# The Cuckow Shipping Fleet.



## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

The Cuckow family are the maternal side of my family, going back generations in Ipswich and the surrounding district. They were one of the largest ship owners on the Coast of East Anglia, owning partly or outright some twenty four ships. But we are getting ahead of ourselves and must go further back into history... to the very first vessel owned by our family. With the latest showing of one of my favourite programmes on television... The Onedin Line... I thought I might tell the story of the Cuckow Shipping Fleet.
On July 22nd, 1722, Lord Bristol, with Lady Bristol and their son, John Hervey and his wife best known as 'Molly Lepel', left their home at Ickworth on a tour to look at some property which had come to Lady Bristol. They travelled first to Ipswich... coach and horses with footmen and dressed in their best attire... where they spent the night, then the next day they looked over their estate at Playford, before travelling on to Shotley the day after that... where they dined at the Ferry Farm, now the site of The Bristol Arms.
The tenant of the Ferry Farm was John Cuckow, who asked Lord Bristol for his consent to operate a rowing boat as a ferry to Harwich so that the other tenant farmers of Shotley could sell their wares at the market there, rather than having to take them all the way to the market at Ipswich along a very rough and bumpy road. He was granted this licence by Lord Bristol, and appointed John Martin as his ferryman. This was the first little ship operated by the Cuckow family, which operated for many years, travelling to and fro across Harwich Harbour. 
With a man-of-war... the Royal Sovereign... anchored at the Nore, the captain sent a sloop to Harwich... The Bird in Hand... to press any seamen he could find in the port into service on his undermanned ship. Unfortunately for him, John Martin was partaking of the local ale at one of the waterfront bars, while waiting for his passengers to return to board his ferry. He was pressed into service, being slightly the worse for ware, and found himself in chains when he woke up.
Lord Bristol wrote a letter to the Admiralty, addressed to Lord Winchilsea, who was then first lord of the Admiralty. It was dated from Ickworth Park, October 15th, 1744 :-
I find my self obliged to give your Lordship this trouble at the request and on the complaint of a tenant of mine, John Cuckow, who rents Shotley Gate Ferry of me, who hath had his hired servant for husbandry, John Martin, tho' never at sea, impress'd on Friday last by Lieutenant Adams on board The Bird in Hand tender, lying off Harwich to impress men for the Royal Sovereign at the Nore, which has so intimidated all the people in those parts that my tenant says his plough and ferry boat must both lie still till your Lordship will be so good to order his release, and to which favour, if you will please to add that of giving a protection for a single servant only to assist my tenants in rowing his ferry boat, (without which many of my tenants cannot keep Harwich market,) it will much oblige your Lordship's most obedient, humble servant, Bristol.
I gather from the jumbled information found that this request was granted.

The next reference I have of the Cuckow Shipping Fleet was in 1830, when James Cuckow registered his first ship, the Friends Goodwill. Within three years, he was a master mariner living in the village of Shotley, the sole owner of the brig Arno, of 119 tons, the schooner Dispatch and the small barge, Brisk, of which he was the skipper. He had his house built at Mount Pleasant Farm, overlooking the River Orwell, nearby to the Old Shotley Church.
He moved back to Ipswich after a time and became the principal owner, with 40 shares, of the coasting schooner, Competitor, of 140 tons... newly built in 1840. His co-owners were John Cobbold... later of Tolly-Cobbold Brewers fame... and William Mulley, the local agent for Lloyds of London. In 1843 he purchased the schooner, Panther, from Yarmouth, and John Cobbold became joint owner with him. The vessel was later rebuilt as barque and sheathed with copper for ocean voyages.
White's Suffolk of 1844 did not mention James Cuckow, but later listed him as a master mariner, sailmaker and ships chandler. According to the Register, he took his ships to sea from time to time, among them the 346 ton barque, Majestic... one of the largest vessels of the Port of Ipswich.
As well as part ownership with John Cobbold of the barque, Majestic, they jointly owned the 305 ton barque, Orwell. She was built at Ipswich in 1832 and registered in London, then transferred to Sydney, in Australia, on 17th February, 1843, under Master John Shaw. She was wrecked when entering Manakau Harbour, in New Zealand, on 2nd February, 1848. At least I'm not the only ship owner and captain of this family to have lost a ship on the other side of the world!
At different times, James Cuckow owned 24 vessels entirely, and had shares in a further 20, but he had dispersed of them all by 1871. His chandlery and sail loft were taken over by his son, Walter... a master mariner... at about the same time.
Master mariner, Walter Cuckow, owned two ships outright at a later date... the schooner Competitor of 140 tons, and the Larch of the Morrell, of 29 tons... although in the registration of the later called himself a ship owner.

The list of ships owned by the Cuckow family were :-
Alert................registered number 10011, of 99 tons, owned by James Cuckow, and registered in Ipswich, 1863.
Alert................of 103 tons, owned by Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah Cuckow, and registered on the Ipswich Dock commission List of Ships.
Amphitrite........of 140 tons, owned by James Cuckow, and registered on the Ipswich Dock List of Ships.
Amy.................registered number 16737, of 106 tons, owned by James Cuckow, with a crew list dated 1866.
Argo.................of 66 tons, owned by James Cuckow, and registered on the Ipswich Dock commission List of Ships.
Arno.................registered number 11892, of 119 tons.
Atalanta............registered number 18081, of 140 tons, owned by William Cuckow, with a crew list dated 1866.
Brisk.................owned by James Cuckow.
Competitor.........registered number 10043, of 140 tons, owned by William Cuckow, and registered in Ipswich 1863.
Dispatch.
Esther...............registered number 11883, of 199 tons, owned by James Cuckow, and registered in Ipswich 1863.
Fortitude............registered number 2588, of 92 tons, owned by James Cuckow, and registered in Ipswich 1863.
Friends Goodwill..registered number 3691, of 63 tons.
Hypothesis..........registered number 50387, of 85 tons, owned by James Cuckow, with a crew list dated 1866.
James Cuckow.....registered number 45807, of 139 tons, owned by Walter Cuckow, and registered in Ipswich 1863.
Jane Hughes........registered number 8408, of 99 tons, owned by James Cuckow, and registered in Ipswich 1863.
Kate and Jane......registered number 10041, of 89 tons, owned by James Cuckow, and registered in Ipswich 1863.
Larch of the Morrell....registered number 12046, of 29 tons, and owned by Walter Cuckow.
Majestic...............registered number 2307, of 356 tons, owned by James Cuckow and John Cobbold, and registered in London 1832.
Orwell.................of 305 tons, built in Ipswich, owned by James Cuckow and John Cobbold, and registered in London.
Panther...............owned by James Cuckow and John Cobbold.
Queen Adelaide....registered number 10042, of 94 tons, owned by James Cuckow, and registered in Ipswich 1863.
The Fairy Queen...owned by William Cuckow, and registered in Ipswich 1874.
The William Fraser....owned by James Cuckow, and registered in Ipswich 1875.

The latest family recruits to a life at sea are the two son's of Paul and Jacky Cuckow... Dan and Paul... who are working as deck crew for Trinity House on-board their maintenance ship around the country. Their sister... Lacy-Jane Griffin... is now a fully qualified bridge officer on one of the large cruise ships operating around the Caribbean Sea.
I hope you enjoyed the read of my family's shipping history. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.
Ps. With thanks to my first cousin, John Cuckow, for his research of our family shipping business.


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## vic pitcher (Oct 20, 2004)

*Cuckow mariners*



Cpt Dick Brooks said:


> The Cuckow family are the maternal side of my family, going back generations in Ipswich and the surrounding district. They were one of the largest ship owners on the Coast of East Anglia, owning partly or outright some twenty four ships. But we are getting ahead of ourselves and must go further back into history... to the very first vessel owned by our family. With the latest showing of one of my favourite programmes on television... The Onedin Line... I thought I might tell the story of the Cuckow Shipping Fleet.
> On July 22nd, 1722, Lord Bristol, with Lady Bristol and their son, John Hervey and his wife best known as 'Molly Lepel', left their home at Ickworth on a tour to look at some property which had come to Lady Bristol. They travelled first to Ipswich... coach and horses with
> 
> 
> ...



In 1957 as an Apprentice in Smith's "Bradford City" I was shipmates with a rather elderly "professional 2nd Mate" called Cuckow, who joined the ship in Tilbury.

I later came across the name while living in the Medway area 30 years ago.


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## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

*For Vic pitcher.*

G'day, Vic, it's good to hear from you. After spending most of my life at sea as captain of my own ships all over the world, I was under the impression that I was the only person in my family giving their life to exploring the planet via the oceans of the world. While at the funeral of my auntie, Beryl, whose husband... my uncle Tommy Cuckow... spent most of his post-war years as a steward on the cross-channel ferries, my cousins, John Cuckow, told me about the family's history of ship ownership. 
Through his exploration of our family's historic nautical heritage, we have decided to write a book between us about the Cuckow shipping fleet. This short story gives a brief history of all the ships that were owned and run by the family... all under sail. This was important to me, as both of my first two ships were sailing vessels... first the Blue Bell, a 42 foot Whitstable oyster smack, and then the Biche, a 72 foot French Thonier from the Bay of Biscay coast of Britany. I'm glad that you enjoyed my story. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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