Ahoy! History On The Horizon...

Hop aboard 3-masted barque the Good Intent (built in Montrose) and sail back in time to the 19th century with Shipmaster William Forbes - aka ’The Captain’ - and his beautiful figurehead who is now on display in Bergen Maritime Museum.

I’ve been piecing together flotsam and jetsam from family history and Montrose’s shipping heritage - with lots of help from posts discovered in Montrose Memories Old & New over the years - and embarked on a virtual voyage that begins in Montrose and takes in Greenock, the Jamaican sugar trade, a name change in Norway, a stranding off the coast of Denmark, and (almost) Finland…

With a little help from clydeships.co.uk, more details are coming to the surface and I wanted to record it all somewhere handy.  If you can add or correct any details, I’d love to hear from you.

Please note the ship image is not Good Intent. It's the same type of boat, included for visual romance. 

Obituary - Published in Aberdeen Journal, Tues 2nd Sept 1924

"The death took place at Montrose on Sunday of Mr William Forbes one of the town's oldest residents & Shipmasters. The deceased, who was 87 years, served his apprenticeship under the late Capt. Cables, & after engaging in the coastal trade for a number of years, subsequently acquired & commanded the 3-masted barque Good Intent, in which for over 20 years he traded between Greenock & Jamaica, in the West Indies, principally in the sugar trade. Retiring 35 years ago, he became interested in golf & bowling, & was an ex-captain of Montrose Mercantile Golf Club.”

Proposed Timeline 

(based on obituary and a shipping record found via clydeships.co.uk)

1869
A wood sailing vessel 3-masted Barque, named Good Intent (official number 60294) was built by James Strachan Ship Builders in Montrose. 

This Cargo Vessel was built for West Indies/South America trades. The registered owners are 'James Petrie and others’, Montrose. According to an article in Electric Scotland, James Strachan and James Petrie once ran a shipyard together and went on to run separate establishments, employing around 30 men and boys. 

Meanwhile, dates provided in the obituary for William Forbes imply that he 'acquired and commanded’ the Good Intent in 1869, the year it was built. Then ‘for over 20 years he traded between Greenock and Jamaica.’ 

So perhaps William Forbes was one of the ‘others’ who had a share in the boat? 

Who inspired the beautiful figurehead carved for Good Intent?

Stormy Waters

William Forbes was probably excited about his adventures and commanding his own ship but he was also sailing to Jamaica at a volatile and troubling time in history. While the Slavery Abolition Acts 1833 formally ended slavery, hostilities inevitably continued and the Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865 took place just 4 years before William Forbes set sail in Good Intent. According to wikipedia, ’the latter half of the 19th century saw economic decline, low crop prices, droughts and disease. When sugar lost its importance, many former plantations went bankrupt, land was sold to Jamiaican peasants, and cane fields were consolidated by dominant British producers.’

c1873- 1890
Ownership was transferred to James Mitchell and others, Montrose. It’s possible that James Mitchell was part of the Banks and Mitchell shipping partnership which had registered offices in Dundee. They were Shipbrokers, Chandlers, Agents and Owners. Meanwhile, records imply William Forbes continued to captain Good Intent until he retired in 1889. At this point, the ship went up for sale in February 1890 at Bowling, River Clyde and eventually set sail for a new life in Scandanavia where it appears to have ended its days ...

1895
Good Intent was registered by J Olsen in Christiania (Oslo) and apparently renamed Adonis.

1895
The ship was registered under actieselskap (meaning limited company) 'Achilles' - mng (management) O Th Bjordam, Kragero, Norway

1898
The ship was registered under actieselskap (meaning limited company) ‘Adonis’ - (same management) - reg Kragero

c 4/6/1901
Adonis (formerly Good Intent) stranded on Saltholm, a Danish island near Copenhagen in the Oresund, the strait that separates Denmark and Sweden. Adonis had been sailing from London for Uleäborg (aka Oulu, Finland) in ballast. In ballast means it was en route to collect cargo. The ship was apparently refloated 7/6/1901.

1905

This is listed as the ship’s end year and records show it was broken up and the beautiful dark-haired figurehead found her way to a ship breaking company in Stravanger.

1939

The figurehead was sold to the Bergen Maritime Museum with funds provided by J L Mowinckel's Shipping Company.

1960s

When the new port-side museum needed a little flourish for its facade, this figurehead provided inspiration. A wooden replica was hung on the outer wall overlooking the port.

1990s

Due to damage, the replica figurehead was replaced by a fibreglass version in the 1990s and this time she was given a perhaps more Scandinavian look, with a crown of striking blonde hair.

Land Ahoy!

What a voyage of discovery! And what tales could The Captain and his beautiful figurehad have told about navigating the choppy waters of British colonialism in the 19th century? Perhaps we'll never know but if you ever visit Bergen Maritime Museum, please do say hello to the fair haired beauty as you pass through the doors, and take time to meet her dark haired inspiration - the original figurehead from Good Intent - when you wander the museum's halls. She has voyaged a long way from her native home in Scotland to set her ocean blue eyes upon you…