The George Thompson passed through the hands of A. Nicol & Co., of Aberdeen, and J. Banfield, of Sydney, to the Chileans. On 13th June, 1902, she was wrecked at Carlemapu.
The Christiana Thompson went to the Norwegians and was renamed Beatrice Lines. She was wrecked near Umra in Norway on 7th October, 1899.
The Harlaw was wrecked at Hongkong in 1878.
The Jerusalem, like many of the others, was converted into a barque in her old age. In 1887 she was bought by the Norwegians. On 28th October, 1893, she left New Brunswick for London with a cargo of pitch-pine and resin and never arrived, the usual end of timber droghers on the stormy North Atlantic.
The Thyatira was bought by J. W. Woodside & Co., of Belfast, in 1894. In July, 1896, when bound from London to Rio with general cargo, she was wrecked at Pontal da Barra.
The Ascalon was bought by Trinder, Anderson & Co. in 1881. They ran her for nine years and then sold her to the Norwegians. She was wrecked on 7th February, 1907, at Annalong, when bound from Runcorn to Moss.
The second Centurion left Sydney for Newcastle, N.S.W., on 17th January, 1887; at 1.30 a.m. whilst off the Heads, the tug’s line carried away: the ship drifted on to the North Head, struck and then sank in 18 fathoms, barely giving her crew 15 minutes to get clear.
The Aviemore was bought by the Norwegians. In October, 1910, she left Sandejford for the South Shetland where she was converted into a floating oil refinery. Later she was resold to the Norwegians, and I have a snapshot of her taken in Bristol in 1915, rigged as a barque with a stump bowsprit.
Duthie’s Ships.
Another well-known Aberdeen firm which was a pioneer in the Australian trade was Duthies. They were builders as well as owners. The original William Duthie started his shipbuilding business over 100 years ago. Besides owning many of the ships he built, he was also a large timber merchant, and kept some vessels in the North American timber trade. He was also one of the first to send ships to the Chinchas and Peru for guano. He eventually turned over his shipbuilding business to his brothers John and Alexander, but retained his interest in some of the ships.