Shares in these small vessels were split into 64ths which allowed many local business people, farmers, professionals and land-owners to pay relatively
small amounts (circa £20-£40 per share[13] ) and so spread the cost, the profits and the risk. The Masters of these ships also invested in them and, for
the Frances Poole, 8 of the shares were held by Captain William Lewis with ten other stakeholders owning between 2 and 16 shares each, most of them
owning 4 shares[14].
John’s father David Jenkins also had a small investment in a schooner, the Deborah of 94 tons built at Derwenlas in 1860. He bought 2 shares, probably
worth about £50 (over £3,500 today), off its captain David Lewis in April 1863, so he must have been making some money from his carrier business.
The sailors on these little ships had a very hard time - living in small, damp, bare quarters in the very front of the ship; eating poor food; sometimes staying
away at sea for many months on end; coping with extremes of weather and all for very little pay. Working the sails must have taken a lot of nerve in a storm,
as graphically described here by a seaman on the 70 ton topsail schooner Hawk[15]:

”The bare masts of the Hawk writhed murderously as the little vessel jumped and rolled. The lean whipping mast seemed the wand of a
murderer, as the wet, malignant bulk of the tops’l thundered at me and wrapped around me. The rain beat upon me and the squall screamed;
the canvas tore again and again from my hold. Now I was flung in against the wet, sticky pine by an unpredictable lurch of the ship (for she
flung herself about with no ordered rhythm); now flung far over the sea as she leaped to windward …Good God! I thought – a sailors life!”

Clearly it wasn’t always that bad, and there must have been the good times – calm seas; beautiful views and sunsets; the excitement of visiting foreign
ports– but it would have required a certain toughness to handle this sort of life.

1863
In February 1863 John Jenkins appears on the Crew List of
the barque Panthea (39115) sailing to Madras in India as an
AB seaman. He must have been looking for something more
adventurous than sailing back and forth to ports around the
British Isles.

The Panthea (pictured[16] ) was a three-masted barque of
297 tons, 129ft long and 26ft wide with a 15ft hold.
She was built on the Hillsborough River, Prince Edward
Island in Canada on 6th August 1856[17] and transferred
to London in 1857 and then immediately to Aberystwyth.
Captain John Jones (16540) of Borth was her master from
June 1857 to 1864. Her owner was William Jones, a farmer
in Brynawen, Cardiganshire who originally owned all 64
shares but sold 46 of them by 1867[18]

The Panthea had been in Bristol at the end of 1862[19] and then sailed to Newport in S. Wales from where the voyage began on 24^th February 1863,
on the same day that John and most of the crew signed on. The Agreement signed before sailing stated that the crew “serve on board the ship on a
voyage to Madras and from thence to any port or ports in the East Indies or wherever employment may offer and back to a port of discharge
in the United Kingdom, estimated duration one year and a half”
The crew consisted of a Mate, Boatswain, Cook/Steward, 5 AB seamen, 1 Ordinary seaman and a ship’s boy of fourteen[20].
The first month of the voyage out was punctuated by crew problems as recorded in the log book and concerning the cook, Henry Pritchard (19) from
Newport. On Mar.13^th, approx 200 miles off the coast of Portugal, “Henry Pritchard being incompetent to perform his duty as cook & steward,
after having repeated trials to do so, therefore I disrate him from this date to an Able Seaman, wages the same as the rest £2-10s per month”.
The next day: “David Evans, AB accepted and undertook the situation of cook & steward lately occupied by Henry Pritchard”. Three days later:
“Henry Pritchard being incompetent to perform the duty of an AB seaman, and after having a fair trial, I hearby again disrate him to an
Ordinary Seaman, wages the same as the rest on board £1-10s per month”.
The journey around Africa and up to the east coast of India took almost 5 months and they arrived in Madras (now called Chennai) on 16^th July 1863.
Upon arrival the new cook, David Evans, was admitted to hospital but discharged 5 days later, apparently in good health. It seems he may have felt better,
but he clearly did not want to carry on as cook. Apparently two others were asked as well without success. The Log records that on 27^th, David Evans,
Henry Pritchard and Dominick Conway were all asked to cook but refused to do so – a mild form of mutiny. The next day they were taken ashore on a
police boat and a Magistrate ordered them to take their turns as cook and fined them each 4 days pay.
It’s interesting at this point to consider what the reluctant cooks would have had to work with, in order to provide for the crew. The Agreement signed at
the beginning of the voyage laid out the “Scale of provisions to be served out to the crew during the voyage”, “Substitutes for any or all may be made in
fair proportion at the Master’s option”:

“MORBEN, NEAR MACHYNLLETH – Launch – On Tuesday last a fine brig was launched from the building yard of Mr. John Evans, Morben
Wharf. This fine vessel is classed A1 at Lloyds for twelve years and is to be commanded by Captain John Evans, lately master of the Sarah of Aberdovey. She is well built and reflects no small degree of credit on Mr. John Jones of Aberdovey, the master builder. The cheers of the crowd
who witnessed the ceremony were deafening as she glided slowly, yet majestically, into the water, and after the launch the hospitable owner,
Mr. John Evans, entertained a host of friends at Morben where every success was drunk to the new vessel”

then Three months later, on 12^th July[30], she set sail from Swansea and arrived in Barcelona on 10^th August, where she stayed until the 26^th and then
sailed to Cadiz, arriving on 5^th Sept. She sailed on to Pomaron(modern name Pomarao).

Pomarao is about 25 miles up the River Guadiana (which defines the southern end of the border between Spain and Portugal). A likely export from
Pomerao was copper or sulphur ore from Mina de Sao Domingos further inland.
At the mouth of the river is Villa Real de San Antonio and the British Vice-Consulate recorded their arrival here on 13^th September[31]. No departure
date is recorded but she arrived in Waterford on 7^th Oct and finally Liverpool on 12^th Oct 1865.  The crew were signed off the next day and below is
a list of their names and other details from the Rowland Evans crew-list. Note that all but the ship’s boy were born in Borth.  It’s amazing that the
majority of them later became captains and shows just how good this generation of Borth seamen were.

    All of the vessels listed as previously served on were registered in Aberystwyth.

The voyage must have been reasonably uneventful as no log book entries were made (unlike the Panthea voyage). The captain was John Evans (31368)
of Borth, born in 1828, who continued to captain the Rowland Evans for 17 years.
(until 12^th Sept. 1882 when she foundered in Cardigan Bay, 20 miles South West of Bardsey Island, for which John Evans lost his Master’s certificate for 12
months - “The vessel made water on her outward passage to Antwerp but was not repaired there and on her return voyage she again became leaky
and was abandoned. The Court of Inquiry found that the vessel should have been overhauled and repaired before leaving Antwerp and that she
was prematurely abandoned. They suspended the master’s certificate for 12 months and censured the mate for not protesting against the action of
the master in abandoning the vessel when there was a moral certainty that she could have been got into port” [32] ).
The voyage in the Rowland Evans was John Jenkins’ last as Able Bodied seaman, since after he left the vessel he travelled to Cork in Ireland to sit his
Only Mate examination on 28^th December, qualifying on 1^st January 1866[33] and given the Certificate Number 81601.

1866
John signed on in February 1866 in Liverpool as Mate of the Acorn(49661) (schooner, 112tons, 83ft long, built in Aberdyfi in 1864). The Acorn was again
owned by John Evans (Morben) and captained (from 1864-1879) by John Rees (52649) of Borth.

The model schooner pictured here is slightly larger (129tons) than the Acorn but helps to illustrate just how open the decks were of a vessel this size[34].

The helmsman at the rear operating the tiller (sometimes wheel instead) had no protection from the elements and in rough seas he often had to be tied on to prevent being washed overboard.

The companion way in front of the helmsman led down to the rear cabin of the captain and mate. The rest of the crew lived under the focs’le in fairly cramped and miserable conditions.

The grey tank contained 300gals of drinking water and the structure at the aft end provided locker space and the toilet (heads).

Most of the space below the deck was taken up by the cargo holds and sail, chain and storage lockers.

The structure in front of the ship’s boat was the galley


 
The pictures below show the saloon, Captain's and Mate's cabins at the aft of the vessel.  These are from the reconstructed schooner Kathleen & May of a similar design to the Rhoda Mary in the model above. John would have had the relative luxury of such a cabin on the Acorn now that he had obtained his Mate’s certificate. The sparsity of the crew accomodation is also shown below (from a Spanish schooner)

The drawing below shows the layout of this type of vessel[35]. Most of these ships were built of Fir wood (imported from the Baltic or America) and
clad in Yellow Metal sheathing[36] (made from 60% copper and 40% bronze) fitted over the planks below the waterline to resist fouling. The planks
were fastened with thousands of wooden pegs (treenails) to a strong wooden framework held together with iron bolts.

John’s first voyage on the Acorn lasted just over 2 months and consisted of a return trip from Liverpool to Portugal where he stopped at Lisbon and then Pomaron. The Acting British Consul in Lisbon recorded their arrival on 25th February, and the British Vice consul in Villa Real de San Antonio (at the
mouth of the Guadiana) recorded their arrival on 23^rd March and departure on 5^th April. They returned to Liverpool on 24^th April 1866.

John earned £4-5s per month and the crew consisted of 3 Able Bodied Seamen, 1 Ordinary seaman and a 14 yr old boy (Hugh Davies from Aberdyfi)
on his first voyage. Another crewmember deserted the ship before it sailed, having received an advance of £1-10s. The same food allowance as usual was described on the Crew List and it was made clear (again as usual) that “no grog was allowed on the vessel”.

John’s next voyage on the Acorn was on the 25^th May from “Liverpool to Genoa and hence to ports of loading and discharge in the Mediterranean and
continent of Europe”. They arrived in Genoa on 3rd July and left on 17^th July as recorded by the British Consul. The consulate in Porto-Torres on the
north coast of Sardinia then recorded them on 16^th August. This port handled fruit, wine, olive oil, zinc and lead.

They returned to Cork in Ireland on 19^th September. John and Captain Rees sailed with an Able Seaman, 2 Ordinary seamen and a boy of 16, and John continued to earn £4-5s / month [37].

John stayed on the Acorn for the following three voyages:
       Seven months: between 19th Oct. 1866 and 10th Jun. 1867 to Lisbon and the Rio Grande,
       Two months: from 19^th Jul ’67 to 11^th Sep.’67 to Lisbon and Real de San Antonio
       Two months: from Oct’67 to Dec’67 to the Azores (St Michaels) after which he finally left the vessel.

(The Acorn continued trading up until 1917, when it was shelled & sunk by a German submarine. The crew were allowed to escape in the ship's boat)

1868

At the age of 28, John became the Mate on the Jane Rowland(56400),
a 318 ton Barque, built in 1868 in Aberystwyth and owned by Edward
Rowland.
The Master was Richard Hughes (25631) born in 1840, also in Aberystwyth,
but now living in Borth.
John was on the maiden voyage of the Jane Rowland starting on 14^th Apr.’68 from Cardiff.
The cargo was probably coal (possibly dug my my father's ancestors) and it may well have been
loaded from the newly completed Penarth docks (below)

On this date he sailed from “Cardiff to Bombay and thence to any port or ports on the coasts of India, China and or the Islands or any countries adjacent to the coasts of Africa”.

The British Shipping Officer in Bombay recorded the vessel being there from17^th Aug. to 8^th Sep. 1868.
This means it would have taken 4 months (120 days) to sail down to the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa and back up the Indian Ocean to Bombay on the east coast.

The Jane Rowland then sailed on to Burma and the port of Bassein (now Pathein), arriving on 13^th Oct. and leaving on 5^th Nov. 1868. 

The Jane Rowland would have loaded up with rice in Bassein before heading back to Europe. It sailed for about 5 months until it returned to Amsterdam
on 17^th April 1869. John was paid £5 per month on this voyage and sailed with a Boatswain, Carpenter, Cook/Steward, 3 Able Seamen, 1 Ordinary
Seaman and two apprentices aged sixteen and seventeen [38].

1869
John stayed on the Jane Rowland when it sailed from Amsterdam to Newport from 24^th April to 18^th May where he was discharged, 13 months after

 leaving Cardiff. (The ship eventually foundered in an Atlantic storm in 1879. The Captain was Edward Jones (33323) of Aberystwyth – the ship was
‘strained’ in a gale sailing from New York to Kings Lynn and was abandoned in the middle of the Atlantic with no loss of life [39] .)
John then travelled to Cork in Ireland where he sat the examination to become a Master Mariner on 10^th July 1869 at the age of 29.
His certificate no. 81601 was issued on 17^th July in Aberystwyth. He claimed 13 years of sailing experience and his address was now listed as Victoria
House, Borth (his parents’ house [40] ). A map of Borth with the house names from the 1901 Census can be found here - <Borth House Map>

1870

John’s first voyage as a captain was on the M A Jones(56410). She was a brand new two-masted brig of 192 tons, 102ft long by 23ft wide with a 12ft hold and a square stern. She was built and registered on 18^th Jan.1870 in Aberystwyth by John Jones of Trefechan (on the southern bank of the river, facing the town, though most of the shipbuilding took place on the northern bank). John Jones was a shipbuilder, born in 1809 in Machynlleth and he was originally a cooper. The vessel was named after his first daughter Mary Anne. John Jones initially held all 64 shares in the vessel, though he sold 36 of them on 7^th July to Thomas Hugh Jones of Aberystwyth, a painter [41].

The Aberystwyth Observer for 28^th Jan 1870 contained the following article:

”The Aberystwyth Ship Race – Some considerable interest was caused among the nautical population of the town on Thursday last, from the

 fact that two brigs that had been built at the port were going to start the same time on their very first voyage after being released from the

 stocks and fully manned and equipped. The largest of the brigs is the M A Jones of some 330 tons burthen, Capt. Jones, and built by the

 Master’s father, who is a shipwright belonging to the port. The other brig is a smaller one, the
 J Llewellyn, commanded by Capt. Llewellyn, and built by Messrs Williams & Jones, Shipwrights of Aberystwyth, and of about 270 tons register.

 They are both bound on a foreign voyage via Newport, Mon., where they will take in a cargo of coal and iron. The former is bound for Alcudia

 and the latter for Mottaro. Several people assembled to witness them starting on their trial trip with a pretty fair breeze. The larger brig has been

 on the stocks for several years and the smaller one for rather a less period. They are evidently very strongly built, so as to present solid

 resistance to the violence of the winds and the waves. The crews of the respective vessels entered into a friendly competition as to which of them should arrive at Newport first by way of testing their sailing qualities. The owners and the friends and relations of the crews attended to bid them

 adieu and wish them a prosperous voyage on their first trip.”

I don’t know who won the race but Captain Jones only sailed as Master of the M A Jones as far as Newport since the crew list for the first foreign

 voyage shows John Jenkins as the captain, with John Jones now acting as the Mate. This swapping of positions between John Jenkins and John Jones, on

 the same ship, occurred again later on the Fairy.
John Jones (81444) was born in Aberystwyth in 1839, so he was almost the same age as John Jenkins.
The crew agreement was signed on 2^nd Feb. to trade from Newport to the town of Alcudia (on the west coast of Majorca) and other ports in the

 Mediterranean.
She left Newport on 19^th Feb. and (inexplicably missing out Alcudia) arrived at Girgenti on the west coast of Sicily 14^th Apr. where she stayed for nearly

 a month before stopping briefly in Licata and then sailing back to Newport via Falmouth [42]. They arrived home on 15^th July.

The crew of the M A Jones were:

John Jenkins (29) Master, 81601
John Jones (30) Only Mate, 81444 £5-10s

David Davies (24) Bosun, £3-5s (in adv.)

Thomas Edwards (61) Cook, £2-12s-6d
Bonner Evans (29) Carpenter & AB, £3-10s.

John Griffiths (22) AB, £2-12s-6d (in adv.)

John Brodie (23) AB, £2-12s-6d (in adv.)

William Walters (21) OS, £2 (in adv.)

David Lewis (17) OS, £2 (in advance)

Michael Fitzgerald (19) OS, £2 (in adv.)

John and Anna Maria had their first child Gertrude, known as ‘Rene’, on 23^rd August 1872[48]. John was clearly at home since he went to
Aberystwyth to register the birth on 2^nd Sept. They were then living in Llandre / Llandref, just over a mile inland from Borth.

1873
From May to October, John was Captain of the Helena(42586), a 98 ton Schooner; 78ft long; built in Aberystwyth (1862) by John Jones (Trefechan)
(who must have now forgiven John for losing the M A Jones).
The first voyage was from Limerick to Santander and back to Newport from mid May to 21^st Jun.
Then, on 31^st July, he sailed from Cardiff to Madeira and on to Saffi, just south of Casablanca in Morocco before returning to Glasgow by
13^th Oct 1873 [49].
The only events recorded in the log book were: ‘draft of water leaving Cardiff – 11ft aft, 9ft 3in forward; leaving Madeira – 8ft aft, 7ft 6in forward;
Saffi to Glasgow – 10ft aft, 9ft 10in forward.’ This seems to imply that the heaviest cargo was picked up in Madeira. An apologetic note was attached
to the log book and stated: “I am sorry I omitted to get the Mate’s signature to the statement regarding draft of water”, signed by John Jenkins,
Glasgow 25^th Oct.1873.
I presume this requirement to record the draft preceded the painting of a Plimsoll line on the side of the vessel. A Royal commission on un-seaworthy
ships was established in 1872, and in 1876 the United Kingdom Merchant Shipping Act made the load line mark compulsory.
John Jenkins left the Helena in Glasgow, but extracts from the log book[50] (below) for the next voyage illustrate the dangers faced every day by the
sailors on these small vessels.
After John left the ship in October, Captain Roderick Edwards of Aberystwyth took command of the Helena and sailed her to Gijon and Santander
on the north coast of Spain. On the return journey, on 21^st December at 8.15 pm they were at 51 16’ N and 5 49’ W – south west of Pembrokeshire,
to the west of the entrance to the Bristol Channel – when the Log Book records: “At 8.00pm wind W.S.W. increasing to a strong breeze and squally
and very dark with heavy topping sea. All hands on deck to take in sail. Took in square sail and hauled out the topsail reef tackles. Thomas
Lyeland AB and James Smith, cook & seaman, went up to reef the sail. James Smith was on the lee cross-trees on his way to the lee yard.
The ship gave a heavy roll and he fell overboard. He was not seen in the water but heard his crying far astern. Could not send any assistance
as the night was dark and a heavy sea on and the ship was going at the rate of 8 knots through the water”- signed by the Master, Mate
(Lewis Jones of Aberystwyth), AB Thomas Leyland and OS John Brown.
James Smith’s possessions were listed and show just how little the average sailor of those days owned:

  1 chest; 4 pairs of trousers; oilskins – 1 jacket & trousers; 1 shirt; 1 canvas jumper; 1 jacket; 2 caps; 1 vest; 2
  blankets; 3 pairs of socks; 1 pair of shoes; 1 Bible and other sundry small things consisting of thread and cotton Not much to send back to his family
(or auction off amongst the remaining crew) along with the 16s-11d as the balance of his wages after deductions for a previous advance, some tobacco
and postage for three letters. He was only 25 years old.

After leaving the Helena in Glasgow on 25^th Oct 1873, John rejoined Capt. John Jones (81444) on the schooner Fairy (52765) on 13^th December
as the Mate. This is again the same John Jones that previously served as John Jenkins’ Mate on the M A Jones.
The Fairy had been surveyed by Board of Trade inspectors in London in November following its previous voyage from Bangor to South America to
London. Lloyd’s register of shipping notes: “anchors & chains proved” as part of the survey and the ship continued to be rated A1.

1874

By the 27^th January 1874, the Fairy
had moved from London to Deal in
Kent, from where she sailed for
Martinique in the West Indies,
arriving there on 8^th March[51] having
crossed the Atlantic in just 5 weeks.

The Crew List for this voyage shows
12 crewmembers in addition to the
captain and mate.
The Bosun was David Lewis (34)
of Aberystwyth who had stayed on
the Fairy from the previous voyage
and the Cook & Steward was
Christian Hansen (22) of Copenhagen.

They also had six AB seamen and
two Ordinary seamen.
The British crew were from many
different towns in the UK (Falmouth,
London, Chelsea, Liverpool,
Northampton, Plymouth) and two
other seamen were from Sweden.

A good impression of what it was like to arrive in Martinique is well described by Henry Hughes[52]:

“…The gathering power of the morning sun soon cleared a misty horizon and we saw three interesting-looking tropical islands loom into
view quite close by. They were Martinique, Dominica and St. Lucia. On the north point of Martinique was the great volcano, Mont Pelee,
which seemed to fill the sky in that direction. On the other side at the foot of the volcano, we knew, stood the little town of St. Pierre which
later was to suffer a tragic fate, though as yet there was no sign of this[53].
…The captain gave the rocky spurs of the volcano that jutted irregularly into the sea a wide berth, with the result that the fast-running
current between the two islands and the following wind brushed us quickly many miles to leeward.  We eventually opened up the town and
found we had overshot it by many miles. This meant beating to windward. Tacking ship every half-hour was most fatiguing on such a hot
day, but we were amply rewarded for our labour.
   With each tack this rugged island unfolded its many beauties. The afternoon sun was now shining on those gaping gorges, giving a
marvellous effect of contrasted light and shade. We saw the houses terraced on the lower slopes surrounded by trees. Huge rum and sugar
factories hove in sight. For the last two miles our sails had been filled with a breeze laden with the peculiar and fascinating scent of rum.
The rich aroma of molasses and the perfume of mellow fruit and spices filled our nostrils.
   The nearer we got the more the breeze fell away and the sea became like a millpond. Dozens of canoes paddled by negro boys swarmed
to meet us, the boys entertained us with their intrepid diving.
…At the set of sun our day’s toil was done and our passage safely over. We anchored in deep water only a hundred yards from the shore
and right at the foot of the great volcano.”

From Martinique they sailed to Newcastle on St. Kitts Nevis and then back south to St. Lucia, from which island they took on a ship’s boy of 15
called Felix Jean Balis(t) on 9^th May. The Fairy then sailed for Britain and arrived in Queenstown (now Cobh, near Cork) in Ireland on 30^th May
after a quick crossing of 3 weeks and finally arrived in Falmouth by 3^rd June 1874.
The Fairy then sailed from Falmouth on 16^th June, arriving in London on 20^th June where she took on a cargo for Clyde-side, Glasgow, arriving
around 30^th July 1874.
The next day, John Jenkins took over as captain of the Fairy[54]. Why John Jones left the ship in Glasgow is a mystery, but perhaps he was unwell,
as he only did one more long distance trip as captain and died a year and a half later in Aberystwyth on 2^nd December 1876.

John sailed the Fairy back from Glasgow to Gravesend in London, arriving on 3^rd August 1874.

Painting of the Fairy(courtesy Terry Davies) probably painted after 1876 as this shows a deck structure which increased registered tonnage to 240t (1875/6) from the previous 229t (1874/5) as recorded in Lloyds Shipping Register.

By 1^st September 1874, they were loaded again and the
Fairy had left Gravesend for a journey to South Africa
and Burma that was going to last a year and three months.

The Fairy passed through Deal on 7^th Sept. and sailed
down the coast of Africa and around Cape of Good Hope
to arrive in Natal / Durban harbour on 1^st Dec. after a
passage of nearly 3 months.

They stayed in Durban for a further 2½ months, presumably
waiting for a cargo. During this time three crew members
were discharged and four others taken on, before they finally
departed for Bassein (nr. Rangoon in Burma) on 12^th Feb. 1875.

They arrived in Bassein on 7^th May and loaded quickly with
rice before departing on 22^nd May. John would have been
familiar with Bassein from his visit seven years before in the
Jane Rowland.