James LEARMONTH {M} [P15] = Mary SCOTT {F} [P16]
Family at Whistlebare in 1851 and 1861 census.
There is no sign of either of the sons, John or William living in Sanday, or elsewhere in Orkney at the time of the 1841 Census. There are also no deaths registered which could have been either of them, although deaths were not recorded in Cross and Burness at the time.
John went on the famous whaling expedition in 1836, on board the 'Dee', an Aberdeen whaler which called by Stromness on 7th April, to make up the crew, picking up sixteen men before sailing toward Greenland and the Davis Straits on the 9th. They arrived there on 15th May. The ice was still fairly plentiful, and they had to lie for two weeks before making any progress toward the whaling areas. They had to make their way slowly through the ice, sometimes waiting several days for a passage to open up. They reached Pond Bay on 12th August, here killing four whales before the end of the month. They then decided to try further south, but the ice was very heavy and they decided to return to Pond Bay to complete their catch. However, on returning the fish had gone, so it was decided to head for home. By now it was 13th Sept and several ships were trying to reach the open sea, but the ice gradually closed on them, trapping the 'Dee', the 'Grenville Bay' of Newcastle, the 'Thomas' and the 'Advice', both of Dundee, and the 'Norfolk' of Berwick.
At this stage huge chunks of ice were floating southward with the prevailing wind, battering the ships as they passed. As ice settled against a ship it was battered by the next bit and so on, causing the inner piece to creep up the ships side, making it very unstable. On 12 Dec 1836 the Thomas was toppled and crushed, the crews spending the next three days trying to salvage what they could. For several nights the squeezing of the Dee convinced the crew to carry everything on to the ice for safety, thinking she would go at any time. No shelter was available on the ice pack, with the temperatures reaching extreme conditions, many were frostbitten. The next days were spent cutting a protective harbour in the ice (using fourteen foot ice saws), in which to shelter the ship from the worst of the moving pack. As deeper winter set in the ice froze together, but the occasional huge crack opening up alongside one of the ships then coming together again, gave them concern of more damage. For 66 days, the sun did not rise, adding to the misery, having to rely on the moon and stars in clear weather, or lamps in the storms see anything at all.
Rations had already been cut at the first threat of being unable to escape, but had to be cut even further, accepting that a long winter was ahead. Scurvy, caused by lack of Vitamin C in the diet, claimed it's first life on 11 January 1837, and the toll of deaths began to increase day by day. They managed to shoot several passing foxes, which were shared between the crew, but it was still lacking the essential vitamins.
John Learmonth died from scurvy on board the Dee on 24 February 1837. Like those who had died before him, he was sewn into a blanket with a weight at the feet, and buried in a hole dug through the ice by those fit enough to carry out the task. The ships were so cold that the crews were forced to clear the ice off their beds once a week, by then reaching about two inches thick. They were also infested with lice, and in an attempt to kill them off, some of the crew laid their blankets out on the ice overnight, but it turned out that the lice were unaffected by the freezing conditions. The ships crews were in regular contact with each other as the ships were not far apart, and they helped each other out if a particular problem arose on board one of the ships. The coals and little firewood they had soon began to run out and they had to break up barrels, for which use was restricted to cooking only.
On 16 March 1837 the four surviving ships eventually broke free of the ice to make their way back to Orkney, but only three men from the Dee were fit enough to go aloft to man the ship. When sailing they were unsure of their exact location as all the experienced navigators had died, but on 25 April they met some fishermen who advised them they were near the Butt of Lewis. The crew explained their predicament and offered the fishermen a reward if they helped them reach Stromness, but this they refused. The crew of the Dee tried to exchange some of their salted beef for some fresh fish, but after receiving the beef, the fishermen went on their way. The Dee changed course and were met by another ship, the 'Washington' on it's way to New York. The Captain after hearing of their troubles, went on board with fresh food and wine, allowing four of his own men to go on board and took them in tow until they reached the entrance to Stromness, where they anchored at 11.00pm, 26 April 1837. One of the three surviving crewmen died later, leaving only two survivors from the original 49 who set off from Stromness.
Adam Flett from Hanover in Harray was one of the two survivors of the Dee, his cousin James Tulloch, also from Harray had died three weeks previously, but Adam made a coffin for him so that he could be buried in Harray. The coffin was tarred inside and out.
Adam went back to sea after that, but never on a whaler, and only once to the Arctic on a ship ferrying missionaries and supplies. He returned to marry Anne Flett of Nistaben. Adam kept a diary of the events of the journey. This diary is still in the possession on his great grandson in Harray, Bertie Flett, who still owns Hanover and Nistaben.
William Learmonth was one of the crew of the 'Grenville Bay'. Their existence was similar to that on the Dee, but the Dee lost many more men than the other ships. On 15th March, a swell broke the ice around the ship, and the crew were called to prepare to sail. At 6.00 am on 16th they made the open sea, only twenty men able to work, some of these extremely weak. As the days went past more men had to take to their beds, many dying of scurvy, until such that no-one was able to go aloft to tend to the sails. A storm tore most of the sails, also damaging the ship, but they had to make do with what was left. It was as much as they could do to repair some of the sails and haul them back up. On 19th April, they hardly had a man able to go on deck, but the second mate spotted a ship which responded immediately to their distress signals. Before the day was out seven ships had rallied around, with each giving them fresh rations and a man to crew the ship back to Stromness. It arrived only 12 hours after the Dee. William had survived the passage, but died in hospital in Stromness a short time after arrival.
There was much speculation in the press about the seamen having to take such risks as being stuck in the Arctic over winter, with not enough of the right food or medicine being supplied by the owners. The owners were morally blamed, as the Royal Navy knew many years before, of the cause, and means of avoiding scurvy. The Dee had also returned from the trip with a good proportion of it's rations still intact. It was thought that the crew of the Dee suffered more than the other crews because the rations were cut too soon, and the number of nights they spent on the ice was also blamed.
CONCLUSION
Crew lists held in the Public Records Office at Kew, in London confirmed that it was this John who perished, giving his age as 25 when joining the ship in Stromness. John's surname was spelt Learmond, and all of this family were christened with this spelling. The crew list of the Grenville Bay are not in the relevant box of documents in the PRO, so can only assume they have not survived. William's surname was spelt Learmonth, so this may go against any theory that he was the brother of John.
There is one alternative for William.
This William (P20) was born in 1795 and was married to Margaret Harcus with three children, b 1823, 1826 and 1828. He would therefore have been 41 at the time of sailing, and once again there is no trace of him in any death records or census after this date.
I would tend to believe that it is the William of this family, John joined 9th, William on 15th April and possibly been asked to serve in different ships because of the relationship. They were both in their early twenties, with no family, and probably looking to make some money. It is not terribly important to prove this at present, as no descendants have been traced from either of the William's mentioned.
There are many newspaper cuttings in the Archives of the Kirkwall Library relating to these ships mentioned, which were gathered by James A. Troupe when publishing his book 'The Ice Bound Whalers' which includes quotes from Adam Flett's diary. It also quotes the whole extract from a diary kept by the other survivor, David Gibb which was published in Aberdeen. A journal was also kept on board the Grenville Bay by two Orcadians, again quoted in the above book. I have a photocopy of the crew list off the Dee, copied at the P.R.O.
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