Coffin. Their first vessel was rigged as a Schooner* of 50 tons and was

completed in 1820. Many names were affiliated with the shipbuilding Industry in St.

Peters in addition to the Coffin family. Mr. Charles Morell is noted as the first to promote the shipping Industry in St. Peters. Captain George Sanderson was a remarkable shipbuilder and navigator, being in partnership with six of his brothers Another builder of importance is Captain John Kennedy who owned a shipyard in the Vicinity of St.

Peters. Other prominent builders from the area were the Dingwells, Andersons, Sandersons, McIsaacs, and Websters, all of whom operated shipyards in St. Peters. (5)

Although the first members of the Anderson family that arrived in the 1760s were shipbuilders, they eventually also became farmers. Their descendant, Don Anderson, lives on the farm that they cleared over two hundred years ago and remembers hearing that during their years of shipbuilding, the Anderson family shipyard was located on the Bay

shore, directly below the present day Anderson road. (6) The exact location of many shipyards that were remunerative

throughout the age of sail is unknown today. Features are known, however, regarding a few of them. Three were located at the head of the Bay where the village is presently found. Mr. Martin Mclnnis and Mr. William Coffin controlled them. Two large shipyards were located at the mouth of the Midgell River, with vessels constructed further up the river as well. The North side of the Bay also accommodated a few shipyards that contributed significantly to the industry. (7)

One of the more influential men throughout the duration of the shipping industry on PEI was James Peake Sr., from Charlottetown who had been dealing with shipbuilders from St. Peters for many years. Kimble Coffin, of the famous Coffin shipbuilders in St. Peters Bay, placed orders to Peake as early as 1809. In that instance he placed an order for 20 shillings in a handwritten note to James Peake on July 11th of that year. (8) From Peake’s ledger books and record of sales, other names of St. Peter’s shipbuilders emerge. In his 1831 ledgers, his record of sales includes a Mr. Charles Worrell from St. Peters who had spent approximately £30 on rope, cloth, and iron. (9) Charles Dingwell of St. Peters emerged on the Peake debt list, owing £6 in 1838. (10)

The actual process of building a vessel required the skill and stamina of many people. From the planning of the half—model to the

* SCHOONER: A vessel with two (or more) masts, with fore and aft sails on both masts; generally less than 150 tons, although some of the three-masted schooners constructed on the Island in the early 18803 exceeded 700 tons.

Taken from:

Lewis R. Fisher, “The Shipping Industry of Nineteenth Century Prince Edward Island: A Brief History.” The Island Magazine no. 4 (Spring/Summer, 1978), 16.

30 A