The Mary Dare

The 'Mary Dare' was the ship that developed the Pacific Northwest from Astoria to Alaska under the ownership of the Hudson's Bay Company.

We have researched the history of the ship 'Mary Dare' from the three pieces of information;

• name of ship;

• name of builder;
• and town where built.

1842 to 1846: pre Hudson's Bay Company ownership. This time period is our primary focus for research.

1846 to 1854: The period of time that the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) owned it is reasonably well documented although we are still analyzing that body of information ourselves. It has yet to be written up in a readable form.

1854 to Dec 16th 1857: We Have attempted with varying success to research the post HBC history. As with all history it is a challenge to know where to start the story - especially since with the advent of the internet - some American researchers have been trying to trace back to Sir Walter Raleigh and the failed attempt to start the lost colony of Roanoke of 1597, in order to connect with America's first English-born citizen Virginia Dare who was named for the Virgin Queen Elizabeth the first.

The Dare family were ship brokers, merchants and privateers with a seafaring history spanning 250 years. Their decedents under different surnames have carried on this tradition even today. Two brothers William and Nicholas born in Lyme Regis Dorset parted company in 1680 when William immigrated to America and was involved in rebuilding the Blue Anchor Inn in Philadelphia with William Penn, later moving to Cohancy New Jersey and starting the American line of Dare's. (This branch of the Dares have supported us by donating a special green glass bottle to carry on the ship.)

In 1830 while demolishing a cottage, a legal document was found on top of a beam that proved that the king of England had issued a passport to Nicholas Dare that stated that if anyone hindered him from traveling anywhere he wanted to go they would be imprisoned in the tower of London. This connection with the Royal family seems to have held strong over time and could have some bearing on how the Hudson's Bay Company came to purchase the ship.

We have studied the Dare Family tree extensively and therefore will start the story with Captain Henry Dare son of Robert Dare born in Seaton Devon in 1758. Mary Hatson was born 1759. Henry and Mary were married in 1779 and had many children. Only three of these children seem to have any real bearing on our story. Robert, Henry, and Mary. The family used the same Christian names over and over again. But fortunately adopted the habit of using the mother's maiden name as a middle name most of the time. In terms of identification this has proved to be very helpful.

Their first child born was Samuel (Born 30 July 1780). There is one descendent of his line in Saanich British Columbia. Second born was Robert Hatson Dare in 1790. The third child was Henry Hatson Dare. 1782 to 1869. He married Susannah Walrond they had four surviving children and are an important part of the family from a research perspective. The fifth and next child significant to our story is Mary Dare (born Nov 5th 1787- died Feb. 18th 1882). The ship is named for her.

Robert Hatson Dare and Henry Hatson Dare worked very closely together and owned many ships. In 1820 Robert went to live in South America before returning in 1841, He never married and his Spinster sister Mary Dare lived in and took care of his house on Front Street in Seaton. She also took care of three nieces who were daughters of her sister Sarah Dare (born Nov 16 1784) who married Nicolas Otton. (There are descendents of Sarah's line living today in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.) One of Sarah's daughters Alice H Otton lived with her aunt Mary Dare and worked with her, unusual for Victorian times they were independent business women working as milliners and dress makers. Robert Hatson Dare having no children that we know of, and certainly none in England seems to have decided to mentor brother Henry's first child Susan Walrond Dare.

Between January 24th and April 12th 1842 Robert Hatson Dare had the ship Mare Dare built as a gun boat under the name 'Brieses' by John Cox who was working for the partnership of Mathews and Good at Bridport, Dorset. We believe she was armed with twelve six pounder carronades and equipped with fourteen gun ports. Thus the guns had trunnions not lugs and were mounted on gun trucks not slides. Robert sailed her to London where she was resurveyed by Lloyds ship registration society on May 7th and renamed after his sister as 'Mary Dare.' She was registered May 12th at the Port of London.

Meanwhile back in Bridport, Susan Walrond Dare had John Cox build the next vessel called the 'Harry' undoubtedly named for a ship her father owned which was built in New Brunswick in 1807 and lost in a white squall on route to round Cape Horn in 1811. The new Harry was completed August 24th 1842 and sailed to Bordeaux. We believe the Mary Dare was also sailed from London to Bordeaux at the end of July. This is when the oil painting by J.M. Huggins jr (at the top of the page)was commissioned. And that the two vessels sailed in company to Lima Peru. We have not found any evidence that the 'Harry' was armed. She was slightly larger and far more lightly constructed and may have been captained by Susan Walrond Dare's brother Henry Walrond Dare; Susan eventually sold or gave the vessel to her younger brothers George Walrond Dare and Walrond Dare who sailed it between England and Australia before settling in Australia. Sold out of the family before It was wrecked at Horse Shoe Bay, Port Elliot in 1856. Now a protected wreck site, in March 2006 members ofthe extended Dare family conducted an archaeological dive to take measurements.

The 'Mary Dare' was purchased by the Hudson's Bay Company and used to develop the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America during the time that the border dispute between Britain and the United States was still a current issue. The Ship was insured A1 for twelve years and without the possibility to have it inspected in the Oregon territory in order to put it back on the register, it had to be sailed back to London. Once back in London, the Governor and committee of Hudson's Bay Company were advised by Blackwall ship builders that the damage was 44% of its value, and they decided to sell it. The ship was bought by a coal merchant John Pratt with sixteen shares going to Capt William Sadler who was born in 1805, a few days later sixteen more shares were sold to Mr. John Green Chamberlain who was aÊ more famous and well placed gentleman - he was a sergeant of the Cinque Ports and an insurance broker with Lloyds insurance Company. Early in the morning of December 16, 1857 the Mary Dare, under the command of Capt. Taylor, was sailing from Seaham in Yorkshire to London with 150 tons of coal, twenty miles into the voyage she met disaster in a violent crash under full sail.

From the Lloyd's casualty list: "The MARY DARE of Wivenhoe, [Captain] Taylor, from Seaham to London with coals, was in contact off Huntcliffe Fort yesterday morning with the ADONIS*, [Captain] Goodwin, from London to Hartlepool, had her foremast carried away and shortly after went down; crew saved by ADONIS, which came in here the same day with the bowsprit, jib boom carried away and other damage."

* The Adonis is a heritage wreck site in North New Jersey U.S.A. http://www.njscuba.net/sites/site_dual_wrecks.html

Contact the Society at sailtraining@dccnet.com