Alexander Orkney

Parents:

• Birth*: Alexander Orkney was born on 22 August 1844 at Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland, .¹
• He was the son of James Orkney and Mary Ann Strachan.
• (Groom) Marriage*: Alexander Orkney married Isabell Dawson on 31 July 1874 at Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland, .²
• (Deceased) Death*: Alexander Orkney died on 18 February 1879 at The Scares, Cruden Bay, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, , at age 34 Captain of the Mary Cook shipwrecked at Cruden Bay - all hands and passengers lost;
  Mary Cook: The Skares, North Sea
  Alternative Names Peterhead; Scares Of Cruden; Scars Of Cruden; Cruden Bay; Bay Of Cruden; Cruden Scars; Cruden Skares
  Site type BARQUE (19TH CENTURY)
  Canmore ID 206639
  Site Number NK03SE 8008
  NGR NK 089 330
  Latitude N 57 23.3
  Longitude W 1 51.1
  Council ABERDEENSHIRE
  Parish MARITIME - ABERDEENSHIRE
  Former Region GRAMPIAN
  Former District MARITIME
  Former County MARITIME
  
  Archaeological Notes
  NK03SE 8008 c. 089 330
  N57 23.3 W1 51.1
  
  NLO: The Skares [name: NK 089 330]
  Cruden Bay [name: NK 091 364]
  Bay of Cruden [name centred NK 090 348]
  Peterhead [name: NK 135 465].
  
  17 February 1879, MARY COOK, 14 yrs old, of Montrose, Lloyd's A 1 cont. 5.74, 6 yrs, last survey 8.77, wooden barque, 271 tons, 9 crew, Master A. Orkney, Owner A. Mearns, Montrose, departed Hamburg for The Tyne, in ballast, one passenger (Master's wife), 10 lives lost (9 crew and 1 passenger), wind ESE, stranded, total loss, Scars of Cruden, near Buchan Ness.
  Source: PP Abstracts Returns of Wrecks and Casualties on Coasts of the UK 1878 - 79 (1880 [C.2519] LXVI.47).
  
  Peterhead, Feb. 18, 6.29 p.m. MARY COOK. The barque MARY COOK, of Montrose, is a total loss at Whinnyfold, Cruden. No appearance of crew.
  Source: Shipping Intelligence, LL, No. 20,223, London, Wednesday February 19 1879.
  
  Peterhead, Feb. 18., MARY COOK. The barque MARY COOK, of Montrose, has been driven ashore at the Scares of Cruden, 10 miles south of this port. It is not known whether she was derelict or whether the crew have been lost, as the vessel lies in deep water, only her masts being visible. She is believed to have been from Hamburg.
  Source: Shipping Intelligence, LL, No. 20,225, London, Friday February 21 1879.
  
  Greenock, Feb. 20. MARY COOK. A box containing letters, photographs, and jewellery, the letters, with one exception, being in a foreign tongue, was washed ashore yesterday form the wreck of the barque MARY COOK, of Montrose, which foundered early on Wednesday morning on the Aberdeen coast. The letters seem to indicate that the writer served on board the ship CITY OF MOBILE, from which he was discharged in 1877. A number of other articles [Record received incomplete].
  
  NMRS, MS/829/69 (no. 2906).
  
  (Classified as wooden barque, in ballast; date of loss cited as 17 Fenruary 1879). Mary Cook: this vessel stranded at [the] Scars [Skares] of Cruden. Capt. Orkney.
  Registration: Montrose. Built 1865. 271grt. Length: 36m. Beam: 8m.
  (Location of loss cited as N57 23.5 W1 51.0).
  I G Whittaker 1998.
  
  The location assigned to this record is essentially tentative. The Scars of Cruden are not noted as such on the 1995 edition of the OS 1:50,000 map, but the name presumably applies to The Skares, a group of exposed rock stacks off the headland at the S end of the Bay of Cruden.
  Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 28 January 2008.
  
  Books and References
  Larn and Larn, R and B (1998) Shipwreck index of the British Isles: volume 4, Scotland, London
  Page(s): DB 17/02/1879 Held at RCAHMS E.5.14.LAR
  Whittaker, I G (1998) Off Scotland: a comprehensive record of maritime and aviation losses in Scottish waters, Edinburgh
  Page(s): 155 Held at RCAHMS E.5.14.WHI
  Social Bookmarking Links.³
  

• Qualification*: He was awarded By the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade; Certificate of Comptency as Only Mate; Alexander Orkney; Whereas it has been reported to us that you have been found duly qualified to fulfill the duties of Only Mate in the Merchant Service we do hereby in pursuance of the Mercantile Marine Act 1854 grant you this Certificate of Competency. Given under the Seal of The Board of Trade this Thirty-first day of January 1865 By order of the Board, registered initialled ..., signed ... officers of the Marine Department. Entered at the General Register and Record Office of Seamen on the First day of February 1865, initialled JMC on 31 January 1865.⁴
  
• Qualification: He was awarded By the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade; Certificate of Comptency as Master; Alexander Orkney; Whereas it has been reported to us that you have been found duly qualified to fulfill the duties of Master in the Merchant Service we do hereby in pursuance of the Merchant Shipping Act 1854 grant you this Certificate of Competency. Given under the Seal of The Board of Trade this Second day of June 1868. By order of the Board, registered initialled ASR, signed ... officers of the Marine Department. Entered at the General Register and Record Office of Seamen on the Third day of June 1868, initialled JMC on 2 June 1868.⁵
  
• Newspaper Article*: He was mentioned in a newspaper article The Cork Examiner, 30 December 1878
  ARRIVAL OF A DERELICT SHIP IN THE HARBOUR
  —————?
  THE British barque Ibis, bound from Benin, on the West Coast of Africa, to this port for orders, arrived in the harbour on Saturday with a prize crew on board. She was fallen in with by the barque Mary Cook, of Montrose, Captain Orkney, bound to the Channel for orders, from Monte Video, on Dec. 17th, in lat. 46.38 North, and 14.21 West, abandoned, which vessel put a prize crew on board. Mr. Gore, the chief mate of the Mary Cook, who came in charge of the Ibis, states that about noon on the date and position named they observed a brigantine [sic] on their port bow, and from her movements they anticipated that all was not right with the vessel. They bore down on her, launched a boat and boarded her, when they found she was abandoned, and all her sails blown to pieces, but otherwise the vessel appeared intact. They discovered by the name on the stern that she was called the Ibis, of Liverpool, and was laden with palm oil. Mr. Gore, by whom she was boarded, returned to his vessel and reported the position of affairs to the master, Captain Orkney, at the same time expressing his willingness to take charged of the derelict, if any of the crew would volunteer to accompany him, and endeavour to bring her on to Queenstown. After a consultation, Captain Orkney decided to let him go, and three of the crew having volunteered to risk the danger with him, they bravely undertook the task. Having temporarily repaired the sails, which were in a wretched condition, with the ship's awnings, which they found on board, they steered for this port, where they arrived safely on Saturday. Their own ship also arrived at Falmouth, all well, last week, and the former crew of the Ibis were landed at Gravesend some days since by the Norwegian barque Alert, which took them off some days previous to the date of her being fallen in with by the Mary Cook. on 30 December 1878 at Cork, Ireland, .⁶
• Newspaper Article: He was mentioned in a newspaper article The barque Mary Cook, of Montrose, was wrecked on Monday night on the rocks near Peterhead. The hull went ashore yesterday. There is no trace of the crew. on 17 February 1879.⁷
  
• (Informant) Death: He registered the death of Mary Cook Barque on 17 February 1879; 17 February 1879, MARY COOK, 14 yrs old, of Montrose, Lloyd's A 1 cont. 5.74, 6 yrs, last survey 8.77, wooden barque, 271 tons, 9 crew, Master A. Orkney, Owner A. Mearns, Montrose, departed Hamburg for The Tyne, in ballast, one passenger (Master's wife), 10 lives lost (9 crew and 1 passenger), wind ESE, stranded, total loss, Scars of Cruden, near Buchan Ness.
  Source: PP Abstracts Returns of Wrecks and Casualties on Coasts of the UK 1878 - 79 (1880 [C.2519] LXVI.47).
• (Witness) Death: Alexander Orkney was lost in the same wreck as Isabell Dawson on 18 February 1879 at The Scares, Cruden Bay, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, ; -Captain of the Mary Cook shipwrecked at Cruden Bay - all hands and passengers lost;
  Mary Cook: The Skares, North Sea
  Alternative Names Peterhead; Scares Of Cruden; Scars Of Cruden; Cruden Bay; Bay Of Cruden; Cruden Scars; Cruden Skares
  Site type BARQUE (19TH CENTURY)
  Canmore ID 206639
  Site Number NK03SE 8008
  NGR NK 089 330
  Latitude N 57 23.3
  Longitude W 1 51.1
  Council ABERDEENSHIRE
  Parish MARITIME - ABERDEENSHIRE
  Former Region GRAMPIAN
  Former District MARITIME
  Former County MARITIME
  
  Archaeological Notes
  NK03SE 8008 c. 089 330
  N57 23.3 W1 51.1
  
  NLO: The Skares [name: NK 089 330]
  Cruden Bay [name: NK 091 364]
  Bay of Cruden [name centred NK 090 348]
  Peterhead [name: NK 135 465].
  
  17 February 1879, MARY COOK, 14 yrs old, of Montrose, Lloyd's A 1 cont. 5.74, 6 yrs, last survey 8.77, wooden barque, 271 tons, 9 crew, Master A. Orkney, Owner A. Mearns, Montrose, departed Hamburg for The Tyne, in ballast, one passenger (Master's wife), 10 lives lost (9 crew and 1 passenger), wind ESE, stranded, total loss, Scars of Cruden, near Buchan Ness.
  Source: PP Abstracts Returns of Wrecks and Casualties on Coasts of the UK 1878 - 79 (1880 [C.2519] LXVI.47).
  
  Peterhead, Feb. 18, 6.29 p.m. MARY COOK. The barque MARY COOK, of Montrose, is a total loss at Whinnyfold, Cruden. No appearance of crew.
  Source: Shipping Intelligence, LL, No. 20,223, London, Wednesday February 19 1879.
  
  Peterhead, Feb. 18., MARY COOK. The barque MARY COOK, of Montrose, has been driven ashore at the Scares of Cruden, 10 miles south of this port. It is not known whether she was derelict or whether the crew have been lost, as the vessel lies in deep water, only her masts being visible. She is believed to have been from Hamburg.
  Source: Shipping Intelligence, LL, No. 20,225, London, Friday February 21 1879.
  
  Greenock, Feb. 20. MARY COOK. A box containing letters, photographs, and jewellery, the letters, with one exception, being in a foreign tongue, was washed ashore yesterday form the wreck of the barque MARY COOK, of Montrose, which foundered early on Wednesday morning on the Aberdeen coast. The letters seem to indicate that the writer served on board the ship CITY OF MOBILE, from which he was discharged in 1877. A number of other articles [Record received incomplete].
  
  NMRS, MS/829/69 (no. 2906).
  
  (Classified as wooden barque, in ballast; date of loss cited as 17 Fenruary 1879). Mary Cook: this vessel stranded at [the] Scars [Skares] of Cruden. Capt. Orkney.
  Registration: Montrose. Built 1865. 271grt. Length: 36m. Beam: 8m.
  (Location of loss cited as N57 23.5 W1 51.0).
  I G Whittaker 1998.
  
  The location assigned to this record is essentially tentative. The Scars of Cruden are not noted as such on the 1995 edition of the OS 1:50,000 map, but the name presumably applies to The Skares, a group of exposed rock stacks off the headland at the S end of the Bay of Cruden.
  Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 28 January 2008.
  
  Books and References
  Larn and Larn, R and B (1998) Shipwreck index of the British Isles: volume 4, Scotland, London
  Page(s): DB 17/02/1879 Held at RCAHMS E.5.14.LAR
  Whittaker, I G (1998) Off Scotland: a comprehensive record of maritime and aviation losses in Scottish waters, Edinburgh
  Page(s): 155 Held at RCAHMS E.5.14.WHI
  Social Bookmarking Links.³
  
• Newspaper Article: Alexander Orkney was mentioned in a newspaper article WRECK OF A MONTROSE BARQUE
  SUPPOSED LOSS OF ALL HANDS.
  Yesterday the sad intelligence reached Montrose of the foundering of the barque Mary Cook, of that part, and the supposed loss of captain and crew. She left Coxhaven in ballast on Friday and for the Tyne. She had thus encountered the full force of the south-easterly gale, and being light had been unable to keep off the land. The first information of the sad occurrence was the following telegram received by Mr Chas. Thomson, Railway Station, from a farmer friend resident near Slains Castle, Aberdeenshire, the scene of the wreck -"Ship Mary Cook sunk here last night. No signs of any of the crew. Ship's name and master's name have come in - Mary Cook, Montrose: Alexander Orkney." Mr Alex. Mearns, fishcurer, the managing owner, being from home, the telegram was taken to Mr James Warrock. shipbroker, another of the owners. Mr Warrock at once telegraphed to Messers Mitchell & Rae coal merchants, Newburch, for further information, and in reply received the following telegram :" Mary Cook sunk last night little south of Slains Castle. Crew supposed lost. Three beats ashore. Masts out of water. There is thus every reason to fear that all the crew have perished. The Mary Cook was commanded by Captain Alexander Orkney, of Montrose, whose brother Frederick Orkney on board in the capacity of boatswain. The two apprentices John Slicer (whose father is a dock labourer) and Allan Fisher (an orphan) also belonged to Montrose. She generally carried a crew of ten, all told; and it is supposed that, with the exception of those whose names are given above, the others were foreigners shipped at Hamburg. She arrived at Falmouth on 24th December last from Frey Bentos, River Plate, and, as reported in the Telegraph at the time, picked up on the 17th December the derelict vessel Ibis, of Liverpool, laden with palm oil, on board of which Captain Orkney put his mate and a salvage crew, who succeeded in navigating to prize to Queens town. On calling at Falmouth Captain Orkney received order to proceed to Hamburg, and after discharging his cargo there left, as already stated, on the voyage which has terminated so disastrously. He was joined at Falmouth by Mrs Orkney, who sailed with him for Hamburg, and who has perished along with her gallant husband. They had only been a few years married, and their only child died a year or two ago. Captain Orkney, who was about 40 years of age, was an active, intelligent seaman, was held in the highest respect by his owners and all who came in contact with him, and the melancholy fate of himself and wife (the only child of Mr and Mrs Dawson, of the Union Inn) excited yesterday a widespread feeling of regret. The Mary Cook was 271 tons register, and was built in 1866 by Sir Strachan, shipbuilder, Montrose. on 19 February 1879.⁸

Census & Directory Entries

Member of Household	30 March 1851	They was listed as a member of the household of James Orkney in the 1851 census at 26 Wharf Street, Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland, . Alexander Orkney, son, 6, scholar, Montrose; James Orkney, head, 39 (sic probably 49), seaman, Montrose; Mary Orkney, wife, 36, Montrose.9
Head of Household	7 April 1861	He was listed as head of household in the 1861 census at vessel 'Falcon', Newcastle Quay, Northumberland, England, . Alexander Orkney, age 18, ordinary seaman, Montrose, Angus; with William Wishart 35, John McIver 29, Alexander Watt 29, William Watt 33.10