Agnes & Louisa

Completed  April 1872;  Official No. 65675: Code Letters LBSQ.

Owners: 1871 Stephenson Clarke (Dunstan’s Alley, London) & Co. London: 1878 J. Lohden & Co. West Hartlepool: 1888 Agnes & Louisa Shares Co. Ltd. (Walker, James Donald & Co. mgs) London-renamed Luchana

Masters: 1872-81 J Hodgeman: 1882 CT Tose: 1883 Clarke: 1883 J Pearson: 1884-85 W Gibson: 1886 Gill: 1886-1887 Henry Walker/Waller: 1888-90 Taylor: 1891 Lane: 1892 Arthur: 1893 Thomas Gibson (C.N. 96540)

Voyages:

1881 moored at London

‘Agnes & Louisa left Middlesbrough at 8pm on 15 September 1885 bound for Stettin with a cargo of pig-iron & a crew of 16. Between eight & nine the following morning she was off the Dogger Bank. The chief officer & others of the crew were employed washing down the deck & the master was below when they ran into the Vrouw Jacoba, a Dutch fishing vessel of 35 tons & manned by a crew of nine. The fishing vessel was sinking so all the crew got onto the mast which was lying on a crutch. The steamer lowered a boat & got them all off before their fishing vessel sank. The inquiry was heard at West Hartlepool with Howard Smith for the Board of Trade, & Tilly for the ship owners. It was found that the chief officer, who had a master’s certificate, had left the bridge without informing the master so he was guilty of neglect. They were crossing a fishing ground so it was highly probable that there would be small vessels & there should have been a watch. His master’s certificate was suspended for six months but it was recommended that he be granted a first mate’s certificate for that period.’

November 1887 on a voyage from Dordrecht tor Middlesbrough in ballast went aground on the training wall on the north side of the Tees: December 1887 during dense fog Agnes & Louisa loaded with a cargo of iron stranded at Atherfield, Isle of Wight. She was refloated the following day.

Crew June 1881:

Allen, Charles, fireman, 48, Southampton; Barnett, George, able seaman, 50, Chichester; Brightman, Harry Willie, mate, 31, North Shields; Boardway, James, able seaman, 39, Portsmouth; Dagget, John, able seaman, 43, Scarborough, Yorkshire; Edward, Thomas, 1^st engineer, 39, Forfar, Scotland; Gates, George, fireman, 49, Lymmington, Hants.; Hall, Joseph, fireman, 35, Southampton; Hanley, George, able seaman, 33, Garston, Lancashire; Harwood, Frederick, able seaman, 27, Boston, Lincolnshire; Horead, John William, 2^nd engineer, 41, London; Ridge, Isaiah, 2^nd mate, 35, Rochester, Kent; Ridge, Isaiah, boy, 14, Rochester, Kent; Tilley, John, steward, 20, Portsmouth; Tilley, Thomas, able seaman, 45, Portsmouth.

Crew September 1885:

Hickman, Frederick William, chief officer

Crew December 1887:

Turnbull, George Grainger, mate

Jacob Lohden was in parnership with E. Cory in the company of Cory and Lohden. When the partnership was dissolved in 1881 Jacob continued business as J. Lohden & Co.  Between 1881 and 1894 the company owned ten ships and had branches in Hartlepool, Newcastle-on-Tyne and Leith.

Family History:

Jacob Lohden was born at Horneburg, Germany in 1837 and moved to Hartlepool in 1858. He began work at the firm of Anthony Harris & Co. coal exporters. Jacob became a naturalised British subject and married Mary Paxton on 13 October 1864 at Norham-on-Tweed, Northumberland. By 1871 he and his family were living at Cambridge Terrace, Stranton, by 1881 Station Lane, Seaton Carew and by 1891 Middleton St George.

Jacob was a member of the Seaton Carew Local Board and when Seaton was amalgamated with West Hartlepool he became a member of that Board. He was a member of the Hartlepool Port and Harbour Commisioners, chairman of the Small Damage Club and a director of The Neptune Marine Insurance Company.

Jacob died at Norham-on-Tweed in February 1893 at the age of 56 leaving assets of £8,120. He was interred at Holy Trinity Churchyard, Seaton Carew.