William Miles (1816 ship)

For other ships with the same name, see William Miles (ship).

Ship William Miles, of Bristol, in two positions. Miles Walters (1774–1849), Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
History
United Kingdom
Name	William Miles
Builder	George Hilhouse & Sons, Bristol [1]
Launched	1816
Fate	Wrecked 9 August 1883
General characteristics [2] [1]
Tonnage	572  GRT (post 1854)
Tons burthen	1816: 323 (bm) 1854: 634 (bm; new Act (post 1836), & post lengthening)
Length	1816: 105 ft 1 in (32.0 m) 1854: 134 ft 4 in (40.9 m)
Beam	1816: 26 ft 6 in (8.1 m) 1854: 28 ft 4 in (8.6 m)
Depth of hold	19 ft 2 in (5.8 m) (post 1854)

William Miles was launched at Bristol in 1816 as a West Indiaman. She remained a West Indiaman until 1846, though she did make some voyages to Archangel and to the Baltic. New owners from 1846 sailed her to Quebec and North America. She underwent lengthening in 1854. Thereafter, a sequence of owners sailed her to India and the Mediterranean. She was wrecked on 9 August 1883.

Career

William Miles first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1816. ^[3]

Year	Master	Owner	Trade	Source & Notes
1816	[Richard] Williams	Miles & Co.	Bristol–Jamaica	LR
1822	Williams R[ees] Waters	Miles & Co.	Bristol–Jamaica	LR
1823	R. Waters J[ohn] Escott	Miles & Co.	Bristol–Jamaica	LR
1830	Escott [Isaac] Reynolds	Miles & Co.	Bristol–Jamaica	LR
1838	[James] Pike	Miles & Co.	Bristol–Jamaica	LR: large repairs 1833 & 1835
1843	[James] Cook[e]	Miles & Co.	Bristol–Trinidad Bristol–Jamaica	LR; large repairs 1833 & 1835, & some repairs 1842 & 1843
1845	Crow Rowe	Miles & Co. Howell & Son	Bristol–Jamaica Bristol–Quebec	LR; large repairs 1833 & 1835, & some repairs 1842 & 1843
1846	[Thomas] Rowe	Howell & Son	Bristol–Quebec Bristol–America	LR; large repairs 1833 & 1835, & some repairs 1842 & 1843
1850	[James] Ayre	Howell & Co.		LR

Between 1851 and 1853, William Miles was not listed. In 1854 she reappeared, having undergone lengthening that under the pre-1836 method of calculation doubled her burthen. ^[1]

Year	Master	Owner	Trade	Source
1854	T.Creighton	J.DeWolf	Liverpool–Calcutta	LR; lengthened 1854
1860	Silver	M.I.Wilson	London–India	LR; lengthened 1854

William Miles received sheathing with yellow metal.

Year	Master	Owner	Trade	Source
1864		W.N.de Mattos [2]	Liverpool	LR; lengthened 1854
1865	H.Hills	G.& J.Robinson	Liverpool London–Mediterranean	LR; lengthened 1854
1869	H.Hills	G.& J.Robinson	London–Mediterranean	LR; lengthened 1854
1883–1884	R.Williams	G.&J.Robinson	London	LR; lengthened 1854

Fate

William Miles stranded near Porthcawl in the Bristol Channel on 9 Aug 1883. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboat Chafyn Grove rescued all twelve people on board. ^[4] William Miles was on a voyage from Havre de Grâce to Swansea. ^[5] The lifeboat first took off the mate's wife and a seaman; the rest of the crew refused to leave. When the winds increased the lifeboat came back and took off the remaining crew. ^{[6] [2]}

Her entry in Lloyd's Register for 1883 carried the annotation "Lost". ^[7]

Citations

1. Farr (1971), p. 5.
2. Farr (1950), pp. 62–63.
3. LR (1808), Supple. pages "W", Seq.non.W63.
4. Tovey, Ron. "A Chronology of Bristol Channel Shipwrecks" (PDF). Swansea Docks. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
5. "Board of Trade Inquiry". The Times. No. 30914. London. 1 September 1883. col B, p. 7.
6. "THE LIFE-BOAT JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION". (1885) VOL XII: p.205.
7. LR (1883–1884), Seq.no.W322.

References

• Farr, Grahame E., ed. (1950). Records of Bristol Ships, 1800-1838 (vessels over 150 tons). Vol. 15. Bristol Record Society.
• Farr, Grahame E., ed. (1971). Bristol Shipbuilding in the Nineteenth Century. Bristol Branch of the Historical Association, The University Bristol.