Whiteway's of Teignmouth and Newfoundland

This information on the Whiteway's was provided by Liz Davidson

Mark Whiteway

I have found very few sons named Mark in Devon baptisms registers so assume the records of Mark Whiteway relate to Mark 1703/4-1777 and his son baptised in 1745.
There are records of cargos of train oil, staves and molasses, after 1790 fruit, oranges, raisins, almonds and walnuts and by 1800 coal.
As well as the Teign and Newfoundland, ports mentioned include Exeter, Dartmouth, Plymouth, Bristol, Liverpool, Southampton & Waterford; Oporto, Lisbon & Viana do Castel0 in Portugal; Figueras & Cadiz in Spain.
Mark sailed in ships named Success, Cares, Betsey, Diligent, Mary, Elizabeth and Favourite. The ship owners by 1780 included Abraham Hingston, John Rowe, William Whiteway (possibly Mark jr’s brother), Thomas Bulley, John Rendel & Gilbert Clapp.
Several ships are recorded as lost, and one or two taken by the French or privateers.
In 1745 Mark leased a plantation in Petty Harbour, Newfoundland and in 1766 acted as arbitrator in a land dispute there. His brother Hugh seems also to have been involved there, being mentioned in the Colonial Records in 1759-1768.

 William Whiteway

There are numerous William Whiteways in the parish registers as William is a name that seems to have been used in all branches of the family. This makes separating individuals in the Name Files more complex so it is only possible to be certain about those who are specified as from St Nicholas (Shaldon) or relatively certain where the ship or ship owners tally with other records.

William 1743-1811 is recorded on his marriage to Sarah Hingston in 1769 as a mariner and later occasions also as a merchant and ship owner. All records that I have deduced relate to him between 1769 and 1808. One William & Sarah’s sons was named Abraham Hingston Whiteway, possibly after Sarah’s brother who may have been the ship owner & merchant associated with the Whiteways.

William’s cargo included train oil, staves, coal, olive oil, oranges, cork, lemons, salt, pine boards, beef, pork, butter, fruit, figs, and fir timber and on occasions there is mention of passengers.
The ports listed in addition to the Teign and Newfoundland are Dartmouth, Waterford, Liverpool, Lisbon & Oporto, Figueras, the Mediterranean and Barbados.
The ships in which William sailed included the Betsy (described in 1775 as a fishing ship), Endeavour, Success, Diligent, Ceres, Elizabeth & Sarah, Harmony and Pomona. The ship owners included William himself, Abraham Hingston and John Rowe plus occasionally in the later years Thomas Bennett, Joseph Whiteway and Sarah Hingston spinster (daughter of Abraham Hingston, she married Joseph Whiteway in 1806.
Again ship losses are recorded and ships taken by other forces.
In 1784 William is described in the Colonial Records at St Johns as Rear Admiral which I think means he arrived first at the beginning of the season and was able to claim the best mooring and was also in charge of the area for the season and then in 1786 he was said to be getting new land, with Abraham Hingston, on the south side of St John’s harbour – land which had been used for many years by the Navy and which had ‘room for 3 bankers and 4 boats of fish’.
In 1793 it was said that his business had greatly increased since 1770s and in the census of 1794-5 William, merchant, occupied no. 11 south side only with 1 male servant there, a protestant.
In August 1799 William was in St John’s acting as agent for Abraham Hingston.

Joseph Whiteway

Joseph is another less common name amongst Whiteways there is another of similar age born at Kingsteignton, but all the records on the Name Files seem to refer to Joseph of St Nicholas. He may have been a mariner but is mainly recorded as a merchant and ship owner.
His first listing as an owner was in 18004 as part-owner of the Success, then the Ringmore in 1806, the Eliza in 1808, the Harmony in 1809, the Gleaner in 1815, the Sedulous in 1821 and the Ellen in 1824. He was often in partnership with Nicholas Mudge, both snr & jnr, of Tormoham (Nicholas jnr was married to Joseph’s sister Sarah), William Whiteway, William Mortimer and Elizabeth Whiteway (who married William Mortimer).
In 1824 Joseph is recorded as subscribing to the Newfoundland school society and with Mudge & Co was selling navel & fishing stores, Devon cider and ale. In 1826 with Mudge & Co had business on the south side of St John’s harbour and they were anti local government.

Henry Whiteway

The Henry in the Name Files must be Henry baptised in St Nicholas in 1776. He was married in 1802 and his wife died only 2 years later.

In 1801 he is listed as mate on the Success, in 1802 mate on the Argo and in 1804/5 mate on the Weinholt then in December 1807 he was captain of the Ceres when it was wrecked in Conception Bay, Newfoundland, apparently on its way back to England. All hands on were lost and Henry was buried at Harbour Grace.

John Whiteway

Like William there are many John Whiteways in the records.
I suspect that the John who was importing train oil and pine boards in the 1770s & 1780s was John of St Nicholas 1768-1829.
The John who was serving on the Mary of Teign under Mark Whiteway in 1800/1801 could be this John but is perhaps more likely to be John born to William Whiteway and Sarah Hingston in 1783.

Whiteways Family

 
My Thanks to Liz Davidson for the following information on her side of the Whiteway's family
 

I’ve been actively researching my family history for nearly 20 years.  I had been aware from childhood that there were maritime links as the family was from Teignmouth.  My mother’s maiden name was Whiteway and I had a basic family tree with my grandfather and all his siblings plus their parents.  I did nothing with the knowledge for years but one day, prompted by a question relating to another side of the family, I began to search. 

As I searched the parish registers to take the family line further back it became very noticeable that even back to the 1750s when a form of register was introduced requiring the couple and their witnesses to sign, although most people were making their mark, all the Whiteways, women included, and all except one of the new wives could sign their own names.  As a teacher I was aware that this was at least a century before universal education, in the days when in many circles it wasn’t considered to be necessary or even proper to educate the girls of the family. 

I soon found one great-uncle was in the Royal Navy and that there were 3 generations of Trinity House pilot.   Men had to be experienced master mariners and pass an examination of their skill before they were licenced as pilots and I haven’t yet discovered where these 3 got their experience to become master mariners – I haven’t found RN records for them and haven’t yet found Merchant Navy records for them either but it could be that they were largely involved in local fishing and coastal work.  I’m told that g-grandfather John (1850-1910) was a master mariner & deep-sea diver & that’s another trail to follow. 

It wasn’t long before I discovered that most of the earlier men were involved in the Newfoundland trade, as mariners, master mariners, ships’ captains, ship owners and merchants, often listed with differing descriptions at different times.  A few are listed as part owners of ships with others from the local area including Abraham Hingston, John Row, Nicholas Mudge and William Boden.  Elizabeth Whiteway (1777-1845) was also holding shares in ships both before her marriage and afterwards as Elizabeth Mortimer.  I was vaguely aware of the existence of the Newfoundland trade and knew it was something to do with cod so I set about finding more detail. 

 

Many of the surnames that are found as business partners also occur amongst the spouses of the Whiteways.

When I read about Keith Matthews’ research at the university in St John’s I began using that source and requested some of the ‘name files’.  He summarised every reference he could find for each name in all the records available including parish registers, newspapers, crew lists, shipping registers and court records.

The earliest of my direct ancestors that I think I’ve found is my 5g-grandfather Mark who was leasing a plantation in Petty Harbour just to the south of St John’s in the 1750s & 60s.  He seems to have been involved as arbitrator in a land dispute there.  He and at least one William appear to have encountered privateers on occasions.

 

I found mention of a William Whiteway, almost certainly son of Mark & Elizabeth and husband of Sarah Hingston, as captain of ships including the Betsey, the Endeavour, the Success and the Diligent and gaining land on the south side at St John’s, regularly from 1770 into the 1800s.  His name is often in partnership with Abraham Hingston, Sarah’s brother.  This William, I think, is the one who died at home in Ringmore in 1811. 

 

Another William, I think the one married to Loveday Smith, (see family tree) is mentioned in association with a succession of ships ending with the Commerce which sailed to Brigus in 1831.   He and another man drowned while heading to Brigus from Port de Grave in a yawl in July 1831.  William was buried in Brigus leaving a wife and 5 children in Ringmore.

 

The multiple Williams pose a problem.  I have found no birth/baptism record for the William who married Loveday Smith in 1798 –  there is a gap in the Ringmore baptism register.  He fits among the children of John Whiteway & Grace Wood but could also fit as the eldest child of William Whiteway & Sarah Hingston.  I have copies of the wills of both John (died 1813) and William (died 1811) but neither mention a son called William – John only specifically names his wife Grace and his daughters Mary & Grace with goods to be divided equally between his children; William names his wife Sarah, makes provision for the support of his daughter Mary (unmarried, was she an invalid?) and divides things equally between daughters Sarah & Elizabeth and son Joseph with no mention of the other children.

Here lies another interesting problem: the fact that particularly in the earlier generations I’ve found baptisms for several males but no further details, I can’t find them anywhere in marriage or burial registers in Devon so did they also sail to Newfoundland and possibly stay there?

I think my 3g-grandfather John (1768-1829) and also his father, another John (1737-1813), were involved in the trade but there are so many Johns listed with Newfoundland links that it’s difficult to be certain.  A John Whiteway is listed on the Mary of Teign, captained by Mark Whiteway in 1800.  I imagine this is Mark born 1745 son of Mark & Elizabeth, but which John is it?

 Then there was Henry, John jnr’s younger brother.  Henry is first mentioned in 1801 as mate on the Success then in subsequent years as mate on the Argo, the Weinholt and the Snow.  In 1807 he was captain of the Ceres sailing to Newfoundland in August but the ship was wrecked in Conception Bay and Henry and 2 others were drowned.  Henry was buried in Harbour Grace. 

 

Joseph, cousin to John jnr, may have gone to sea initially but seems to have concentrated on acting as a merchant and ship owner, a business he was first involved in by the time he was 24.  He obviously did quite well but only had one daughter and his will was full of clauses to ensure that she inherited and no husband of hers could ever get his hands on the goods or money! 

 

As I’ve already hinted, a big problem came when trying to sort out references to the various ship’s captains and merchants in the ‘name files’, the crew lists and shipping registers as all the Whiteway families seem to have favoured names like William and John above all others so if I found mention of William as captain of a ship was it William from the Teign valley or the Dart valley, the older generation or the younger?  Eventually, after wrestling for some time with multiple Williams, Johns, Josephs and Marks plus, to a lesser extent, Henrys, Roberts and Charles, I decided the only way to sort them out was to collect all mentions of all Whiteways that I could find and sort them into family trees myself with the help of parish registers in an attempt to make sense of them all.  So here began a one-name study which should keep me from boredom for many years to come! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shipping Register 1786-1811 from Devon Archives catalogue

 

Neptune 1786/27, square sterned brig, built in Teignmouth in 1786, title owned by Thomas Bulley the younger, Gilbert Clapp.

Betsey 1787/9 square sterned brig, built in Teignmouth in 1769, title owned by Thomas Bulley the younger, William Harvey, Thomas Bulley the elder.

Thomas 1787/10 square sterned brig, built in Teignmouth in 1787, title owned by Thomas Bulley younger, William Harvey, and Thomas Bulley the elder.

Juno 1787/11 square sterned brigantine with quarter deck, built in Teignmouth in 1784, title owned by Thomas Bulley the younger, John Rendell, Gilbert Clapp.

Hawke 1787/25 square sterned brigantine with quarter deck before main mast, built in Neath, Wales in 1783 title owned by Daniel Codnor, Thomas Bulley the younger, John Codnor, Thomas Bulley the elder.

Hebe 1787/26 square sterned brig built in Teignmouth in 1786 title owned by Daniel Codnor, Thomas Bulley younger, John Codnor, and Thomas Bulley elder.

Catherine 1787/27 square sterned brig built in Hull in 1774 title owned by Daniel Codnor, Samuel Bulley, John Job, Elias Rendell the younger, and Samuel Bulley the younger.

Mary 1788/1 square sterned brigantine with quarter deck before main mast built in Trinity Newfoundland in 1785 title owned by Thomas Bulley, William Harvey, William Bulley, Thomas Bulley the elder, John Bulley.

Sally 1788/6 square sterned brig built in Ringmore, Devon 1788 title owned by Samuel Bulley, John Job Cooper, Elias Rendell, and John Stephens.

Dove 1788/10 square sterned brig built in America title owned by Daniel Codnor, Thomas Bulley younger, John Codnor, and Thomas Bulley elder.

Sally 1788/11 square sterned brig built in Swansea Wales in 1779 title owned by Thomas Bulley the younger, William Harvey, and Thomas Bulley the elder.

Maria 1789/5 square sterned brigantine, built in the Isle of Wight in 1770 title owned by Thomas Bulley younger, William Harvey, and Thomas Bulley the elder.

Maria 1792/4 square sterned brig built in Ringmore, Devon in 1792 title owned by Gilbert Clapp the elder, Thomas Bulley the younger.

Eliza 1792/20 square sterned brig built in Ringmore, Devon in 1792, title owned by Thomas Bulley the younger, William Harvey, Thomas Bulley the elder.

Betsey 1793/5 square sterned brig, built in Ringmore in 1793 title owned by Thomas Bulley the younger, William Harvey, and Thomas Bulley the elder.

Apollo 1793/9 square sterned brig, built in Ringmore in 1793 title owned by Daniel Codnor, Thomas Bulley the younger, John Codnor, Thomas Bulley the elder.

Lively 1793/19 square sterned sloop or smack with a running bowsprit, built in Berwick upon Tweed in 1788 title owned by Thomas Bulley the younger, John Balle.

Nymph 1794/4 square sterned brig, prize of war with France, title owned by Elias Rendell Junior, John Job Cooper, Samuel Bulley.

Hazard 1795/71795/7 square sterned brigantine, prize, title owned by Nicolas Wilking Thomas Bulley William Harvey

Mary Ann 1795/24 square sterned brigantine, built in Topsham in 1795 title owned by John Hayman John Bulley

Amphion 1796/10 square sterned brig, built in Conception Bay, Newfoundland in 1795 title owned by Thomas Bulley John Codnor.

Tryal 1796/11 square sterned sloop, built in Plymouth in 1785, title owned by Thomas Bulley John Codnor Daniel Codnor.

Jean 1796/15 square sterned brigantine, built in Stirlingshire in 1778, title owned by John Job and Thomas Bulley the Younger

Flora 1796/23 square sterned snow, built in Biddeford in 1786, title owned by Samuel Bulley John Job

Bankrupt Men from teignmouth 1800-1820

Bankrupt Men from Teignmouth between 1800-1820

Samuel Rendel Cooper West Teignmouth 28^th May 1806 Y3200649402

John Gilpin Victualler Dealer & Chapman West Teignmouth 23^rd February 1809 WestY3200650775

Thomas Sutton Shipbuilder, Dealer & Chapman Ringmore 25^th December 1806 Y3200649655

Thomas Smalldridge Butcher Dealer & Chapman Stokeinteignhead 4^th August 1908 Y3200650476

John Bass Shipwright Dealer & Chapman Teignmouth 24^th September 1809 Y3200651019. Commission of Bankruptcy first dated 28^th April 1798 but dividend only now being paid.

William Miller Victualler Dealer & Chapman West Teignmouth 4^th June 1811 Y3200651955.

William Rendell Shipbuilder East Teignmouth 8^th February 1816 Y3200654305

John Duniam Merchant owner ship Vittoria 7^th March 1816 Y3200654343

John Higgs Hatter Teign & Exeter 13^th June 1816 Y3200654487

George Hall Grocer Dealer & Chapman Teignmouth Y3200654802

George Palk Linen Draper East Teignmouth 27^th January 1817 Y3200654886

Joseph Parish Dealer in Musical Instruments East Teignmouth 23^rd April 1818 Y3200655603

John Heath Shipbuilder East Teignmouth 15^th October 1818 Y3200655881

William Parker Innkeeper Dealer & Chapman West Teignmouth 17^th June 1819 Y3200656324

Footnote Chapman 1) 13c-16c Intinerate Trader/Pedlar 2) Merchant in the 17/18c before the advent of factories, a Chapman would invest in the raw materials of the cotton, woollen, or silk trade, put out to work to spinners and weavers at home on piece work, and sell the product for profit, the term later became used for an intinerant peddler of goods in the 19c.