SHIPBUILDING AND SHIPPING

One of the earliest industries carried on in this section of the country was shipbuilding, and many fine vessels were built at Crapaud Harbour. The chief names engaged in this industry were: Wood Bros, Locke, Palmer, Reid, McKenna, Lord, Adam Leard, Joseph Stordy, Charles Clark, Lloyd French, William Hughes, and Collett Bros.

_ This section of the Island was heavily wooded and the making of fshlp timber was a leading industry for many years. This timber was :mostly exported to England.

Before the wharves at Victoria were built and the harbour dredged, the ships anchored in the basin, and their cargoes, consisting mostly of oats, were conveyed to the ships by scows or lighters. There were loading places for these barges at Sandy Point, Victoria, Inman Bridge, Tryon River, and Turnbull’s Wharf, (now John Simmons’ hollow), Crapaud.

These barges, when loaded, were poled as far as possible, and then towed by boats to the vessels lying at anchor. In the same way, mer- chandise from the ships was brought ashore to the merchants. The writer has often been told by his father, Abram Myers, that one evening he and his brother, Wesley Myers, were coming in with a load of freight, among which was a large puncheon of molasses. A squall struck the boat, causing her to careen over. The puncheon rolled to leeward, with the result that the boat filled and sank. Wesley, who was a very strong swimmer, swam into the wharf. Abram, who was not such a good swimmer, managed to get hold of a portion of the mast, which was above water, and held on till rescued by another boat. Such were the hardships of our forefathers.

While the shipbuilding industry created a great deal of employment and brought profit to those engaged in it, it also frequently brought disaster.

From Pollard’s history, one learns that in 1815, a fine vessel called the “Seven Brothers”, was built and launched at Crapaud Harbour by the Wood Bros. of Lot 49. The vessel lay moored in the roadstead awaiting some of her rigging and cargo. A very severe and early frost set in, with the result that the owners were unable to moor her. Mild weather, however, set in later and the vessel was carried out to sea by the ice. A volunteer crew was organized to bring her to Charlottetown. A violent storm caused the hull to fill with water forcing the crew on deck.

Three men, George Foster, James Shillinwood, and Joseph Wood succumbed to the cold and exposure. Joseph Wood, who was part owner of the vessel, was the great-great-grandfather of Mr. Brent Wood, Crapaud. ,

In 1876, a vessel called the “Snow Squall” was built by D. W. Palmer. Of her it’s said, that her keel was laid in a snowstorm, launched in a snowstorm and lost in a snOWstorm. ’She was loaded by her owner, Mr. D. W. Palmer, with produce for Newfoundland. She was lost on October 15, 1876, with all hands. The owner’s oldest son, Frank Palmer, was among those lost. A tablet to his memory hangs on the wall of St. John’s Church, Crapaud. The master of this vessel was John Scotty Robertson. A monument to his memory stands in the cemetery at Cape Traverse, stating he was lost at sea, October 15, 1876, aged 31 years.

Capt. Robertson, who built and owned the house in Victoria now occupied by Mrs. Donald Murchison, was the father of Professor Samuel Robertson, late Principal of Prince of Wales College, Charlottetown.

Here let me interject'a story told in my hearing in open class in Prince of Wales College by the late Dr. .Robertson.

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