Much of the information about the individual ships has been sourced from newspaper reports and Ship Muster Rolls. The purpose of the musters was to collect a tax of 6d per man per month at sea, in order to build a fund to enable financial support to be paid to widows of sailors, or to sailors unable to support themselves due to age, injury, or infirmity.  This was all administered by Trinity House. A petition had to be made to Trinity House, when assistance was required and this was supported by people of good standing within the parish.

The records consulted here are held by the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society, located in Whitby Museum. The society hold many other shipping records, not yet available online and of course other repositories around the country hold further maritime records. Database Search.

Ship Musters and newspaper reports are invaluable sources for piecing together this early history. Most ship arrivals to and from the many ports in Britain, were printed in local newspapers and usually indicate where the ship was arriving from, or bound for. The captain's name is usually stated and occasionally, the cargo. From 1760 the annually produced Lloyds Shipping Registers are an additional valuable resource, recording vessels of 100 tons and more. Unfortunately a number of the early ones have not survived. The one for 1764 is the earliest available but only the second volume (M-Z) is extant From 1770 the registers are fairly complete and you can search the registers here: Search the Registers. Entries are made in abbreviated form and a key to the abbreviations can be found here: Key.

(The Society for the Registry of Shipping (later renamed Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping) was founded in 1760 to protect the commercial interests of all people involved in marine shipping operations. The registers survive from 1764)

According to the entry in the Hinderwell burial register in 1737, William Andrew had been a fisherman; a common occupation in the coastal village of Staithes. Two types of fishing boat tended to be used in the 18th century, The Yorkshire three man Coble, was used for in-shore fishing. It had a sharp bow but no keel and had a detachable rudder and was designed to cope with steep shores and lively seas. They were taken ashore stern first, or could be lifted onto a larger boat or onto dry land, which was essential when a storm threatened. Many would have been built in Staithes.

For longer distance fishing, out onto the Dogger Bank for cod, or off the coast of Norfolk for herring, a Yawl would be used. These had three masts and square sails and took five men and would more likely, have been built in Whitby.

Undoubtedly, William would have taken his sons on fishing expeditions as they grew up and taught them how to sail. His son, Richard Andrew (1714-1783), is my 4 time Great Grandfather and is believed to have acquired his first boat in 1747. He was 33 years old and the Muster Roll indicates that he sailed it from Alemouth (Alnmouth) in Northumberland to Whitby. The Muster states, "First time paid", hence the assumption that he had just acquired it. This vessel was the 'Good Intent' and was probably a small Coaster type vessel, sailing up and down the East Coast.

An 18c Coaster

As time passed, there became a growing demand for coal in London, and this would be transported along the coast from the port of Shields (now South Shields), near Newcastle. 

Richard’s sons, further expanded the shipping routes over the next 30/40  years, such that their ships were sailing all over the world, including to St. Petersburg  and Norway, (the Baltic trade), North America, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. It should be pointed out however, that the infamous smuggler, John Andrew of Saltburn, has no connection to our Andrew family, having only moved into the district from Scotland, around 1770.

During this period, the world was far from settled; Britain was intermittently at war with France, Spain and Holland and then the United States, as the latter demanded independence. There is substantial evidence that at least one of his ships, 'The Charlotte', was used as a Transport ship, on lease to the British Government. In this role it saw action in the Mediterranean as the battle of Calvi ensued. (This was the battle which cost Lord Nelson his eye). See: Siege of Calvi - Wikipedia ) and again in 1810 near Sicily.

Shipping at this time must have been a very risky business. Indeed, a newspaper report of 1800, states that the Charlotte, en-route from Halifax, Canada, to Britain, was captured by a French privateer and taken to Spain. It is now known that the Charlotte was not one vessel though - it was four, of different classifications and tonnage. See the more detailed history - link below. 

In 1797, when Newark Andrew was 50 years of age, he bought a farm at Simonside, near Jarrow, although initially it was rented out as an investment and indeed his last ship (The John) was not sold until after his death in 1824.

The reason for switching to farming was perhaps with an eye to the future. Thomas, his youngest son, was prone to epilepsy and therefore unable to go to sea himself. In addition to Newark’s six children who died in infancy, he also lost several close family members to the sea. Newark's brother Richard drowned in the West Indies in June 1794. Of his brothers in law, William Trattles (husband of his sister Alice) was lost at sea in 1788 and Zachariah Campion (husband of his sister Zeborah, was disabled at Calvi). His nephew Richard Trattles was killed during the battle of Calvi in Corsica in 1794 and sons John & Peter were lost in 1790 (age 17) & 1806 (age 34) respectively. His daughter Charlotte also died on board the Charlotte whilst at anchor in Chepstow, aged 15 years.

In fact, although Newark & his wife Charlotte (Burnicle) had 12 children, only 4 made it to adulthood and only Thomas had any grandchildren. Whilst farming would undoubtedly not be as profitable, it would certainly be less risky.

From these links below read a more detailed account of the Andrew's ships discovered thus far. These links will be connected and updated over time, so do check back occasionally.

Owned by Richard Andrew (1714-1783)

Good Intent  

Richard & Mary

John & Mary

Love & Unity

The Mary

Owned by Newark Andrew (1747-1824)

Charlotte

Indiana

John