About the names

Started by Antti Alfthan on Thursday, January 26, 2023
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By far the easiest of our sailors to recognise was Charles Frost. There was a family Frosterus lìving in Raahe with a son Karl, of right age. My distant relatives, by the way.

Next there was John Mountain, the eldest of them. Looks hard, but in the beginning his surname is Munter, a former soldier name. In Haapavesi there was born Johan Muntter of right age, the family sometimes living in Oulainen side. Must still check, but I'm pretty sure.
This also proves, that this is about Raahe port, probably Sovelius shipwrights. No need to look south.

That's really interesting, Antti.

I would like to find out more about Johan Munter, he and Andrew Corbett seem to have served as crew on at least 3 ships together. I agree that he is John Mountain on the Ocean Bride, age is right and previous ship was the Hollinside. Then there is the "Finnish Ship" that both Andrew and Johan were on before joining Hollinside.

It would be great to track them back to a port or ship in Finland.

The "Finnish ship" is probably from Raahe, of Sovelius trading house as I mentioned. In The Åland War as we call it was over; in Raahe the British Navy detachmement burned 13 unfinished ships on the docks, lots of timber needed, lots of tar, one ship exporting tar. In nearby Oulu 7000 barrels of tar was burned. Unwise, as British merchants had paid the tar in advance.
In Finlad 8% of the population was lost in the famine 1866-68, much more in the countryside these to be sailors came from.
Sovelius House had tonnage however left and more was built after the war. Next step I'll take is tracking the ships visiting Shieds especially in or before late 1867 i in newspapers. Ðeserted sailors won't be mentioned, just the name of ship and master, and the dates.

The name Munter sounds familiar, must have seen it somewhere. I'm following that project and discoveries, very interesting what you have already found.

Schooner "Muisto" took a cargo at Hull in the autumn 1868 the Finnish sailors deserting there probably. The distance to South Shields is like 110 land miles north if walking.
Master of the schooner was skipper Alcenius, living in Kälviä, NW of Kokkola, so there could have been sailors from Kokkola and Oulu in the crew apart from Raahe. Not a big crew anyway, the vessel was small and easy to sail.

Slieve Donard's crew list is now added in the project documents. The two Finns there as expected.
What I cannot find with my eyesight now is the previous ship and the ports of departure and destination.

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