TS Mount Edgcumbe Training Ship for Homeless and Destitute Boys by Bruce E. Hunt ii For Jill for her patience and understanding © Bruce E. Hunt 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission of the publishers Published by BEH publications 01752 845983 Mount Edgcumbe about 1910 photographed from the Royal Albert Bridge iv T. S. Mount Edgcumbe The Training Ship Mount Edgcumbe lay at anchor off Saltash, just up river from Brunel’s Royal Albert Bridge, for over 40 years. Although a familiar landmark to the people of Saltash, there was little detailed information about the ship. It is thought that most of the records were retained by the last Superintendent, Captain Harkcom, and destroyed in WW2. The recent discovery of some letters, papers and a number of annual reports has led to a greater understanding of life on board the ship. Bruce E. Hunt Front Cove Top Senior boys on the jib, 1910 Middle The Mount Edgcumbe band, 1910 Bottom The Mount Edgcumbe about 1910 with Saltash in the background Rear cover Bottom An early postcard of the Mount Edgcumbe Contents Page An Anchorage for Orphans 9 Regulations for the admission of the boys 11 Sent to Mount Edgcumbe 13 Boys Reformatory and Industrial Schools 15 History of the ship 17 Ship location 23 The Industrial Training Ship Mount Edgcumbe 25 Physical fitness 29 Rowing and boat handling 30 Dog watch activities 32 Education 33 Ships company ceremonial 35 Annual meeting and prize giving 36 Goshawk 37 Health 41 Accounts 50 Captain Henry Wesley Harkcom 54 Telephone cable 57 Derailed train 58 The final years 59 Personal recollections Alfred Smith 62 Mr. D. W. Lang 66 Mr. Rawlings 66 Mrs Parcelle 67 Sea training for boys 68 Letters from ‘The Boys’ 75 Appendices Census 1881 85 Census 1891 89 Census 1901 93 Source’s of information 97 7 viii When Marshall Ware wrote a feature about the Training Ship Mount Edgcumbe for the Western Morning News, printed on the 16th March 1974 (reproduced below) He called it ‘An Anchorage for Orphans’. This was an unfortunate choice of title as few of the boys were orphans. The purpose of the ship was to educate and train ‘homeless and destitute’ boys in the skills require by industry, the armed forces and predominantly the merchant marine. An Anchorage for Orphans How many people remember the Mount Edgcumbe Training Ship, moored in the River Tamar, first off Saltash Passage and then off Saltash from 1877 to 1920. There are still seven people living in Saltash Passage who recall the ship being moored off the Devon side just above the Royal Albert Bridge, before 1910. The eldest is my aunt, now in her 80’s (written in 1974). Originally she was a 56-gun ship HMS Winchester, built at Woolwich. She was lent to the marine Society at Liverpool and renamed Conway in 1861. It was returned to the Admiralty 15 years later. On June 28, 1877 she was renamed Mount Edgcumbe Industrial Training Ship for Homeless and destitute Boys, and moored off Saltash Passage. The laying of cables just above the Royal Albert Bridge in 1913 made it necessary to moor the ship off Brunel Green, Saltash. The boys did their sea going training in the Goshawk, which was moored nearby. The Saltash Passage residents were quite used to the boys, and considered them harmless, but Saltash residents would move to the other side of the road until Mr. Dingle, the owner of the Saltash Gazette, printed a letter in his paper that the boys were well behaved. Mr. Soltau-Symons, who had held office as vice-president since the ship was re-commissioned in 1877, passed away at a great age in 1916. He was one of the chief and most active promoters of the institution, touring the two counties and holding meetings in important centres in order to rouse the interest and raise the money to fit out the old frigate. In 1910 Capt. H. Wesley Harkcom was appointed Captain Superintendent of the ship having succeeded Mr. Kitt. He formed a close association with my father who gave him landing facilities on his quay and on occasions the use of our telephone. The ships cottage hospital, called Newlands, was built on the Devon side by Mr. Elliot in 1860. It was so named after he had built the embankment, reclaiming a large acreage of the Tamar mud flats. Capt. Harkcom had served with distinction in the Chilian navy and earned a high reputation as a rowing expert. He was a very fair and just man. He made a tremendous impact on the ship by stopping the use of the birch, which was extensively used in Mr. Kitt’s time. He tried to maintain the ship as a ‘home’ and not an ‘institution’ and removed ‘Industrial’ from the ship’s title. 9 He supported the local shops, obtaining bread and provisions from Saltash Co-op, meat from Mr. Claud Vosper’s Saltash butchery. Mr. Kent the manager of Underwoods, St. Budeaux supplied groceries, and my farther supplied coal to the Newlands Cottage Hospital. Capt. Harkcom lived with his wife, two sons and two daughters in the ship. Two of his daughters live in Plymouth off the Hoe. I am indebted to Mrs. Florence Purselle for her help in compiling these notes. The reports of the Devon and Cornwall Committee were given each year and it is like reading ‘Debrett’ to study the names of the important local dignitaries. The patron was the Prince of Wales, with vice-patrons the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, the Earl Fortescue and the Earl of Morley. The trustees included Viscount Valletort and Sir Henry Lopes. Included in the general committee for 1915/16 were such famous people as Lord St. Leven, the Hon. Waldorf Astor M.P. Den. Sir R. Pole-Carew, Sir C. Kinloch Cooke The Goshawk at Fowey 1910 M.P. and Sir John Jackson M.P. The chairman of the Ladies Hospital Committee was Lady Ernestine Edgcumbe, sup-ported by Lady Alberta Lopes, Mrs. Coryton, Mrs. E. Rashleigh and Mrs. Stone. The nurse at the cottage hospital was Mrs. Wheeler. The Commander-in-Chief, Sir George Warrender and Lady Maud Warrender took the keenest interest in the ship during his term of office at Devonport, both visiting the ship and on seeking to promote by advice and influence toe welfare and future prospects of the boys. The number of boys on the ship varied from year to year but the average was 250. During the Great War large numbers served their country in the Navy, Army and Merchant Service. On one occasion Capt. Harkcom stated in his report that not very many ships in the Royal Navy were without one or more old boys on board and that he had received more than 700 letters. On December 4th 1920 the ship closed down and was afterwards towed to Queen Ann’s Battery, Plymouth where it was broken up. Capt. Harkcom and his family were provided with a home at the cottage hospital, where they lived until August 8th 1926 when the house and land was acquired by the War Department for the Ernesettle Depot. Nothing remains of the ship in Saltash passage other than the two starting guns, which were purchased by my father in 1922. They were loaned each year to the St. Budeaux Regatta Committee for their annual regatta. After the last regatta in 1928 we kept the guns in our cellar. With the formation of the Royal Albert Sailing Club in 1932, I handed the guns to the Commodore on permanent loan. Capt. Harkcom is still remembered by us for the wonderful results his boys obtained in the Saltash regattas, particularly in the 12 ore cutter races. The Harkcom cup, which he presented to the St. Budeaux regatta committee, is now in the Tamar River Sailing Club. Reproduced by kind permission of the Western Morning News 16-3-1974 by Marshall Ware In the thirty odd years since 1974 more information has come to light about life on the ship including a number of photographs and documents, particularly covering the later years (1900-1920), information on the years before 1900 still seems to be very elusive. It is now clear that by 1920 the ship was in very poor physical condition and had to close, but it is still not clear why the promised replacement from the Admiralty never materialised. The fête of the boys on board at the time in not known but it is assumed they were sent to other similar establishments throughout the country. 10 Regulations for the Admission of the Boys (in 1884) The Regulations for the Admission of Boys to the Mount Edgcumbe Industrial Training Ship in 1884 were:- “Until further notice, boys between the ages of twelve and sixteen will be received on board the Mount Edgcumbe if sent by the Magistrates, with a medical certificate of good health, and approved by the Committee, from any of the NEIGHBOURING COUNTIES, under the following Acts of the Industrial Schools' Act, 1866, viz. -- CLAUSE 14 -- Any person may bring before two Justices or a Magistrate, any child, apparently under the age of fourteen years, that comes within any of the following descriptions, namely:-- That is found begging and receiving alms (whether actually or under the pretext of selling or offering for sale anything), or being in any street or public place, for the purpose of so begging or receiving alms.