Capt Edward Daniel ALSTON [3773]

  General Notes:

Edward was a Master Mariner in the golden age of the Clipper ships. On 28 July 1856, just 14 he joined the company of the ship Bombay, 1280 tons, built in 1809 at the city after which the ship was named. A year later he moved to Duncan Dunbar's 914 ton Octavia, launched at Shields in 1853. He completed his three years of training in this ship on the 11th July 1859, and became one of her officers, serving for two years as 4th mate and one year as 3rd.
He was granted his 2nd mate's certificate on 19th August 1862. He then moved to the Ramillies, owned at the time by Gellatly and Co., where he served as 2nd mate from December 1863 until January 1864. During this time, his experience grew, and on the 4th February 1864 gained his 1st mate's certificate. His first berth as Chief Mate was aboard the 433 ton barque Teviot owned by Tindall & Co. of Scarborough. He made only one voyage in this ship, to New York and Ceylon.
He gained his masters' ticket on 11th August 1865, but would make several voyages in different ships for various owners before he came into a command of his own. The following lists the ships on which he served prior to attaining his own command:
- Peveril of the Peak - 713 tons, Harrison, 2 voyages to India as Chief Mate
- Chaa-Sze - 566 ton tea clipper, Baring Brothers, Chief Mate - several voyages to India and Australia between
1868 and 1872
- St Vincent - 1872 as Chief Mate
On the 4th February 1873, at the age of 30, he became master of the Devitt & Moore part-owned Dunbar Castle. He made one voyage to Sydney in this ship, and then moved to another of their part-owned ships, the 697 ton barque Gateside. Again, he made only one voyage in this ship as master.
His next command was the fast Clipper ship, City of Adelaide which commenced in May of 1876 to 1887. And thus began this long association with this wonderful old ship. He continued to sail as her master until she was sold by Devitt & Moore in 1887. During his time aboard the City of Adelaide, Edward Alston married, and his wife Grace, could often be found amongst the passenger lists of his voyages.
After the sale of the City of Adelaide, Edward Alston moved to the Roman Empire. This was to be his last command. The ship made several voyages to the west of South America, and in February 1888 made a voyage from the Thames to Melbourne, and a year after that visited several Chilean ports.
On 29th July 1890, the Roman Empire left Liverpool, bound for Mollendo in Peru with a load of coal. No more was heard from her until the 29th December, when a report was received by Lloyd's List from an Auckland freighter, the Hermione, who had spoken with the Roman Empire 14 days out from Liverpool. Telegraphs were sent to the Lloyd's agent in Mollendo asking if the ship had arrived, to which a negative reply was received in return. On that same day, the master of the British Empire wrote to say that "the barque Santa, of Bristol, was in company with the Roman Empire on Aug 27 in Lat 5N Long 18^o 30'W." He further that the Santa arrived at Iquique [Chile] about 3 weeks before the writing of the letter, and that on the 17th and 18th of September, a vessel which was taken to be the Roman Empire was in company with the British Empire, but was too far away to be positively identified. He reported that position as 42^oS 54^oW. However, Lloyd's List didn't publish this information until the 3rd Feb 1891.
The following was published for insurance and Board of Trade purposes on 11th March 1891:
MISSING VESSEL
Roman Empire, Alston, of London, official number 54638, sailed from Liverpool for Mollendo on July 29 1890, with a cargo of coal, was spoken on Aug 27 in 5N 18W, and has not been since heard of.
Sadly, it is believed that Capt. Edward Daniel Alston, late of the ships Bombay, Octavia, Ramillies, Teviot, Peveril of the Peak, Chaa-Sze, St. Vincent, Dunbar Castle, Gateside, and City of Adelaide did what all good courageous captains do - he went down with his ship, the Roman Empire.

The following is from Messrs Howard Murphy and Gilbert Provost:
ALSTON, Edward Daniel; born Essex 1842, Master Certificate of Competency No. C26521 passed in London in 1865.
1865-66 - TEVIOT, Official Number: 27374 - East Indies
1866-67 - PEVERIL OF THE PEAK, ON 15029 - East Indies
1868-72 - CHAA SZE, ON 28388 - Australia
1872-73 - ST. VINCENT, ON 35770 - Australia
1873-74 - DUNBAR CASTLE, ON 50071 - Australia
1875-76 - GATESIDE, - Australia
1876-82 - CITY OF ADELAIDE, ON 50036 - Australia
1884-87 - CITY OF ADELAIDE, - Australia
1888-90 - ROMAN EMPIRE - Drowned 6-Sep-1890
Sources: Information on this page has been kindly supplied by Dr. Alan Platt, historian, and expert on the history of the City of Adelaide; and also by Messrs Howard Murphy and Gilbert Provost, Canada
Ref: http://cityofadelaide.org.au/the-ship/the-captains/162-captain-edward-alston.html
Ref: https://cityofadelaide.org.au/paxwiki/Alston,_Edward_Daniel

SV Roman Empire, british transport frigate, sailing ship, built 1866, weight (tons) 1542, dimensions 70.6 x 11.8 x 7.1 m
material wood, rigging 3 masts, yard no.163, call sign KPVN, missing 00/00/1890, builder Pile, Spence & Co., West Hartlepool (Sunderland), owner Duncan, George & Co. (Empire Line) London.
Ref: http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?179840

29.07.1890: left Liverpool (UK) towards the Pacific ports. 5.11.1890: seen for the last time off Vitoria, Espirito Santo State, Brazil. Supposed lost in the region of Cape Horn

The death dates of Edward and his family are unknown. They are commemorated on the large and ornate Alston memorial in the churchyard in Alston's home village of Great Bromley, Essex, UK.
Tablet on the side facing the Church;
Sacred to the memory of EDWARD DANIEL ALSTON second son of the late Edward John Alston of Gr Bromley Hall, commander of the ship 'Roman Empire' Born April 8th 1842 and of GRACE CHARLOTTE his wife Born Feb 19th 1853, both lost in the ship with all hands, last 'spoken' August 27th 1890 (& Nov 90? illegible) Also of their son ROLAND (sic) ATHEL (sic)EDWARD, born at sea Dec 18th 1877 died at sea Jan 16 (sic) year illegible.
Ref: Photographed and recorded by Mike Burn 2014.

On this memorial the date of the loss of the Roman Empire ('with all hands') is given as August 27th,1890 - the date of the last confirmed sighting of the ship, although there was a sighting of a ship presumed to be the Roman Empire in September.

Administration of the Estate of Edward Daniel Alston master mariner of Gt Bromley ESS who died at sea on or since 6 Sept 1890 was granted Mary Eliza Alston spinster sister of the deceased Proved 3 May 1892 for L3984

  Research Notes:

The City of Adelaide was built in 1864 by William Pile, Hay and Co. in Sunderland , England, and was launched on 7 May 1864. The ship was commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Carrick between 1923 and 1948 and, after decommissioning, was known as Carrick until 2001. At a conference convened by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 2001, the ship's name reverted to City of Adelaide.

The City of Adelaide is:
- the world's oldest surviving clipper ship,
- one of only two surviving composite clippers (other is the Cutty Sark ; built 1869), [note 1]
- one of only three surviving sailing ships (and the only one of these a passenger ship) to have taken emigrants from
the British Isles (the other two are the Edwin Fox and the Star of India ),
- the last survivor of the timber trade between North America and the United Kingdom,
- an A-listed structure in Scotland,
- part of the National Historic Fleet of the United Kingdom,
- listed in the Core Collection of the United Kingdom.
As a fast sailing ship, between 1864 and 1887 the City of Adelaide made 23 annual return voyages transporting passengers and goods from London and Plymouth to Adelaide , South Australia. On the return voyages the ship carried passengers, wool and copper from Adelaide and Port Augusta to London. During this period it played an important part in the immigration of Australia .
Between 1923 and 1989 as the Carrick, the clipper was an iconic landmark on the River Clyde in Glasgow. After a series of events stemming from a flooding mishap in 1989, ownership passed to the Scottish Maritime Museum and in 1992/1993 the ship was moved to a private slipway adjacent to the Scottish Maritime Museum's site in Irvine.
A restoration commenced but was halted in 1999 after funding difficulties when Scotland regained its own parliament. After being served with an eviction notice by the owners of the slipway, the Museum applied for permission from North Ayrshire Council to demolish the ship as a listed structure.
In June 2010 the Scottish Minister for Culture and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop offered a reprieve by commissioning a study to look at four options:
- archaeological deconstruction (demolition),
- transport to a different site in Scotland,
- transport to Sunderland in England, or
- transport to Adelaide in South Australia.
In August 2010, it was announced that the preferred option was moving to Adelaide for preservation.
Ref: Wikipedia

Mariners and ships in Australian Waters
DUNBAR CASTLE
of London, Edward D. Alston, Master, Burthen 925 tons
from the Port of London to Sydney, New South Wales, 26th March 1874
Ref: http://mariners.records.nsw.gov.au/1874/03/076dun.htm

ALSTON, Edward Daniel b.Essex 1842 C26521 London 1865 vol.1 1865-1868,1870-1873; vol.16 1874-1879; vol.28 1880-1882,1884-1886; vol.43 1888-1891; vol.58 no voyages listed
Ref: http://www.crewlist.org.uk/findingonindexes.html#online

Ships Image Courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SV_City_Adelaide_Dutton_Lithograph.jpg

  Other Records

1. Census: England, 30 Mar 1851, Gt Bromley ESS. Edward is recorded as a son aged 8 born Gt Bromley

2. Census: England, 2 Apr 1871, Gt Bromley Hall ESS. Edward is recorded as a son unmarried aged 28 an officer in the mercantile marine born Gt Bromley

3. Census: England, 3 Apr 1881, The Hall Gt Bromley ESS. Edward is recorded as a son aged 38 married a Master Mariner born Gt Bromley ESS

Edward married Grace Charlotte FRANCIS [3774] [MRIN: 1305], daughter of William FRANCIS of Norbiton [3775] and Mary Ann [17965], on 20 Mar 1877 in Richmond Surrey. (Grace Charlotte FRANCIS [3774] was born on 19 Feb 1853 in Islington MDX London and died in 1890 in Lost at Sea "Roman Empire".)