters: 1841-49 J Scaling; 1849 Phillip Newton; 1851-58 Richard Brown; 1864 Hartforth.

Miscellaneous: October 1849 Phillip Newton of Robin Hood’s Bay, master of the Energy, had a severe attack of cholera & went into his cabin & committed suicide by cutting his throat. The verdict at the inquest was temporary insanity.

Voyages; 26 January 1844 bound from Hartlepool for Chatham put into Yarmouth with loss of mainmast, head & other damage having been in collision with a large American ship off the Dudgeon; 17 August 1853 arrived at Limerick; July 1857 capsized & sank in ten fathoms of water during a heavy thunder storm at the mouth of the Restigouche; March 1860 she was moored in the Wear advertised for sale as a first rate collier; 30 October 1863 anchored off Liverpool; 25 May 1864 bound for Hamburg with a cargo of coal she was struck by a heavy squall off Hartlepool & brought into Bridlington Quay with damage & loss of masts.

This is a story of a father and son that saw opportunities and made the most of them as Hartlepool was developing into a busy port. Benjamin H. Huntley owned or had shares in ships from 1843 up until his death in 1874. In 1866 his son, Benjamin R. Huntley, formed the company of B.R. Huntley & Co. Ltd. Oxide of iron, paint and grease manufacturers at Catherine Street Steam Mills, West Hartlepool. By 1868 he had a successful business manufacturing Vulcan cement for steam joints. In about 1874 he went into partnership with Ernest Berner, shipbroker, to form two shipping companies trading as B.R. Huntley & Partners and Huntley, Berner & Co. They owned ten ships up until the partnership was dissolved in 1884.

Family History.

Benjamin Henderson Huntley was born at Chester Le Street on 31^st July 1804 to parents James and Margaret (nee Clark) (married 1791). He married Elizabeth Allen at Bishopwearmouth on 29^th May 1830. Their son, Benjamin Ralph, was born about 1837 and their daughter, Isabella, was born in 1844. By 1844 or possibly earlier Benjamin was innkeeper of the Life Boat Inn at Southgate, Hartlepool. Elizabeth died aged 40 on 16th September 1848.

Benjamin then married Mary Walker at Norton on 23^rd July 1849. Their son, Henderson, was born at Hartlepool in 1852. Mary died suddenly on 4^th November 1853 and his daughter, Isabella, died in 1856 aged just 12.

The youngest son, Henderson, wanted to go to sea but his father was against it. When he was aged 15 it was decided to allow him one voyage with the hope that when he returned he would decide to follow a different path in life. On 16^th May 1867 while off the coast of Portugal on the barque Cuba, against orders, he climbed the rigging, fell into the sea and was drowned.

Benjamin’s third marriage was to Eleanor Smith on 14^th June 1855 at South Shields. By 1858 the couple were living at Moor Terrace, Hartlepool and Benjamin was in the 1861 census as a ship owner. Eleanor died in 1870 and Benjamin moved in with his son at 8 Cliff Terrace, Hartlepool.

Benjamin died aged 71 at Hartlepool on 26 December 1874 leaving effects of under £4,000.

Benjamin Ralph Huntley was born about 1837 to parents Benjamin Henderson and Elizabeth (nee Allen). He married Eleanor Todd at Hartlepool in 1859. By 1858 the couple were living at Southgate Street, Hartlepool with their son. Benjamin was listed as a ship chandler, chemist and druggist. In 1871 the couple were living at Cliff Terrace with their son, two daughters and Benjamin’s widowed father. In 1881 the couple were staying at Cardiff with Eleanor’s family and by 1891 they were living at 84 Ryhill, Elswick with their son and two daughters.

Benjamin died aged 56 at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1892. Eleanor died aged 88 in 1924 at Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Ernest Julius Peter Berner was born in October 1840 at Mecklenburg Germany to parents Samuel Berner and Anna  Maria Cordes. In the 1861 census he was living as a boarder at Hartlepool and working as a shipbroker’s clerk. Ernest married Hannah Elizabeth Cout at Hartlepool in 1865. The couple were living at Scarborough Street, Stranton in 1871 and Ernest was naturalised at the age of 32 on 31 December 1872. In 1881 the family were living at 4 Raglan Place, Stranton with their four sons. It appears that Ernest travelled from Southampton to New York on the ship St Paul in 1908.

Hannah died aged 70 at Hartlepool in May 1915 and Ernest died aged 74 at Mecklenburg, Germany on 14^th June 1915.

These are all the known vessels owned or partly owned by the Huntleys'.

As well as those listed individually Benjamin Henderson Huntley had ownership in the following:

1845 to February 1855 steam paddle sloop Powerful built 1843.

September 1845 to 1855 steam paddle tug Dragon built 1826.

1851 to 1855 paddle steamer Voltigeur built 1851.

1852 to July 1854 steam paddle sloop Flying Dutchman built 1852.

1854 brig Croxdale built 1842.

1863 to June 1865 snow Findon built 1826 (owned by father & son)

1876-1882 Iron Screw Steamer Secret built  1847

Benjamin Ralph Huntley had ownership in the following:

1862 to December 1863 wood sloop Prosperity built 1835.

1866 to March 1867 brig Elba built 1854.

1867 to June 1868 barque Richmond built 1843.

1878 to 1882 iron screw steamer Ovington built 1873 (registered Newcastle-on-Tyne)

1875 to 1883 barque The Bride built 1856 (registered London)

1879 to 1880 brig Ann & Sarah built 1846.

1879 to 1880 brig Pride of Dorset built 1862 (registered Weymouth)

Huntley, Berner & Co. owned the following:

1876 to 1880 brig Osbert built 1851.

1881 to 1882 iron screw steamer Wycliffe built 1880.

1883 to 1884 iron screw steamer Severn built 1870 (registered London)