The Rise and Fall of the Golden Age of Sail in Newport
1800 to the “French” Wars
The world underwent tremendous changes in the 1800’s wars, new forms of government, the Industrial Revolution and a changing economy all played their part and the effects of these forces were felt as much in Nova Scotia as anywhere in the world.
Shipping and Shipbuilding
The period between the end of the American revolutionary war and the French/Napoleonic wars was relatively peaceful. There is a commonly held view that the Loyalists brought with them the skills and spirit of entrepreneurship and in essence started the shipbuilding industry. A great many of them were merchants and no doubt shipwrights as well. It is also true that the British government sent both material and craftsmen in support of the Loyalist settlements. However, the shipbuilding boom did not begin until many years after the Loyalists’ arrival and when it did; many were Planters (Dimocks, Moshers and Perkins to name a few). Before the Loyalists’ arrival ships for fishing, coastal and the West Indies trade were being built. During the revolution Nova Scotian ships were outfitted as privateers. Somebody built those vessels and those somebodies were largely Planters.
In 1783 the government offered a 20 pound subsidy for anyone building a sawmill and in 1786 Newport was one of the communities to receive it. To call the building of a sawmill as proof of early shipbuilding activity would be wrong, it does however support the possibility and shows that the people of Newport had the spirit of entrepreneurship so often credited to the Loyalists.
In the period after the war, Halifax and other large ports became entry points for British goods coming into Nova Scotia. The need to distribute these goods stimulated the growth of small ship building and coastal trading. After the war U.S. trade with the West Indies was cut off, and this too stimulated the growth of that marker and local shipbuilding. Trade with the West Indies was bi-lateral, with ships going down with timber, fish, some agricultural goods and returning with molasses and rum. In 1784 monthly packets (a ship on a regular schedule) sailed from Falmouth to Halifax and New York. And twice a week Packets sailed from Parrsborro to Windsor bringing produce, cattle, sheep and horses from the rich farms at the Tantramar Marsh to Windsor to be driven the rest of the way to Halifax.
Shipbuilding in Newport
The earliest known ship to be built in the Newport area was also built in 1807. Undoubtedly there were others before. This vessel was a 60 ton sloop built for carrying gypsum. The builder was Nicholas Mosher who was the son of James Mosher. James Mosher was one of the original settlers to arrive with the Lydia and the Sally in 1760. The same Nicholas probably built the oldest recorded vessel in the area, the 62 ton schooner ‘Julian’ in 1811.
Old James had two other sons who may have been involved with early shipbuilding, George and Jehu.
George had three sons who also became shipbuilders. Their names were Silas, Ira and Nicholas.
Jehu also had a son names Nicholas who started his own shipyard.
Thus, in the same small area we have two shipyards both run by Moshers, an uncle and two cousins all named Nicholas all building ships along with their children. This has made sorting out the records of who did what and when, very confusing and difficult to sort out.
The Effect of the Napoleonic War on Maritime Trade and Shipbuilding
Shortly after the end of the American Revolution, Britain and other European nations found themselves involved with another revolutionary struggle – the Baltic. In order to supply itself with timber for shipbuilding, Britain turned to the colonies, particularly New Brunswick. Between 1807 and 1811 timber exports from British North America to Britain increased eightfold.
New Brunswick traders and shipbuilders needed to build larger ships in order to transport the raw materials Britain needed and, though not of the highest quality, these ships were easily sold. A 300 ton ship could be sold for 3000 pounds with an additional 600 pounds for the sale of timber. It did not take long for Nova Scotians to follow New Brunswick’s lead, although with one main difference: while New Brunswick continued to focus on timber export, Nova Scotia focussed more on the building, operating and sale of ships to the U.K.
The Effect of the War of 1812 on the Maritime Economy
In 1812 war again broke out between the U.K. and the U.S. Britain not only needed timber to build ships but also men to sail them. Royal Navy ships began to board American ships impressing (forcing them to serve) sailors. Britain placed an embargo against trade with France and her allies which by then meant practically everyone! These and other factors led to the outbreak of the war. However it was far from popular in the U.S. The New England States all but refused to enter into war. This limited the maritime war to privateering and a few minor naval engagements. Much of the war was conducted in and around the Great Lakes.
Sir John Sherbrook the Lt. Governor of Nova Scotia encouraged New England’s peaceful inclinations by discouraging attacks on New England and issuing licenses to some New England ships to trade at free ports (Halifax, Shelburne, Saint John and St. Andrews). New England ships carried badly needed provisions to Nova Scotia and returned with European manufactures goods, Caribbean sugar and rum.
Nova Scotia’s wartime boom was even further advanced as farmers were able to sell their surpluses at great profit. Merchants and navy victuallers alike would send orders to merchants in the valley.
The War of 1812 ended in 1814 and the war with France ended in 1815.
Almost all sections of the Nova Scotian economy experienced a slump after the war’s end. Shipbuilding and shipping were the exception.
After The Wars
Colonial Advantage
To encourage the growth of the shipbuilding industry after the war the U.K. left tariffs in place on foreign goods. British North America was exempt from this. This gave Maritime imports of wood to the U.K. an extremely important advantage. In addition to this the British Navigation Acts which had been in place since 1660 insured that only British and Colonial ships could bring goods into Britain. After the Revolution, American ships were of course no longer covered by the Acts, were excluded from the U.K. which in effect removed a huge block of competition. Until maritimers regularly began producing deep-ocean vessels this remained an unexploited advantage.
New Brunswick was first to exploit these advantages. Nova Scotia would follow later in the century.
In Newport the next two recorded vessels to be built after ‘Julian’ were the Sarah Ann (46 tons) and the Mayflower (16 tons). Both were schooners and both were built in 1818. In the 1820’s Newport produced at least 29 known schooners, but no big ships.
British Dominance and the Colonial Response
During this period Britain became the world’s largest ship producer and British yards simply could not keep up with the demand for ships. This British conundrum became the Maritimes opportunity, especially in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Between 1815 and 1860 Britain produced 5.2 million tons of ships, Quebec and Ontario a mere 800 000 tons while the Maritimes produced 2.2 million tons of which half ended up in British hands. Generally this meant ships of 250 tons or better. Even though freight rates fell after 1815, so too did production costs. Maritime producers were also less affected by falling freight rates than might be expected because they tended to be transporting their own goods rather than someone else’s.
The fall in freight rates after the wars would not continue indefinitely and, just as they do today, would fluctuate throughout the century. Bulky commodities like wood naturally had high costs associated with transport. This factor encouraged merchants to become ship owners.
“Typically, the merchant-shipowner was the head of a family business concern who found that owning his own tonnage was both a competitive advantage in his ordinary commercial dealings (procuring imports, exporting staples, and transporting commodities between major colonial ports and out-ports and profitable in itself. He frequently had practical experience at sea and knew exactly what he wanted in a vessel; hence, especially after mid-century, ships were often built on contract to local merchant-ship-owners”
“The Atlantic region to confederation” (Page 335)
As the above implies the relationships of family, business and skills were interwoven, blurred and complicated. Merchants, builders, mariners (owner operators), and others became involved in the Maritime trade business. A ship was financed by selling 64 shares and any number of people in almost any combination could share ownership and interest in a vessel. Merchants could not only cut their transport costs by owning their own ships, but could refuse financial risk by shares in vessels other than their own.
Other Developments After the End of the Wars
Stagecoaches
In 1815 stagecoaches begin to run out of Halifax and the name of Newport Station came from the coach trade and the inn that was located there. Part of the old coach road is still preserved at Mount Uniacke.
Dykes
We know that in addition to repairing the Acadian dykes, the Planters, and other peoples to come into the area also extended them and built new ones. In particular between the years 1817 and 1819 records indicate that a fairly large collective effort was made to improve and expand the dykes.
Lifestyle
In 1816 the Lt. Governor Lord Dalhousie took a tour of the province and was quite disgusted to come across Assemblyman Shubael Dimock,
“at home without a waistcoat or coat, just in the dress of a labouring man.”
(See appendix B, “Notes of a journey from Windsor to Londonderry”, written in 1823 and published in an annual report of the Public Archives of Nova Scotia in 1937. The writer is unknown.)
Land Grants
In 1827 government land grants were done away with and buying or leasing was the only way to acquire land. Even that option disappeared in 1831 when only the sale of crown land was permitted.
The 1840’s Just Before the “Golden Age”
Free Trade and the Dismantling of the mercantile System
The theories of Economist Adam Smith (1723-90) who believed in free trade were being taken up by industrial interests in England. In Britain in the 1840’s the free trade government of Sir Robert Peel began to remove government controls and tariffs, essentially dismantling the mercantile system.
Hand in hand with this came the thought that colonial administration was too expensive. This opened the door for political reform in Nova Scotia.
Responsible Government
Since Lawrence’s time things had changed little in the governing of the province. The movement for Responsible Government advocated home rule with the elected assembly of Nova Scotia having most of the governing powers that Parliament at the time exercised.
Chief among the reformers was Joseph Howe. The time was right for the kind of political reform that Howe wanted. His ideas coincided with those of Parliament. In 1841 the Lt. Governor, Lord Falkland was instructed by Parliament to follow the advice of the elected assembly, in other words do as he was instructed by the assembly rather than the other way around. Falkland asked that the reformers led by Howe and the conservatives led by J.W. Johnson co-operate in the House of Assembly. This coalition broke down in 1843 and elections were held. The Tories won and the concept of party politics was established. It became firmly entrenched in 1847 when, after the Liberals won the next election, the Secretary of State in London directed Lt. Governor Harvey to follow the advice of the majority party. Nova Scotians now controlled their internal affairs although Britain continued to control defence, foreign policy and constitutional matters.
The Effect of Political Reforms on Shipping and Shipbuilding
As already mentioned, the British government gradually reduced tariffs on foreign goods; however the tariffs on lumber were very slowly reduced and would not be completely eliminated until 1860.
Of more immediate consequence to shipping was the repeal of the British Navigation Acts in 1849. Maritimers no longer enjoyed exclusive access to British ports.
These factors could have had a devastating effect on the Maritimes. However, world trade continues to grow by an average of 60% over the next two decades and British demand for maritime ships would also remain high until the mid 50’s.
Because of poor relations between the colonies and the U.S. and the States own protectionism measures and Navigation Acts, the U.S. market remained closed to the Maritimes, this in effect forced us to become world traders. Maritime shipbuilding had enjoyed a wartime boom followed by more than 30 years of protection. In that time the skills and the infrastructure (not only in terms of yards and equipment but also in terms of capital and business people skilled in the field of maritime investment) had time to develop. One other factor that cannot be overlooked is the fact that our builders had unlimited and inexpensive access to the raw material of shipbuilding – the forests themselves. The British had to import practically all their timber for shipbuilding and pay the price as well.
So in 1847 when Newport produced its first full rigged ship the Jenny Lind (601 tons) and two years later in 1849 the famous Barque Moro Castle (557 tons) Newport, like many other Nova Scotian communities, became a participant in what later generations would call “The Golden Age of Shipbuilding”.
The “Golden Age”, 1850s and 60s
Reciprocity
Like in the U.K., the U.S. had its own Navigation Acts, and tariff barriers to protect their trade. The Liberal government in Nova Scotia, like the British government, wanted to see the elimination of these trade barriers. The “free trade” debate in the 1980’s was far from a new idea. The only big difference was the name; they called the dismantling of trade barriers with the States, the Reciprocity Treaty rather than the Free Trade Agreement.
Like with our own Free Trade agreement the debate before the signing of the Reciprocity Treaty was intense and divisive. Some shipbuilders, owners and merchants felt it would ruin them, others thought it would make them. After the dismantling of the British Navigation Acts in 1849 American ships entering Britain had gone from 0 to 23% in just four years. This was real competition. Nonetheless, in 1854, the Reciprocity Treaty was signed and the U.S. market opened up.
Effects both positive and negative resulted from the overall dismantling of protections. The Treaty opened up a large new market for Maritime goods and ships. For example, in the West Indies trade, ships could follow the tradition of bringing raw materials to that market, with the added advantage of bringing West Indies goods back to the much closer and larger east coast of the U.S.
Another blow came to the Maritime ship building industry in 1854 with the Crimean War (1854-56). After the war, Britain experienced an economic downturn and the demand for colonial ships in Britain fell off sharply.
Whether or not Maritime shipping interests would have survived this and been able to compete with a healthy U.S. economy was never really put to the test as the U.S. merchant marine itself actually started to decline in the mid to late fifties. The American Civil War (1861-65) essentially removed the U.S. from world trade for the period of the war and many years beyond.
“The Growth of the shipping industry in the ‘age of sail’ was a function of colonial supply with American demand and a collapse in American supply”.
Maritime Capital (P. 103)
Newport
The shipyard run by Nicholas, son of Jehu eventually was run by Nicholas’s sons, James and Thomas.
The other Newport shipyard run by the brothers Silas, Ira and Nicholas (sons of George) sometime in the 1860’s took on another partner, John Harvie and he and Silas’s son William Mosher eventually ended up in control of that shipyard.
The Newport yards produced at least 160 ships, half of which exceeded 250 tons and approximately 30 of those approached or exceeded the 1000 ton mark.
In addition to building for the domestic market a large proportion of Maritime ships were built for British interests (more so in the first half of the century than the latter) with the British owner either sending over an agent to supervise construction or employing a trusted local man. Along with overall improvements in resources and skills this factor may have been partially responsible for Maritime vessels changing from having a reputation of some of the worst vessels in the world, to some of the world’s best. In Britain the ownership of Maritime vessels was concentrated in Scotland, Ireland and the port of Liverpool. Newport is a splendid example of the above situation.
Captain George Mounce originally from Scotch Village, was a partner and agent for the firm of Andrew Gibson and Company in Liverpool and as their agent oversaw the building of several vessels by the Mosher and Harvie shipyard. All ships built in Newport for this firm were registered in Liverpool.
To go into greater detail about the many vessels built in Newport, let alone the many more built at other major yards along the Avon River such as the Churchill’s and North’s in Hantsport, Smith and Dimocks in Windsor and numerous builders in Cheverie, Kempt and Summerville is beyond the scope of this document.
A Shipyard
A yard producing major vessels, like the ones in Newport, was not just a cleared space where a group of men with hand tools threw a ship together. It was an organized, efficient factory often with a mill, saw pits, steam engine, blacksmith shop, joiners shop, moulding loft, timber booms, and the facilities needed to house and feed a hundred or more men.
There were no plans or blueprints. The master-builder would work from a small wooden model called a half-hull. This contained all the information he needed to supervise the construction of the hull. On the floor of the moulding loft he would use chalk to enlarge the various parts of the hull as needed, keel, frames, planking and so on.
Timber would be cut inland. In Newport, the logs were rafted down the Kennetcook and St. Croix Rivers. The mill at Newport had pipelines bringing water underground from a small pond (this mill burnt down in 1884). In Maritime ships the keel was generally made from White Oak as were the frames (although sometimes Eastern White Larch or as it was locally called Juniper, was sometimes used), and the hull planks were generally made from spruce or pine. Masts were constructed from pine or fir.
The ship was built outside on a crib work as close to the water as possible and the vessel would be launched on a spring tide.
The keel was built (or laid) on blocks and then the stem and sternposts attached. The frames or ribs were then built and bolted to the keel. Where the ribs were attached to the keel, was capped by a long, heavy beam called a keelson.
Then the eternal frames that would form the cargo space, cabins, decks and internal support were built. Now there was a skeleton ready to receive its skin – the planking.
All of this wood was cut as close to the required shape as possible, but a ship is not a house. It has complicated curves and the skilful use of tools like broad axes, adzes and steam boxes to shape and coal wood into the required forms was essential. All were fastened together by copper and iron bolts and wooden dowels called trunnels (from: tree-nail).
All the seams then had to be sealed and made water-tight and this was done by pounding picked apart rope fibres (oakum) permeated with pitch (derived from pine tar). The process was called caulking and the man who did it, a caulker.
The vessel was now ready for finishing work, the addition of carpentry details and operating systems like rudder and wheel and iron work. When the masts were put in this was called stepping the mast. The rigging was the rope, wire and chain used to stabilize the masts and operate the sails.
Depending on the size of the yard the rigging might be contracted to a rigger off site or done in house. The same was true of the sails, though most often this was done by a specialist, in a sail loft (we know of at least one that existed in Windsor). As you can see, building a ship was a complicated endeavour that called for a high degree of organization and the bringing together of a tremendous amount of skills.
The world underwent tremendous changes in the 1800’s wars, new forms of government, the Industrial Revolution and a changing economy all played their part and the effects of these forces were felt as much in Nova Scotia as anywhere in the world.
Shipping and Shipbuilding
The period between the end of the American revolutionary war and the French/Napoleonic wars was relatively peaceful. There is a commonly held view that the Loyalists brought with them the skills and spirit of entrepreneurship and in essence started the shipbuilding industry. A great many of them were merchants and no doubt shipwrights as well. It is also true that the British government sent both material and craftsmen in support of the Loyalist settlements. However, the shipbuilding boom did not begin until many years after the Loyalists’ arrival and when it did; many were Planters (Dimocks, Moshers and Perkins to name a few). Before the Loyalists’ arrival ships for fishing, coastal and the West Indies trade were being built. During the revolution Nova Scotian ships were outfitted as privateers. Somebody built those vessels and those somebodies were largely Planters.
In 1783 the government offered a 20 pound subsidy for anyone building a sawmill and in 1786 Newport was one of the communities to receive it. To call the building of a sawmill as proof of early shipbuilding activity would be wrong, it does however support the possibility and shows that the people of Newport had the spirit of entrepreneurship so often credited to the Loyalists.
In the period after the war, Halifax and other large ports became entry points for British goods coming into Nova Scotia. The need to distribute these goods stimulated the growth of small ship building and coastal trading. After the war U.S. trade with the West Indies was cut off, and this too stimulated the growth of that marker and local shipbuilding. Trade with the West Indies was bi-lateral, with ships going down with timber, fish, some agricultural goods and returning with molasses and rum. In 1784 monthly packets (a ship on a regular schedule) sailed from Falmouth to Halifax and New York. And twice a week Packets sailed from Parrsborro to Windsor bringing produce, cattle, sheep and horses from the rich farms at the Tantramar Marsh to Windsor to be driven the rest of the way to Halifax.
Shipbuilding in Newport
The earliest known ship to be built in the Newport area was also built in 1807. Undoubtedly there were others before. This vessel was a 60 ton sloop built for carrying gypsum. The builder was Nicholas Mosher who was the son of James Mosher. James Mosher was one of the original settlers to arrive with the Lydia and the Sally in 1760. The same Nicholas probably built the oldest recorded vessel in the area, the 62 ton schooner ‘Julian’ in 1811.
Old James had two other sons who may have been involved with early shipbuilding, George and Jehu.
George had three sons who also became shipbuilders. Their names were Silas, Ira and Nicholas.
Jehu also had a son names Nicholas who started his own shipyard.
Thus, in the same small area we have two shipyards both run by Moshers, an uncle and two cousins all named Nicholas all building ships along with their children. This has made sorting out the records of who did what and when, very confusing and difficult to sort out.
The Effect of the Napoleonic War on Maritime Trade and Shipbuilding
Shortly after the end of the American Revolution, Britain and other European nations found themselves involved with another revolutionary struggle – the Baltic. In order to supply itself with timber for shipbuilding, Britain turned to the colonies, particularly New Brunswick. Between 1807 and 1811 timber exports from British North America to Britain increased eightfold.
New Brunswick traders and shipbuilders needed to build larger ships in order to transport the raw materials Britain needed and, though not of the highest quality, these ships were easily sold. A 300 ton ship could be sold for 3000 pounds with an additional 600 pounds for the sale of timber. It did not take long for Nova Scotians to follow New Brunswick’s lead, although with one main difference: while New Brunswick continued to focus on timber export, Nova Scotia focussed more on the building, operating and sale of ships to the U.K.
The Effect of the War of 1812 on the Maritime Economy
In 1812 war again broke out between the U.K. and the U.S. Britain not only needed timber to build ships but also men to sail them. Royal Navy ships began to board American ships impressing (forcing them to serve) sailors. Britain placed an embargo against trade with France and her allies which by then meant practically everyone! These and other factors led to the outbreak of the war. However it was far from popular in the U.S. The New England States all but refused to enter into war. This limited the maritime war to privateering and a few minor naval engagements. Much of the war was conducted in and around the Great Lakes.
Sir John Sherbrook the Lt. Governor of Nova Scotia encouraged New England’s peaceful inclinations by discouraging attacks on New England and issuing licenses to some New England ships to trade at free ports (Halifax, Shelburne, Saint John and St. Andrews). New England ships carried badly needed provisions to Nova Scotia and returned with European manufactures goods, Caribbean sugar and rum.
Nova Scotia’s wartime boom was even further advanced as farmers were able to sell their surpluses at great profit. Merchants and navy victuallers alike would send orders to merchants in the valley.
The War of 1812 ended in 1814 and the war with France ended in 1815.
Almost all sections of the Nova Scotian economy experienced a slump after the war’s end. Shipbuilding and shipping were the exception.
After The Wars
Colonial Advantage
To encourage the growth of the shipbuilding industry after the war the U.K. left tariffs in place on foreign goods. British North America was exempt from this. This gave Maritime imports of wood to the U.K. an extremely important advantage. In addition to this the British Navigation Acts which had been in place since 1660 insured that only British and Colonial ships could bring goods into Britain. After the Revolution, American ships were of course no longer covered by the Acts, were excluded from the U.K. which in effect removed a huge block of competition. Until maritimers regularly began producing deep-ocean vessels this remained an unexploited advantage.
New Brunswick was first to exploit these advantages. Nova Scotia would follow later in the century.
In Newport the next two recorded vessels to be built after ‘Julian’ were the Sarah Ann (46 tons) and the Mayflower (16 tons). Both were schooners and both were built in 1818. In the 1820’s Newport produced at least 29 known schooners, but no big ships.
British Dominance and the Colonial Response
During this period Britain became the world’s largest ship producer and British yards simply could not keep up with the demand for ships. This British conundrum became the Maritimes opportunity, especially in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Between 1815 and 1860 Britain produced 5.2 million tons of ships, Quebec and Ontario a mere 800 000 tons while the Maritimes produced 2.2 million tons of which half ended up in British hands. Generally this meant ships of 250 tons or better. Even though freight rates fell after 1815, so too did production costs. Maritime producers were also less affected by falling freight rates than might be expected because they tended to be transporting their own goods rather than someone else’s.
The fall in freight rates after the wars would not continue indefinitely and, just as they do today, would fluctuate throughout the century. Bulky commodities like wood naturally had high costs associated with transport. This factor encouraged merchants to become ship owners.
“Typically, the merchant-shipowner was the head of a family business concern who found that owning his own tonnage was both a competitive advantage in his ordinary commercial dealings (procuring imports, exporting staples, and transporting commodities between major colonial ports and out-ports and profitable in itself. He frequently had practical experience at sea and knew exactly what he wanted in a vessel; hence, especially after mid-century, ships were often built on contract to local merchant-ship-owners”
“The Atlantic region to confederation” (Page 335)
As the above implies the relationships of family, business and skills were interwoven, blurred and complicated. Merchants, builders, mariners (owner operators), and others became involved in the Maritime trade business. A ship was financed by selling 64 shares and any number of people in almost any combination could share ownership and interest in a vessel. Merchants could not only cut their transport costs by owning their own ships, but could refuse financial risk by shares in vessels other than their own.
Other Developments After the End of the Wars
Stagecoaches
In 1815 stagecoaches begin to run out of Halifax and the name of Newport Station came from the coach trade and the inn that was located there. Part of the old coach road is still preserved at Mount Uniacke.
Dykes
We know that in addition to repairing the Acadian dykes, the Planters, and other peoples to come into the area also extended them and built new ones. In particular between the years 1817 and 1819 records indicate that a fairly large collective effort was made to improve and expand the dykes.
Lifestyle
In 1816 the Lt. Governor Lord Dalhousie took a tour of the province and was quite disgusted to come across Assemblyman Shubael Dimock,
“at home without a waistcoat or coat, just in the dress of a labouring man.”
(See appendix B, “Notes of a journey from Windsor to Londonderry”, written in 1823 and published in an annual report of the Public Archives of Nova Scotia in 1937. The writer is unknown.)
Land Grants
In 1827 government land grants were done away with and buying or leasing was the only way to acquire land. Even that option disappeared in 1831 when only the sale of crown land was permitted.
The 1840’s Just Before the “Golden Age”
Free Trade and the Dismantling of the mercantile System
The theories of Economist Adam Smith (1723-90) who believed in free trade were being taken up by industrial interests in England. In Britain in the 1840’s the free trade government of Sir Robert Peel began to remove government controls and tariffs, essentially dismantling the mercantile system.
Hand in hand with this came the thought that colonial administration was too expensive. This opened the door for political reform in Nova Scotia.
Responsible Government
Since Lawrence’s time things had changed little in the governing of the province. The movement for Responsible Government advocated home rule with the elected assembly of Nova Scotia having most of the governing powers that Parliament at the time exercised.
Chief among the reformers was Joseph Howe. The time was right for the kind of political reform that Howe wanted. His ideas coincided with those of Parliament. In 1841 the Lt. Governor, Lord Falkland was instructed by Parliament to follow the advice of the elected assembly, in other words do as he was instructed by the assembly rather than the other way around. Falkland asked that the reformers led by Howe and the conservatives led by J.W. Johnson co-operate in the House of Assembly. This coalition broke down in 1843 and elections were held. The Tories won and the concept of party politics was established. It became firmly entrenched in 1847 when, after the Liberals won the next election, the Secretary of State in London directed Lt. Governor Harvey to follow the advice of the majority party. Nova Scotians now controlled their internal affairs although Britain continued to control defence, foreign policy and constitutional matters.
The Effect of Political Reforms on Shipping and Shipbuilding
As already mentioned, the British government gradually reduced tariffs on foreign goods; however the tariffs on lumber were very slowly reduced and would not be completely eliminated until 1860.
Of more immediate consequence to shipping was the repeal of the British Navigation Acts in 1849. Maritimers no longer enjoyed exclusive access to British ports.
These factors could have had a devastating effect on the Maritimes. However, world trade continues to grow by an average of 60% over the next two decades and British demand for maritime ships would also remain high until the mid 50’s.
Because of poor relations between the colonies and the U.S. and the States own protectionism measures and Navigation Acts, the U.S. market remained closed to the Maritimes, this in effect forced us to become world traders. Maritime shipbuilding had enjoyed a wartime boom followed by more than 30 years of protection. In that time the skills and the infrastructure (not only in terms of yards and equipment but also in terms of capital and business people skilled in the field of maritime investment) had time to develop. One other factor that cannot be overlooked is the fact that our builders had unlimited and inexpensive access to the raw material of shipbuilding – the forests themselves. The British had to import practically all their timber for shipbuilding and pay the price as well.
So in 1847 when Newport produced its first full rigged ship the Jenny Lind (601 tons) and two years later in 1849 the famous Barque Moro Castle (557 tons) Newport, like many other Nova Scotian communities, became a participant in what later generations would call “The Golden Age of Shipbuilding”.
The “Golden Age”, 1850s and 60s
Reciprocity
Like in the U.K., the U.S. had its own Navigation Acts, and tariff barriers to protect their trade. The Liberal government in Nova Scotia, like the British government, wanted to see the elimination of these trade barriers. The “free trade” debate in the 1980’s was far from a new idea. The only big difference was the name; they called the dismantling of trade barriers with the States, the Reciprocity Treaty rather than the Free Trade Agreement.
Like with our own Free Trade agreement the debate before the signing of the Reciprocity Treaty was intense and divisive. Some shipbuilders, owners and merchants felt it would ruin them, others thought it would make them. After the dismantling of the British Navigation Acts in 1849 American ships entering Britain had gone from 0 to 23% in just four years. This was real competition. Nonetheless, in 1854, the Reciprocity Treaty was signed and the U.S. market opened up.
Effects both positive and negative resulted from the overall dismantling of protections. The Treaty opened up a large new market for Maritime goods and ships. For example, in the West Indies trade, ships could follow the tradition of bringing raw materials to that market, with the added advantage of bringing West Indies goods back to the much closer and larger east coast of the U.S.
Another blow came to the Maritime ship building industry in 1854 with the Crimean War (1854-56). After the war, Britain experienced an economic downturn and the demand for colonial ships in Britain fell off sharply.
Whether or not Maritime shipping interests would have survived this and been able to compete with a healthy U.S. economy was never really put to the test as the U.S. merchant marine itself actually started to decline in the mid to late fifties. The American Civil War (1861-65) essentially removed the U.S. from world trade for the period of the war and many years beyond.
“The Growth of the shipping industry in the ‘age of sail’ was a function of colonial supply with American demand and a collapse in American supply”.
Maritime Capital (P. 103)
Newport
The shipyard run by Nicholas, son of Jehu eventually was run by Nicholas’s sons, James and Thomas.
The other Newport shipyard run by the brothers Silas, Ira and Nicholas (sons of George) sometime in the 1860’s took on another partner, John Harvie and he and Silas’s son William Mosher eventually ended up in control of that shipyard.
The Newport yards produced at least 160 ships, half of which exceeded 250 tons and approximately 30 of those approached or exceeded the 1000 ton mark.
In addition to building for the domestic market a large proportion of Maritime ships were built for British interests (more so in the first half of the century than the latter) with the British owner either sending over an agent to supervise construction or employing a trusted local man. Along with overall improvements in resources and skills this factor may have been partially responsible for Maritime vessels changing from having a reputation of some of the worst vessels in the world, to some of the world’s best. In Britain the ownership of Maritime vessels was concentrated in Scotland, Ireland and the port of Liverpool. Newport is a splendid example of the above situation.
Captain George Mounce originally from Scotch Village, was a partner and agent for the firm of Andrew Gibson and Company in Liverpool and as their agent oversaw the building of several vessels by the Mosher and Harvie shipyard. All ships built in Newport for this firm were registered in Liverpool.
To go into greater detail about the many vessels built in Newport, let alone the many more built at other major yards along the Avon River such as the Churchill’s and North’s in Hantsport, Smith and Dimocks in Windsor and numerous builders in Cheverie, Kempt and Summerville is beyond the scope of this document.
A Shipyard
A yard producing major vessels, like the ones in Newport, was not just a cleared space where a group of men with hand tools threw a ship together. It was an organized, efficient factory often with a mill, saw pits, steam engine, blacksmith shop, joiners shop, moulding loft, timber booms, and the facilities needed to house and feed a hundred or more men.
There were no plans or blueprints. The master-builder would work from a small wooden model called a half-hull. This contained all the information he needed to supervise the construction of the hull. On the floor of the moulding loft he would use chalk to enlarge the various parts of the hull as needed, keel, frames, planking and so on.
Timber would be cut inland. In Newport, the logs were rafted down the Kennetcook and St. Croix Rivers. The mill at Newport had pipelines bringing water underground from a small pond (this mill burnt down in 1884). In Maritime ships the keel was generally made from White Oak as were the frames (although sometimes Eastern White Larch or as it was locally called Juniper, was sometimes used), and the hull planks were generally made from spruce or pine. Masts were constructed from pine or fir.
The ship was built outside on a crib work as close to the water as possible and the vessel would be launched on a spring tide.
The keel was built (or laid) on blocks and then the stem and sternposts attached. The frames or ribs were then built and bolted to the keel. Where the ribs were attached to the keel, was capped by a long, heavy beam called a keelson.
Then the eternal frames that would form the cargo space, cabins, decks and internal support were built. Now there was a skeleton ready to receive its skin – the planking.
All of this wood was cut as close to the required shape as possible, but a ship is not a house. It has complicated curves and the skilful use of tools like broad axes, adzes and steam boxes to shape and coal wood into the required forms was essential. All were fastened together by copper and iron bolts and wooden dowels called trunnels (from: tree-nail).
All the seams then had to be sealed and made water-tight and this was done by pounding picked apart rope fibres (oakum) permeated with pitch (derived from pine tar). The process was called caulking and the man who did it, a caulker.
The vessel was now ready for finishing work, the addition of carpentry details and operating systems like rudder and wheel and iron work. When the masts were put in this was called stepping the mast. The rigging was the rope, wire and chain used to stabilize the masts and operate the sails.
Depending on the size of the yard the rigging might be contracted to a rigger off site or done in house. The same was true of the sails, though most often this was done by a specialist, in a sail loft (we know of at least one that existed in Windsor). As you can see, building a ship was a complicated endeavour that called for a high degree of organization and the bringing together of a tremendous amount of skills.
The 1870s, 80s and 90s – Peak and Decline
The final removal of British tariffs in 1860 made Baltic Timber extremely competitive and after 1860 this timber dominated the British market. The result was the demand (and hence the price) for colonial timber fell. However even this did not affect the boom in shipbuilding that came with the Civil war. America had goods to move and Maritimers were pleased to move them.
In the 70s and 80s the emphasis shifted from owner/operators using ships as a way to transport their own goods to owning ships in order to transport the goods of others. This meant that operators grew increasingly dependent on freight rates as the way to realize profits. If those rates fell, so too would profits.
In 1869 the Suez Canal opened up and steamships which had been steadily making inroads against sailing ships were able to more effectively compete.
1873 saw freight rates begin to decline rapidly.
The decline of sailing ships and the loss of the industry have been traditionally blamed on the competition of steam ships. Sager and Panting in their book, “Maritime Capital” take a different view. They point to the decisions made by the owners themselves and Canadian Government policy after Confederation.
One of Sir Charles Tupper’s pre-conditions for Nova Scotia’s entry into Confederation in 1869 was the building of a railroad to connect Nova Scotia to the rest of Canada.
While other physically smaller maritime nations like Britain, Scandinavia and Japan assisted their shipping industries to re-tool and make transition from building sailing ships to producing steamships, the government of Canada poured its resources into the railway and focussed on connecting the East with the West.
One of the most notable exceptions to the idea that Nova Scotians failed to make the transition from sail to steam was the Halifax merchant/owner Samuel Cunard. In 1840 Samuel Cunard began his steamship line with four vessels replacing the ‘Coffin Brigs’ (so called because one in five didn’t make it!). However, even he didn’t do so because of Canadian assistance, but rather because of seven British financial partners and because of having won the lucrative contract to carry mail to North America from Britain.
Sager and Panting maintain that as ship ownership began to be concentrated in fewer hands that these owner/operators ‘saw the writing on the wall’, so to speak, and began to diversify their business holdings land-ward. In essence pulling their capitol out of the shipping industry and thus hastening its demise.
They gave two examples that not only have great local significance but also serve to illustrate how complicated the picture really is. One local businessman, Bennit Smith, created the Commercial Bank of Windsor, two fire insurance companies and the cotton mill. His partner, Edward W. Dimock, had similar interests in the cotton mill, the bank, both the fire insurance companies and marine insurance, hardware stores, the gypsum company, a plaster company and a tanning company.
Both came from long established shipbuilding families.
Whether or not Sager and Panting’s thesis that the pessimism of local owner/operators was a major contributor to the end of the “Golden Age” is true, the fact remains that the last of the great ships to be launched in Newport were the barque Mark Curry (1256 tons) and the ship Angola (1551 tons), both in 1890.
These ships did not mark the sudden end of shipbuilding in Newport, but from this point onwards only small fishing and coastal trading vessels would be built and even those in fewer and fewer numbers until by the turn of the century the shipbuilding industry in Newport, like the rest of the Maritimes, was for all intents and purposes finished.
The “Old” New Millennium – 1900
After the decline of shipbuilding, people continued to make a living through agriculture and other skills like coopering.
The fisheries did play a small role, particularly the shad fishery. In 1905 a shad hatchery was built in Windsor by the Department of Fisheries in order to assist the industry. Shad were primarily caught in ‘weirs’, a technique probably learned from the Acadians. Long poles were driven into the mud at low tide and branches would be woven between them. The weir was heart shaped. The fish would swim into the opening located where the ‘bumps’ of the heart met and be unable to find their way out again. Then at low tide it was just a matter of collecting the fish.
The gypsum industry also took up part of the slack. On the sight of the museum a gypsum concern was operated by Jerome Berre King, a New Yorker (originally from Philadelphia), who operated the business from Staten Island. Three steam engines pulled six cars from the quarry located inland. Sand was used on steep portions of the track in order to help them make it uphill. These engines were repaired in a little machine shop which was located near the site of the museum.
Water from Curry’s pond was used to supply water for the engines. Gypsum from the quarry was loaded onto ships at Kings Wharf (the still impressive remains of which can be seen by walking out on the river at low tide). How the site evolved from the shipyards that were located there to J.B. King’s operation is an interesting question and in itself would make a fascinating area of study.
The J.B. King Company became the Canadian Gypsum Company in 1924 and more recently became the Fundy Gypsum Company which operated near the museum and near Windsor. It was the only company still sending large ships into the Minas Basin.
Bibliography
“Halifax, Warden of the North”, Raddall. Halifax, N.S. : Nimbus, c1993.
“History of the Canadian Peoples”, Conrad, Finkel, and Jaenen
“The United States”, Jordan, Litwack, Hofstadter, Miller, Aaron
“A Short History of Western Civilization”, Harrison, Sullivan and Sherman
“A Pocket History of the United States”, Nevens and Commager
“Newport, Nova Scotia a Rhode Island Township”, John Duncanson
“Tide and Timber”, Alan Robertson
“Evolution of the Wooden Ship”, Greenhill and Manning
“The Oxford Companion to the Sea”, Kemp
“Notes on Shipbuilding in Newport Landing”, Gwendolyn Shand
“Historic Hants County”, Gwendolyn Shand
“Maritime Capital”, Sager and Panting
“The Atlantic region to confederation”
“White Rock”, Edith Mosher
“Masters Of Sail”, Stanley Spicer
“Newport Landing”, Paul Webb
“Saw Power”, Barbara Robertson
“The Woven Weirs Of Minas”, Gordon
“Wooden Ships and Iron Men”, Frederick William Wallace
The final removal of British tariffs in 1860 made Baltic Timber extremely competitive and after 1860 this timber dominated the British market. The result was the demand (and hence the price) for colonial timber fell. However even this did not affect the boom in shipbuilding that came with the Civil war. America had goods to move and Maritimers were pleased to move them.
In the 70s and 80s the emphasis shifted from owner/operators using ships as a way to transport their own goods to owning ships in order to transport the goods of others. This meant that operators grew increasingly dependent on freight rates as the way to realize profits. If those rates fell, so too would profits.
In 1869 the Suez Canal opened up and steamships which had been steadily making inroads against sailing ships were able to more effectively compete.
1873 saw freight rates begin to decline rapidly.
The decline of sailing ships and the loss of the industry have been traditionally blamed on the competition of steam ships. Sager and Panting in their book, “Maritime Capital” take a different view. They point to the decisions made by the owners themselves and Canadian Government policy after Confederation.
One of Sir Charles Tupper’s pre-conditions for Nova Scotia’s entry into Confederation in 1869 was the building of a railroad to connect Nova Scotia to the rest of Canada.
While other physically smaller maritime nations like Britain, Scandinavia and Japan assisted their shipping industries to re-tool and make transition from building sailing ships to producing steamships, the government of Canada poured its resources into the railway and focussed on connecting the East with the West.
One of the most notable exceptions to the idea that Nova Scotians failed to make the transition from sail to steam was the Halifax merchant/owner Samuel Cunard. In 1840 Samuel Cunard began his steamship line with four vessels replacing the ‘Coffin Brigs’ (so called because one in five didn’t make it!). However, even he didn’t do so because of Canadian assistance, but rather because of seven British financial partners and because of having won the lucrative contract to carry mail to North America from Britain.
Sager and Panting maintain that as ship ownership began to be concentrated in fewer hands that these owner/operators ‘saw the writing on the wall’, so to speak, and began to diversify their business holdings land-ward. In essence pulling their capitol out of the shipping industry and thus hastening its demise.
They gave two examples that not only have great local significance but also serve to illustrate how complicated the picture really is. One local businessman, Bennit Smith, created the Commercial Bank of Windsor, two fire insurance companies and the cotton mill. His partner, Edward W. Dimock, had similar interests in the cotton mill, the bank, both the fire insurance companies and marine insurance, hardware stores, the gypsum company, a plaster company and a tanning company.
Both came from long established shipbuilding families.
Whether or not Sager and Panting’s thesis that the pessimism of local owner/operators was a major contributor to the end of the “Golden Age” is true, the fact remains that the last of the great ships to be launched in Newport were the barque Mark Curry (1256 tons) and the ship Angola (1551 tons), both in 1890.
These ships did not mark the sudden end of shipbuilding in Newport, but from this point onwards only small fishing and coastal trading vessels would be built and even those in fewer and fewer numbers until by the turn of the century the shipbuilding industry in Newport, like the rest of the Maritimes, was for all intents and purposes finished.
The “Old” New Millennium – 1900
After the decline of shipbuilding, people continued to make a living through agriculture and other skills like coopering.
The fisheries did play a small role, particularly the shad fishery. In 1905 a shad hatchery was built in Windsor by the Department of Fisheries in order to assist the industry. Shad were primarily caught in ‘weirs’, a technique probably learned from the Acadians. Long poles were driven into the mud at low tide and branches would be woven between them. The weir was heart shaped. The fish would swim into the opening located where the ‘bumps’ of the heart met and be unable to find their way out again. Then at low tide it was just a matter of collecting the fish.
The gypsum industry also took up part of the slack. On the sight of the museum a gypsum concern was operated by Jerome Berre King, a New Yorker (originally from Philadelphia), who operated the business from Staten Island. Three steam engines pulled six cars from the quarry located inland. Sand was used on steep portions of the track in order to help them make it uphill. These engines were repaired in a little machine shop which was located near the site of the museum.
Water from Curry’s pond was used to supply water for the engines. Gypsum from the quarry was loaded onto ships at Kings Wharf (the still impressive remains of which can be seen by walking out on the river at low tide). How the site evolved from the shipyards that were located there to J.B. King’s operation is an interesting question and in itself would make a fascinating area of study.
The J.B. King Company became the Canadian Gypsum Company in 1924 and more recently became the Fundy Gypsum Company which operated near the museum and near Windsor. It was the only company still sending large ships into the Minas Basin.
Bibliography
“Halifax, Warden of the North”, Raddall. Halifax, N.S. : Nimbus, c1993.
“History of the Canadian Peoples”, Conrad, Finkel, and Jaenen
“The United States”, Jordan, Litwack, Hofstadter, Miller, Aaron
“A Short History of Western Civilization”, Harrison, Sullivan and Sherman
“A Pocket History of the United States”, Nevens and Commager
“Newport, Nova Scotia a Rhode Island Township”, John Duncanson
“Tide and Timber”, Alan Robertson
“Evolution of the Wooden Ship”, Greenhill and Manning
“The Oxford Companion to the Sea”, Kemp
“Notes on Shipbuilding in Newport Landing”, Gwendolyn Shand
“Historic Hants County”, Gwendolyn Shand
“Maritime Capital”, Sager and Panting
“The Atlantic region to confederation”
“White Rock”, Edith Mosher
“Masters Of Sail”, Stanley Spicer
“Newport Landing”, Paul Webb
“Saw Power”, Barbara Robertson
“The Woven Weirs Of Minas”, Gordon
“Wooden Ships and Iron Men”, Frederick William Wallace