Hard down! Hard down!. Captain Jack Isbester
Smith, Davie. Personal letters No.DS5 (Isbester Collection).
6 The Shetland Book, Zetland Education Committee, 1967, p.89.
7 Halcrow, Captain A. The Sail Fishermen of Shetland. The Shetland Times Ltd, Lerwick, 1994. pp.82–83
8 Coull, Dr J.R. Herring Fishing in Scotland, A Resources for Learning in Scotland Project.
9 See this book, Chapter 11.
10 Halcrow, Captain A. Op.cit, pp.67–68.
11 Halcrow, Captain A. Ibid, pp. 69–71.
12 Sandison, Charles. The Sixareen and her Racing Descendants, pp.16–17. The Shetland Times Ltd, Lerwick. 2005.
13 Halcrow, Captain A. Op.cit, pp.75–80.
14 Johnson, Charles, of Toam, North Roe.
15 Mansons Shetland Almanac & Directory for 1932.
16 Thomson, Captain J.P, OBE ExC. Letters JPT9, JPT10 & JPT11 of 1969. (Isbester Collection). For the dates of this and subsequent voyages prior to John Isbester obtaining command I rely upon unpublished research undertaken in the 1960s. Captain Thomson writes that the information on John Isbester’s early voyages on the smacks came from Mr Manson of the Shetland News while data for the subsequent voyages was obtained from the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen at that time.
17 Halcrow, Captain A. Op.cit. p.105.
18 Goodlad, John, PhD. Thesis: The Shetland Cod Fishery from 1811 to 1908. A study in Historical Geography, Section 5.2.4.
19 Thomson, Captain J.P, OBE ExC. Op.cit, p.2.
20 Halcrow, Captain A. Op.cit. p.99.
21 Scottish Fishery Board Records quoted by Goodlad, John, PhD. Op.cit, Section 5.2.4.
22 Goodlad, John, PhD. Thesis: Op.cit. Section 7.1.3.
23 Thomson, Captain J.P, OBE ExC. Op.cit, p.2.
24 Goodlad, John, PhD. Thesis: Op.cit. Section 9.1.2.
25 Halcrow, Captain A. Op.cit. p.101.
26 Thomson, Captain J.P, OBE ExC. Op.cit, p.2.
27 Goodlad, John, PhD. Thesis: Op.cit Section 9.1.4.
28 Postcard No.26 to Mrs. Isbester ‘from your loving niece Susie’. (Isbester Collection).
The Novice, where John Isbester finished the 1867 season, was owned by the well-known Shetland cod fishing firm of Joseph Leask & Co., and in 1868 he signed on the schooner Anaconda, another Faero smack owned by Leask, where he was to go to the cod fishing for the next three seasons. These schooners were long, rakish, fine-lined vessels of over 35 metres in length, wet in a seaway and needing to be handled with care – ‘Like a glass baby which would as soon drown you as look at you’ – as one old salt is reported to have said. Like most of the Faero smacks they had originally been built for other trades. Anaconda and her two sister schooners had been luxuriously appointed, and the skipper of the sister ship Destiny was reputed to have adopted my lady’s boudoir as his cabin.1 It is unlikely that John Isbester, sailing as ordinary seaman, would have felt much benefit from the luxury.
During the fishing season Anaconda carried a crew of 17 of whom 13 were full-shares-men; the three ordinary seamen, of whom John Isbester was one, earned ¾ shares, and a ship’s boy earned a ½ share. These were the shares of the earnings from the fishing after the owners had taken a half of the total earnings, plus the costs of fitting out the ship for the fishing.2
After the fishing season these vessels made voyages to Spain and the Mediterranean ports with sun-dried Shetland cod (baccalà), for which there was a good market, and they made other commercial voyages to British and European ports.3 This is how the schooner Anaconda was employed during the winters of 1868–9 and 1869–70, which must have been frustrating for John Isbester, who as a junior hand was not retained outside the fishing season. His shipmates were visiting new countries, experiencing the adventure of foreign ports, seeing beautiful big sailing ships and enjoying, from time to time the sunshine, blue skies and gentle winds, the flying fish and sporting dolphins of more southern latitudes. From his more experienced shipmates he would be hearing sailors’ stories of romantic tropical seaports and great commercial centres. So it is no surprise that after five hard summers of fishing in challenging northern climes amongst his Shetland countrymen he chose to move into big ships, trading worldwide. In the spring of 1871, at the age of 19, he went south to Liverpool, to find employment in square-rigged ships.
In Liverpool he joined the ship Sealkote, 1,241 tons gross, as ordinary seaman in April 1871 shortly before she sailed for
Calcutta and any ports and places in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the China and Eastern Seas (thence to a port for orders and to the Continent if required) and back to a final port of discharge in the United Kingdom term not to exceed 3 years.4
The agreement also provided that:
The crew shall consist of Mate, Carpr, Bsn, Sails, Std, Cook, 8 Seamen, 1 Ordy and 1 Boy [i.e. mate, carpenter, bosun, sailmaker, steward, cook, 8 seamen, 1 ordinary seaman and 1 boy]. No grog allowed.
Life in the forecastle cannot have been pleasant. James Reddock, another ordinary seaman, fell sick on the third day of the voyage from an unidentified but appalling illness which covered him with a rash, then scabs which rubbed off to leave bare flesh. Despite care which seems to have been well intentioned and kindly, he died 12 days later, by which time he was ‘smelling very strong’.5