This page tries to bring together the journeys of the last boat that Anton left Finland on, and which ends up with him 'stranded' in England. The main sources are the Sjomanshus lists and newspapers... sometimes it's more like speculation and a bit hard to follow!
In August 1851 the Hesperus (243 tonnes, and not to be confused with the English ship Hesperus of which the famous Wreck gave rise to many poems and legends!) was a 'fregattskepp' captained by GAW Clásen, a mariner who was born near Malmö in 1816, and experienced on North Sea voyages since at least 1838. He had also sailed the Mediterranean, and had been a Styrman on a ship owned by a GK owner and captain Anders Kurten. Records from Gamla Karleby show a long list of names of owners (Donner, Kyntzell, Kurten, Rahms, etc) and captains (Jessberg, Lalin, Pousette, etc) of the shipping fleets on that coast, down as far as Pietersaari (Jacobstad) that have countless links to our small Söderman/Jessberg family group, providing a living, a home and many spouses for the intertwined sailors' community.
There was a Hesperus from Gamla Karleby that had been owned by Anders Kyntzell and her regular captain was Johan Hillström. This was a longstanding position which was apparently curtailed when he arrived back from the USA in early August 1851 having lost at least 50% of his crew through desertion. Anders Kyntzell had died in the meantime, and the ship had been sold by auction (below) in June 1851 to Wilhem Sneckendahl, who also bought a few others.
In August 1851 the Hesperus (243 tonnes, and not to be confused with the English ship Hesperus of which the famous Wreck gave rise to many poems and legends!) was a 'fregattskepp' captained by GAW Clásen, a mariner who was born near Malmö in 1816, and experienced on North Sea voyages since at least 1838. He had also sailed the Mediterranean, and had been a Styrman on a ship owned by a GK owner and captain Anders Kurten. Records from Gamla Karleby show a long list of names of owners (Donner, Kyntzell, Kurten, Rahms, etc) and captains (Jessberg, Lalin, Pousette, etc) of the shipping fleets on that coast, down as far as Pietersaari (Jacobstad) that have countless links to our small Söderman/Jessberg family group, providing a living, a home and many spouses for the intertwined sailors' community.
There was a Hesperus from Gamla Karleby that had been owned by Anders Kyntzell and her regular captain was Johan Hillström. This was a longstanding position which was apparently curtailed when he arrived back from the USA in early August 1851 having lost at least 50% of his crew through desertion. Anders Kyntzell had died in the meantime, and the ship had been sold by auction (below) in June 1851 to Wilhem Sneckendahl, who also bought a few others.
In 1851, the Hesperus left Gamla Karleby around 18 August under GAW Clasén, with 16 crew, and the bosun Matts Hillström, son of the old captain. I have been tracking it through the contemporary newspapers' Shipping Intelligence columns, and it seems to have travelled to:
Uleaborg, nowadays Oulu, on the west coast of Finland up from GK, with ballast, leaving almost a month later on 21 September, to go to the North Sea, with a cargo of planks of wood, via Elsinore in Denmark, to London.
This would have meant he passed through the Oresund Tolls ... and indeed he is there, on 26 October, though, curiously, and annoyingly, the name of the ship is not included in any of the Toll records. This is also the last record of GAW Clasen passing through Oresund, though there are many since 1838..
She passed through Gravesend in November 1851, and presumably dropped her cargo in London as planned.
Uleaborg, nowadays Oulu, on the west coast of Finland up from GK, with ballast, leaving almost a month later on 21 September, to go to the North Sea, with a cargo of planks of wood, via Elsinore in Denmark, to London.
This would have meant he passed through the Oresund Tolls ... and indeed he is there, on 26 October, though, curiously, and annoyingly, the name of the ship is not included in any of the Toll records. This is also the last record of GAW Clasen passing through Oresund, though there are many since 1838..
She passed through Gravesend in November 1851, and presumably dropped her cargo in London as planned.
We next find her in January 1852, leaving London for Constantinople and Odessa, via Deal (only a week later), although in April she is in Constantinople, apparently having come from Odessa, and leaving for Queenstown (Northern Ireland) via Falmouth. There is a small reflection to be had in this list too, that on the same day, virtually, the Furst Menchikoff, one of Anton's early ships captained by Lalin, is coming out of Liverpool, and the Hoppet, captained by his uncle J Jessberg, is leaving Cardiff.
The next time we find Clasen is in a berth in Falmouth two days later, 13 April 1852, en route to Bristol. The fact that he hasn't passed through Oresund since 1851 suggests that all this time there was no return to the Baltic, they are still chasing cargoes around the North Sea.
For the moment, the only Clasen & Hesperus newspaper reports for 1853 is 4th March, which has him leaving Sowinto, Sjölund for Falmouth via Alexandria.
The Crimean War intervenes
What happened next to the boat is a mystery, still being vigorously researched!
The GK Sjomanshus records say that on 8th March 1854 it was sold "in Corfu", and its crew was signed off... though we know not where at the time of writing (Nov 2014). Corfu was a British protectorate at the time, and was the place where the Greek shipping industry burgeoned in earnest, mainly related to insurance!
Contradicting that the Skeppscalendar for 1856 includes the 'happenings' of 1854, and Olli and Tuuli were able to get a print of the relevant section which said:
so that's something to follow up...
A significant newspaper entry has come to light, a comment about the price of war by the Editor?, from the Ilmarinen 22 April 1854, which seems to confirm the devastation on the Finnish marine trade caused by the misunderstanding of their situation as self-employed ship owners and captains:
“War is a topic in everyone's mouth. Some are so frightened that they not only remove their families but also their 'redbarheter' and household stuff, yes food, into the country. But others are bolder and (think?) it is likely that the initial perplexity will soon go over, but trade and movement suffer considerably. But no rose without thorns, as best as we on one side try to indicate all is well the industry for patriotic reasons, we are prevented on the other, by so-called bad economic cycles. War is today's topic, and also in the hidden spring in the north, we have known as a distant swell of the storm. This swell seems bad on our merchant fleet, for besides the past, such as sales and fatalities on unknown ships, have yet three been sold in different cities, namely, Patience, Hesperus and Mercury. Some others will be overtraded, so that, if this continues as far apace, our merchant fleet will amount to zero.”
Schneckendahl owned all three ships named.
“War is a topic in everyone's mouth. Some are so frightened that they not only remove their families but also their 'redbarheter' and household stuff, yes food, into the country. But others are bolder and (think?) it is likely that the initial perplexity will soon go over, but trade and movement suffer considerably. But no rose without thorns, as best as we on one side try to indicate all is well the industry for patriotic reasons, we are prevented on the other, by so-called bad economic cycles. War is today's topic, and also in the hidden spring in the north, we have known as a distant swell of the storm. This swell seems bad on our merchant fleet, for besides the past, such as sales and fatalities on unknown ships, have yet three been sold in different cities, namely, Patience, Hesperus and Mercury. Some others will be overtraded, so that, if this continues as far apace, our merchant fleet will amount to zero.”
Schneckendahl owned all three ships named.
The main known fact was that Britain declared war on Russia at that moment, giving Russian/Finns merchant ships a window of 6 weeks to get back to home ports, or be impounded. Two consequences arose: many ships were sold, cargo and crew, to other nations, to prevent this happening. Often the captains of the ships did not know a war had begun until they reached land, and Brits, Swedes, and other neutral nations, bought the ships at a knock-down price, such as the GK-based ship the Hoppet, sold in Shields for £2700 to two Brits.
At this point the new ship's owner might change its name, and this is what is still the brick wall. If it did change its name, it's still a mystery about who bought at and what that name was. If it didn't have a different name then I might be quite close to seeing it dock somewhere in the UK.
A relevant mention, assuming it is our ship, is that a Hesperus was off Falmouth on 17th April 1854, having come from Constantinople, and on its way to Bremen. This is reported in the London Daily News, as well as in Abo and Helsinki shipping news, as in the snapshot at the top of the page.
At this point the new ship's owner might change its name, and this is what is still the brick wall. If it did change its name, it's still a mystery about who bought at and what that name was. If it didn't have a different name then I might be quite close to seeing it dock somewhere in the UK.
A relevant mention, assuming it is our ship, is that a Hesperus was off Falmouth on 17th April 1854, having come from Constantinople, and on its way to Bremen. This is reported in the London Daily News, as well as in Abo and Helsinki shipping news, as in the snapshot at the top of the page.
The other consequence of the War was that the British Navy ignored the six week window, and newspaper reports start to appear in which War Prizes are listed, mainly Finnish boats, again with crew and valuable cargoes. 'Alien' crew were allowed to leave the ships if they wished, as long as they promised not to work for the Russians. They were also in danger of being imprisoned as aliens. Many stayed on, and began to work for their new owners.
We as yet don't know which course Anton took - until a few weeks later when, according to his own records, he sailed out of Shields on a UK boat listed as a Swedish national!
Update: Nov 2016 - More mentions of Clasén as a ship's master have come to light, as more newspapers get published online through FMP. From mid-March until May 1854, he is captain of a ship Active (also spelled Activ and Actif) which is mainly going between Newcastle and Cadiz, with loads of coal. So it is possible that all hands were signed off and disembarked at Shields or Newcastle, somewhere in the Tyne area. As Clasén was a Swede, and he very experienced master, he would have had no trouble getting work. It's creditable that other sailors found work with him, so that's the next thing to follow up, if any of the names on the 1851 crew list for Hesperus are also with him. A Finn-Swedish boat called Activ is also in the annals, but this one appears to have UK parentage.
We as yet don't know which course Anton took - until a few weeks later when, according to his own records, he sailed out of Shields on a UK boat listed as a Swedish national!
Update: Nov 2016 - More mentions of Clasén as a ship's master have come to light, as more newspapers get published online through FMP. From mid-March until May 1854, he is captain of a ship Active (also spelled Activ and Actif) which is mainly going between Newcastle and Cadiz, with loads of coal. So it is possible that all hands were signed off and disembarked at Shields or Newcastle, somewhere in the Tyne area. As Clasén was a Swede, and he very experienced master, he would have had no trouble getting work. It's creditable that other sailors found work with him, so that's the next thing to follow up, if any of the names on the 1851 crew list for Hesperus are also with him. A Finn-Swedish boat called Activ is also in the annals, but this one appears to have UK parentage.
There is also the curious instance, below, of a Hesperus leaving Rio de Janeiro on 2nd April 1852 for Bremen via Dartmouth ... and then returning in May 1853 via Cadiz with Hillstrom as its Captain. I have to double-check on this one! Does it mean there was a change of captain somewhere and then back again? Seems odd and then the dates are strange... or is this Hesperus not Sneckendahl's? I need to check those old books from Uusikaupunki again...