50 Years of Seafaring

"Sixty Seven years of age, he was one of the few remaining links connecting us with the time when in his youth the town of Stornoway was of considerable importance as a shipping port, and when a fine fleet of sailing ships registered here, and belonging to enterprising local owners, carried on an extensive trader with Archangel and the Baltic ports; ln those ships Mr Kerr had his first seagoing experience having, at the age of 14, joined the "Alliance" on a voyage to Archangel under Captain Macpherson. He continued in the same service under Captain John Smith, in the "Africa", and in the brig "Supply", with Captain Murdo Morrison - names of ships and men well known to all old Stornowegians.
After several years' sailing in foreign parts on the "Gleniffer" of Glasgow he joined his father, the late Mr Malcolm Kerr, in the coasting trade off the West Coast of Scotland which he continued to work on this own account after his father's death. There was no one better known than Mr Kerr in the different places of call between the Mersey and Cape Wrath, and no craft more readily recognised than the "Jessie," the "Crest", and the "Lady Louisa Kerr"; which he owned and sailed in succession..


...For some years Mr Kerr had worked on shore in the employ of Mr Murdo Maclean, shipping agent, where he was available as pilot for steamers proceeding south to Clyde, Mersey and Irish ports. His unique knowledge of the West Coast peculiarly fitted him for this service, and among mariners he had the reputation of being one of the most skilful and careful of pilots."
Selected extracts from Alexander John Kerr's obituary - Stornoway Gazette October 1922

CHRONOLOGY
1855 - b. Stornoway
1869 - Captain Macpherson – 'Alliance' to Archangel
Captain Smith – 'Africa' ('same service')
before 1874 - Captain Murdo Morrison – brig 'Supply' ('same service')
'Glennifer' of Glasgow ('foreign parts')
1876?-1897?'Jessie'
1896-1903 -'Crest' (confirmed dates)
1903?-1914? - 'Lady Louisa Kerr'
1914?-1922 – Mr Murdo Maclean

RECORDS
Captain Macpherson
1861 – Murdo Macpherson, 46, Sailor Merchant Service, 5 North Beach St, b. Stornoway
1881 – Murdoch Macpherson, 68, Retired Ship Captain, 12 North Beach St, b. Stornoway
 (Living with his sister, their niece is a doctor's daughter, the doctor being Robert Clark of Harris )

'Alliance'
1866 6th February Driven ashore near Stornoway by a gale
UNDATED Wrecked 'on the north side of Wick Bay'

Captain Smith – No obvious candidates in the censuses.

Captain Murdo Morrison
1881- Murdo Morison, 45, Seaman, 21 Scotland St, b. Stornoway
1891 – Murdo Morrison, 53, Seaman and Grocer, 24 Scotland St, b. Stornoway

'Supply'
1874 February sees her wrecked in the Solway Firth

'Glennifer'
1901 - GLENIFFER, James Watt Dock, Greenock East, Renfrewshire
Robert Macaulay, 23, Seaman, b. Harris
Built of iron in 1866 in Glasgow, this 800 ton sailing ship made no less than four trips to the St Lawrence in 1871. Alexander John Kerr sailed on her for several years 'in foreign parts', as his obituary puts it.

'Jessie' 3393 Inverness 1850 31 tons
Ports of Registry
Inverness MNL 1857
Inverness Sail 31 tons 1860 (MNL)
Stornoway Sail Sloop 1880 (MNL)
AJK 1876-1897(?) 21 years
Crew Agreements 1864, 1867-1897, some missing (MHA)
The Belfast News-Letter
Thursday, August 31st, 1876 – The Jessie, Kerr, from Stornoway
Monday, August 15th, 1881 – The Jessie, Kerr, from Stornoway
1886 - Link to photograph that includes her whilst moored in Stornoway

'Crest'
The Belfast News-Letter
Tuesday, February 16th 1897 – The Crest, Kerr, from Stornoway
Wednesday, January 25th 1899 – The Crest, Kerr, from Stornoway
1903 Wrecked off Kebock Head

'Lady Louisa Kerr' 12163 Belfast 1846 Sail 49 tons
Ports of Registry
Belfast 1857 (MNL)
Belfast Sail 48 tons 1860 (MNL)
AJK 1903(?)-1914(?) 11 years
Crew Agreements 1864-1914, only 7 years (MHA), (1863, 68/9 @ PRO NI)

Mr Murdo Maclean
1901 – Murdo Maclean, 30, Commission Merchant, Seaforth House (Scotland St), b. Uig, Ross
1901- Murdo Maclean,41, General Merchant Draper Grocer, 59 Kenneth St, b. Stornoway
1901 – Murdo Maclean, 24, Draper's Assistant, 11 Garden Road, b. Ross, Lochs, Stornoway?
No Shipping Agent found, but one of these three might, perhaps, of become one?

My previous piece Belfast News Letter contains additional newspaper records and other details including a few references to arrivals of vessels from Stornoway whose Master was 'Kerr' and therefore possibly Alexander John or his father, Malcolm.
A little more about William Grant can be read in my piece on his son, James Shaw Grant .

Note:
'MNL' refers to Mercantile Navy List, an explanation of which can be seen here.
'PRO NI' refers to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
'MHA' refers to the Maritime History Archive