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- The latest issues: 327
TYNE PILOTS: THE END OF AN ERA
On 31st March 2008, an era in the history of the river Tyne ended with the retirement of John Marshall and Alan Purvis, the last traditional Tyne Pilot family pilots. 
L – R John Marshall, Eddie Cowell & Alan Purvis
Tyne Pilots Limited also ceased to exist with pilotage being transferred to the pilots of the Port of Tyne Authority. It is impossible to determine when pilotage on the Tyne began but it was a strategic port in Roman times and it is recorded that they engaged Tigris watermen to work their ships on the river – in essence, pilots! The formal establishment of organized
pilotage however is generally credited to Trinity House and it was incorporated in a Royal Charter granted by Henry VIII on 5th October 1536. Initially, the profession was exclusive to Brethren of Trinity House, but
in the mid-1600’s this was amended and the pilots were recruited from the local seagoing community.
The custom of taking only pilots’ sons and relatives as apprentices was recognised by Trinity House, who by Resolution actually required it as a condition of being licensed as a pilot, thus establishing a tradition that
would serve for hundreds of years. In 1865, government legislation transferred the licensing and administration of the pilots from Trinity House to the Tyne Pilotage Commission, but the tradition of pilot
families continued. In 1789, the first purpose-built lifeboat was built and for the next one hundred and
fifty years, the pilots crewed these lifeboats and saved many hundreds of lives. This was not without sacrifice however, as in 1849 twenty pilots were tragically lost when the lifeboat Providence capsized during a rescue. The sea was not the only enemy, as on the last day of 1916, the pilot cutter Protector was mined and sunk with the loss of all nineteen on board It was into this heritage that John Marshall was born on 31st December 1946, and Alan Purvis on 16th March 1948. Both families lived in Trajan Street in South
Shields and when aged 16 both began fouryear Apprenticeships with Tyne Pilotage Authority. At that time, there were some ninety pilots on the Tyne, and the river was still a world centre for shipbuilding and
repairing and the export of coal. This apprenticeship was followed by service in the Merchant Navy; John with Silver Line, and Alan with Common Brothers to gain their Master’s Certificates and thus qualify for entry into the Pilot Service. Returning to the Tyne, John was licensed on 7th May 1976 and Alan on 6th May 1977 and they served for three years as junior pilots before being licensed as First Class.
The national miners’ strike of 1984 had a profound effect on trade in the Port and its self-employed pilots and John and Alan tookoverseas pilotage appointments in the Arabian Gulf. In 1988, government legislation
transferred responsibility for pilotage from the Tyne Pilotage Authority to the Port of Tyne Authority. Twelve of the existing pilots formed the co-operative of Tyne Pilots Limited contracted with the Authority to provide the pilotage service. The Pilot Apprenticeship scheme was abolished in 1968 and pilots were subsequently recruited from the ranks of seagoing officers. In 2001 the Port of Tyne Authority embarked upon a regime to
directly employ its future pilots, and Tyne Pilots Limited were contracted to train and examine new pilots for the Authority, passing on the wealth of knowledge and experience acquired over many generations.
The end of Tyne Pilots Limited also sees the retirement of Pilot Master and former pilot Edward Cowell. Eddie was born on 11th March 1941, also into a pilot family, and upon completion of his pilot apprenticeship, embarked upon a seagoing career with Common Brothers, Stephenson Clarke, North Thames Gas Board, and
Gibson’s of Leith to gain his Certificates of Competency prior to becoming a licensed pilot in 1970. Eddie retired as a pilot in 1998, having served as Chairman of Tyne Pilots Limited from its creation in 1988 until
his retirement but in 1999 he was engaged in an administrative role within the port and his knowledge and advice has been greatly valued by Agents, Port staff and junior pilots alike. During their careers John and Alan witnessed dramatic changes to the Tyne and its trade. Cars, passengers, and the import of coal have replaced shipbuilding, shiprepair and the export of coal! Ships are larger; tugs are fewer but more powerful.
Technology and commercial pressures have combined to expand operational parameters, but it is experience that ultimately dictates the limits. They have had the pleasure of piloting, “almost anything that floats”; from fishing boats to super-tankers, car-carriers, bulk carriers, cruise ships, aircraft carriers, oil rigs, barges, floating drydocks, sailing ships, Royal Yachts, and Crane barges carrying Millennium Bridges!
Together with their former colleagues, John and Alan consider themselves privileged to have followed a career that they enjoyed and to have been part of an historical era. Even today, pilotage is still as much an art as a science and although all pilots occasionally doubt their sanity when climbing up the side of a bulk carrier in a northerly gale, “parking ships” is both challenging and immensely satisfying. To generations of Tyne Pilots, pilotage has not just been a profession it has been more complex than that! It’s been their heritage, their psyche – it’s what they were!
JD Marshall
Update: September 2019
I’ve been informed by Jane Barr ( formerly Duncan) that there is now a Facebook page called Tyne Pilots family history which can be accessed on
https://www.facebook.com/
130 Responses to “TYNE PILOTS: THE END OF AN ERA”
John Burn (1814-1849) is my GG Grandfather. He was one of the pilots killed in the Providence disaster. He left four daughters and a widow Jane, but she died in 1851 leaving four orphans. Jane married my Great Grandfather, and her sister Eleanor married Robert Chambers. Their son, Robert, was killed in the Protector disaster.
My great Grandparents’ eldest son, Anthony Day was drowned in the Berrington which sank off the coast of Holland in December 1904.
Maureen Killen
Emma Stoney, this is for you. I am a descendant of Thomas McGill who was indentured into the Cooper’s Guild in 1780. If you pick this up I will be happy to to give you the family tree. I also have quite a lot on the Shotton family, as my Grandmother was a Shotton and my Grandfather a McGill.
Angela Conroy
To R. S. Young: My Great x 2 Grandfather Philip Young was a pilot and was the brother of the elder Richard Bonner Young. I can help you a little with your family history enquiry. Please get in touch.
Penelope Chambers Bohnenberger
To Derek Johnston
We are cousins. John Burn is my gggg grandad . His grandson Robert Chambers who died on the Protector was my great grandfather . Son of Eleanor Burn.
Jeff Egan
PURVIS, William 93 24.09.1867 04.06.1897 10.12.1941 74Y03M
PURVIS, William Sea/Gen 33 08.10.1844 02.09.1870 1876 1907-09 29.05.1910 65Y07M
PURVIS, William 299 07.02.1918 05.02.1954 28.02.1983 08.04.2013 29Y00M 95Y02M
PURVIS, William 87 03.07.1864 06.11.1896 25.12.1930 66Y05M
PURVIS, William Sea 638 1832 1861 1866 1903
PURVIS, William Sea 637 1831 1860 1866 1866
PURVIS, William Sea/Gen 501 1827 06.11.1854 1858 1880
PURVIS, William Sea/Gen 505 1831 06.11.1854 1860 1889
PURVIS, William Sea 467 1826 06.11.1854 1870
PURVIS, William 713 1856 1890 1894
PURVIS, William Mariner 231 11.07.1901 07.12.1928 01.04.1959 14.05.1970 30Y04M 68Y10M
PURVIS, William O 134 22.11.1875 04.05.1906 19.02.1950 74Y03M
Jeff Egan
BROWN, John Down/Up/Gen 18 16.03.1842 1861 18.04.1864 26.03.1925 83Y00M Ann
BROWN, Leonard 205 08.09.1896 03.03.1922 27.01.1925 28Y04M
BROWN, Leonard Down 557 1816 03.04.1837 1866
BROWN, Matthew Down/Up/Gen 636 1834 1860 1889
BROWN, Thomas Down 544 1803 03.04.1837 1870
BROWN, Timothy Up 527 1807 02.12.1839 1871
BROWN, William Down/Up/Down 614 1833 1857 1858 1878
Heather
I’m writing on the 14th October, the very day that my great grandfather Thomas Young drowned in 1881. It was apparently an exceptionally stormy day & his coble ‘Pilot’ was caught up in a swell from a steamboat which caused the coble to hit the notorious Black Midden rocks on the north side of the river. He together with two others drowned. It was at the Lifeguard House that he was declared dead.
He was survived by his wife Sarah Pollard and five children including my grandfather Alfred Ernest Young who was aged three years. However, he well remembered seeing his father in his coffin with his head split almost in two, padded with cotton.
Thomas Young who had incidentally also served on the lifeboat ‘Tyne’ is buried in Westoe Cemetery; his gravestone bears a carved relief of his coble.
I can date back members of the Young family who served as pilots as far back as the early 17th century & there are marital links to most of the significant pilot families. Neither my grandfather or his brothers Henry & Thomas Young carried on the tradition & served as pilots. His uncle Thomas Young I am lead to believe, was the pilot responsible for guiding the Mauretania from the river.
I would be delighted for any further information especially documentary evidence.
So far, it is a calm day!
Keith Bell
Hi Jeff
I wonder if you can give me any details of the Chambers family of pilots?
I was researching John Chambers (my gg uncle) who left the Pilot service to become an artist ( a painting by him used to hang in Trinity House in Newcastle). His brother Henry was a pilot, their father James was a pilot, as was his father, also James. The second James Chambers was allegedly the pilot that took the John Bowes out on her maiden trip to London.Apparently many of the older pilots had refused, the John Bowes being the first iron hulled collier and they were reluctant to endorse the controversial ‘new technology’. John Chambers wrote a small article for the local newspaper (Shields Daily News) on 11 March 1922 headed ‘Tyne Pilotage Then and Now’. He also wrote a small story for his nephews about a pilot coble caught up in a sudden storm, known to the fishermen of the region as a ‘Herring Gale’. I will provide them both, if you are interested. Dates of any relatives of these men would be gratefully appreciated.
Cheers,
Keith Bell
Toni Phillips
I have begun researching the Redhead family who were tug owners at Tyne. Would anyone have any information re this family as I am a little confused by multiple Robert Redheads… It is unclear when one started and the next took over.
Jeff Egan
I have no record of a John Peacock Whale being a Tyne Pilot, it was mentioned he was also a tugmaster which just doesnt fit with being a Pilot. We do have 2 John Whale’s one died in 1943 and the other in 1990 I knew the latter.
Jeff Egan
Timothy Brown was a Tyne pilot, he was born in 1807 he held a license from
02.12.1839 to 1871
I spent a lot of time photographing Ships on the Tyne and occasionally still do I had the privilege of meeting these fine men who worked as Pilots they always made time to say hello and give you a update on what was happening that day I miss them and the River at that time very much, the Pilot Cutters used to moor at a jetty at the mouth of the Tyne this jetty disused has now almost fallen into the sea it is evident on the famous photograph of the Mauritania leaving the river in I think 1907,the Binoculars held by Pilot Purvis were from a U-Boat.
Dear Mr Phillips I have a cap badge that I was told is the Redhead line of Newcastle it has a blue flag white diamond with a red R could this in fact represent one of these Tug companies.
paul parker
Hi,
My grandmother, Mary Parker, told me that the men on her side of the family had a long tradition of being Tyne pilots. Her Maiden name was Marshall and in the records I have discovered many Marshall’s. Up to the 1970’s, my father ran Parkers Caterers in South Shields for those old enough to remember them! If there are any Marshall’s out there, I would love to hear from you
Cheers
Paul Parker
Philippa Nidd
I live in New Zealand but my Grandfather was a Tyne Pilot (Harold Purvis 1906 – 1973). I’m trying to piece together my overwhelmingly huge Purvis family tree. So far 95% of the Purvis Tyne pilots appear to be direct ancestors or cousins of some degree. Jeff Egan, I was wondering if you are able to forward me any further information you have, with respect to the Purvis Tyne pilots prior to the 1840s – the invaluable information you have already posted?
Kind Regards, Philippa
Elsie Eade
My grandfather was John Marshall nickname “Klondike” I wonder if you have any information on him, please
Regards Elsie
David Turnbull
Hi Jeff,
I read with some interest an earlier blog going back to 2012 between yourself and a Sylvia Newham. In it you stated your son had written a book and he had a list of Tyne Pilots going back to 1730ish. I’m also related to the Purvis family through my maternal Grandmother, Mary Newstead, nee Purvis. Her Father was a Tyne Pilot, James Purvis, her Grandfather, also James Purvis and her Great Grandfather, Gilbert Purvis. I would be very grateful if you have any info you could pass on.
Kind regards Dave.
Rachael
@ Heather
I am currently reaseaching my pilot family on the Young side and would be interested in exchanging information with you as there were two Thomas Young’s Pilots fathers and sons living on Blumer’s Terrace (now all Green’s Terrace) Iate 1800s early ninetens.
Heather
I would be pleased to help you with your research. I am connected to both of the Thomas Young’s you refer to. Perhaps you could let me know your connection. Hopefully, you can do this by email.
Kind regards
Heather
Julie Moodie
Hi
Tracing family tree find my Nanas father was John William Phillips born 1873 and her Mum was Annie Shotton. Is Ralph Shotton who died in 1849, on the Providence, an ancester of Annie? I believe John lost his licence and worked in Canada for a few years. Any details would be appreciated.
Regards Julie
Hi Heather and Rachel,
My father’s family were Pilots and must have been good friends with members of your families. Some of my distant cousins had Young as a middle name. Perhaps the families are linked through marriage at some point.
Incidentally, can anyone tell me how to view all the comments in this series, as I can be Bly view about 20.
stephen english
Lancelot Douglas Burn was my GG Grandad born 1801 and died 1849. I believe he drowned on the Providence along with his brother John Burn, as he was also a River Pilot. If anyone has any information regarding him please get in touch.
Penelope Chambers Bohnenberger
Hello Stephen,
Lancelot Douglas Burns was brother to my John Burn (my GGG Granfather).
John’s daughther Eleanor married my Great Grandfather, Robert Chambers. He was lost 1916. He was one of the Pilots on the Protector! Poor Eleanor lost a lot.
John and Lancelot’s father was of course Lancelot Burn, ca.1773-1832.
Their parents were Mary Douglas and Jacob Burn 1733-1810. Mary’s dad was Lancelot Douglas(s) (Duglass). Jacob’s dad was Henrye Burn 1704.
Happy hunting!
Penny
Katherine Dobinson
Trying to find out as much information as I can regarding my fathers side of the family who were Tyne pilots. Surname is purvis born 1946 died 1998.
Thank you
Katherine Dobinson
Hi
I am tracing my dad’s family history. My dad was a Tyne pilot James Purvis died aged 52 in 1998. In the watch house when I was a little girl I remember walking up there stairs and on the way up their was photographs of the wall which have a lot of my dads family on. Does anyone know where these photos are so I can try and get copies please
Thank you
Katherine
Jane
I have created a Facebook page Tyne Pilots family research. Please take a look, contribute and share. I have seen lots of Est s posted here but few answer. I’m hoping that the FB page will be an easier place to ask questions, get answers and to share and record information.
Brian Atkinson
I have begun scanning many family photographs and have found one of John Philips dated 1911 who was a Tyne Pilot. I recall being asked by my mother nee Philips when I was due to leave School if I wanted to be a pilot but I had other interests and often regretted that.
Is there a chronological list of Tyne Pilots so that I can pass ‘tis on to my children and grandchildren
Many thanks for your help
Brian Atkinson
Jane
Try this shortcut Brian https://tyneareasc.org.uk/2015/10/the-tyne-pilots/ The details in this document names a number of pilots at certain times in their history.
If you are on Face Book please join Tyne Pilots family research. You never know when someone will post information you are looking for.
John Marshall
Hello Paul Parker,
My name is John Marshall, a retired Tyne Pilot. Your Grandmother Mary was my father’s sister. So yes, there are some Marshall’s out there! How can I help?
John
Dennis stephenson
Hi everyone it’s very interesting reading all these post about the pilots my gg grandfather’s were james burn and Henry stephenson I’m related to the purvis family aswell
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