| Year. | Voyage. | Cargo. | Tonnage. | Supposed Value of Ship and Cargo. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1789. | Norway to America, | Spirits, &c. | 150 | L. 3500 0 0 |
| 1790. | Hamburgh to do. | Cordage, &c. | 100 | 2800 0 0 |
| 1792. | Norway to Wales, | Wood and Iron, | 90 | 1100 0 0 |
| —— | Sweden to Liverpool, | Grain, | 120 | 3100 0 0 |
| —— | Do. to Greenock, | Timber, | 400 | 3400 0 0 |
| 1793. | Norway to Spain, | Fish and Oil, | 100 | 2000 0 0 |
| —— | Copenhagen to Santa Cruz, | Silks, &c. | 250 | 35,000 0 0 |
| 1794. | Copenhagen to Surinam, | Muslins, &c. | 250 | 20,000 0 0 |
| —— | Do. to Dundee, | Flax, &c. | 90 | 2000 0 0 |
| 1795. | Do. to America, | Cloth, &c. | 300 | 12,200 0 0 |
| 1796. | Do. to Liverpool, | Timber, | 250 | 2500 0 0 |
| —— | Do. to Whitehaven, | Timber, | 150 | 1300 0 0 |
| —— | Liverpool to Ostend, | Wine and Rum, | 400 | 15,300 0 0 |
| 1797. | Baltic to Liverpool, | Grain, | 120 | 3000 0 0 |
| 1798. | Sweden to Hull, | Timber and Iron, | 200 | 2500 0 0 |
| —— | Norway to Liverpool. | Timber, | 200 | 1800 0 0 |
| —— | Do. to America, | Cloth, &c. | 200 | 5000 0 0 |
| —— | Altona to Do. | Spirits and Cloth, | 450 | 18,000 0 0 |
| —— | London to Gibraltar, | Stores, | 300 | 5000 0 0 |
| 1799. | Do. to Dublin, | Staves, | 150 | 2200 0 0 |
| 1800. | Hamburgh to America, | Cambric and Linen, | 200 | 45,000 0 0 |
| —— | Dantzic to Liverpool, | Timber, | 900 | 10,000 0 0 |
| 22 vessels wrecked in 12 years, supposed value | L. 196,400 0 0 | |||
Start Point Tower proposed to be converted into a Light-house.
This list of shipwrecks strongly points out the dangerous nature of the navigation of the seas and friths of the northern islands of Orkney. From a consideration of these numerous accidents, being almost at the rate of two wrecks in the year, and seeing the mangled remains of some fine ships which still appeared upon the island of Sanday, the author was induced to bring this matter again under the notice of the Commissioners of the Northern Light-houses, in his report to the Board in the year 1805, when he proposed that the Start Point Beacon should be converted into a light-house, and that North Ronaldsay light should be discontinued, and its tower converted into a beacon, as wrecks were found to happen comparatively seldom upon that island, while hardly a year passed without instances of this kind on the island of Sanday; for, owing to the projecting points of this strangely formed island, the lowness and whiteness of its eastern shores, and the wonderful manner in which the scanty patches of land are intersected with lakes and pools of water, it becomes even in day-light a deception, and has often been fatally mistaken for an open sea.
North Ronaldsay Light-house to be converted into a Beacon.
Opinion of persons conversant with the Navigation of these Seas.
On this subject, however, the author was instructed to take the opinion of persons acquainted with the navigation of these seas. Accordingly, when on his annual voyage to the Northern Light-houses, he submitted the subject to the consideration of Mr William Ellis, Commander of the Ross Revenue Cutter, who had then been cruising for several months off these islands, by order of Government, for intelligence relative to the motions of the Dutch fleet, which then threatened to attempt a landing on the Western Coast of Ireland. It was also submitted to Mr Riddoch, Collector, and Mr Manson, Comptroller of the Customs, at Kirkwall; to Mr John Traill, Mr Fotheringham, and Mr Strang of Sanday; and to the ship-masters of Kirkwall and Stromness. These gentlemen all united in opinion as to the superior usefulness of a light upon the island of Sanday.
Light-house resolved on.
This measure having been resolved on by the Board, the plans were remitted, with powers to proceed, to Mr William Rae, (now Sir William Rae, Bart. Lord Advocate of Scotland,) who was then Sheriff of the county of Orkney. The works at the Start Point were accordingly commenced early in the summer of 1805; by the month of November the light-room was finished, and the light exhibited on the 1st day of January 1806. Intimation was at the same time given to the public, that the beacon or tower of masonry erected in the year 1803, upon the island of Sanday, having been found insufficient for preventing the numerous shipwrecks upon the low shores of that island, had been converted into a light-house.
Description of Start Point Light.