Following the Family Trail - 2 The Lizard Peninsula

My mothers maternal family were the Billetts who have a great maritime heritage.  The Billetts appeared to have originated in Devon, the earliest known Billett came from Blackawton near Dartmouth in the late17th century.  They moved from Blackawton to an area near Plymouth called Revelstoke (the nearest modern village being Noss Mayo). They appear to have been boatmen at the time.  Thomas Masterman Billett joined the coastguard service and transferred to Coverack in Cornwall in 1812 as a commissioned Boatman and left the service in 1830.  His descendants served at sea, mostly in the Merchant navy, but some in the Royal Navy, right up until the 1970s.  Mostly they were Master Mariners, but later some became engineers.  In the mid 19th century my branch of the Billetts had settled in Falmouth.

The Lizard Peninsula on Google Earth

The coastguard cottages at Coverack today

The view from the cottages

 Coverack looking across the harbour

 Seagulls on the Lifeboat Launching Ramp. 

There is no lifeboat there to disturb them today.

We visited two villages frequented by the Billetts and the Lillies along the coast the other side of St Keverne

This is Porthallow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porthallow

 and it's beach

 

And this is Porthoustock
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porthoustock

 Which has a Quarry, still being worked.

This  is a view of Porthoustock in the 1920s found in the family photo collection

 and could this be the quarry at the same time?

 We were not able to identify these two cottages, but I suspect they were taken in the area

Our next port of call was the Lizard Point.  My Great Uncle was an apprentice on the sailing ship "Queen Margaret".  His first voyage was in 1912/1913 to Australia to load grain which they were taking to Limerick in Ireland via Montevideo and Cape Horn.  They never made it to Limerick.  The ship was hove to off the Lizard on 6th May to receive further orders from their agent via signal from the Lizard Lighthouse.  Unfortunately they got too close and struck rocks.  The ship was a total loss,but here was no loss of life.  Apparently, when he got ashore, Uncle Wilfred, 15 years old, walked his home in Falmouth, some 18 miles away, and gave his mother quite a shock when he arrived.

 Lizard Point

Housel Bay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_of_Cornwall_%2820th_century%29

The Queen Margaret must have been wrecked around here

An Account of the incident

1913 January 17 — May 5

Sailed under command of Captain M. Bousfield from Australia to Lizard Point in 108 days with a cargo of wheat.

1913 May 5

After having received orders for Limrick, Captain Bousfield wired the owners to get a tug to tow the ship against the strong head wind. Stranded at the Stag Rocks, Lizard Point, at 08:00 when they tried to get closer to the lighthouse to read the telegraphic answer from the owner

" Four-masted steel barque built in 1893 by A. MacMillan & Son, Dumbarton. Dimensions 83,82 × 12,85 × 7,31 m [275´0´´×422´×24´0´´] and tonnage 2144 GRT and 1999 NRT. Rigged with skysails and royal sails over double top and single topgallant sails.

On May 5th, 1913, Captain Bousfield wired the owners to get a tug to tow the ship against the strong head wind, after having received orders for Lim[e]rick. She stranded at the Stag Rocks, Lizard Point, at 08:00 when they tried to get closer to the lighthouse to read the telegraphic answer from the owners.

This four-masted barque was considered by many to be one of the fastest and most beautiful ships built in the 1890´s. The ship also had a reputation among seamen for the good treatment her crews received. A.A. Hurst stated than while many ships were attractive, ´´it was only a few like Black´s peerless Queen Margaret... that appealed for their looks.´´

 The Lizard Lighthouse

 

http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses/lighthouse_list/lizard.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizard_Lighthouse

the Queen Margaret in dry dock

Two photographs of the wreck of the Queen Margaret

This wasn't Wilfrid Billett's only shipwreck.  After the loss of the "Queen Margaret" his indenture was transferred to a sister ship, the "Queen Elizabeth" and he continued his apprenticeship.  However, the Great War was declared in 1914 and in 1915, the "Queen Elizabeth" was lost at sea with no survivors. At present, I have found no records of this loss.  The ships name does not appear in the register of allied shipping lost to Enemy Action.  He was only 17 years of age.  His only memorial is on the gravestone of his Parents, Richard and Alice Billett in the Falmouth Cemetery.  The only phot of him I have is as part of the crew of the "Queen Margaret"

This post is dedicated to his memory, another of the generation who gave their lives in the Great War of 1914 to 1918