My Canadian Branches ~ The Seafaring Legacy of Benjamin Bishop Bustin, Master Mariner

 

Benjamin Bishop Bustin, my 2nd great grand uncle, went to sea as a young man drawn to adventure and profit, sailing out of Saint John, New Brunswick. By the time he returned to Saint John, to marry Elizabeth Knollin in the fall of 1837, he was Captain of the brig "Kentville."

Benjamin commanded various vessels, as part of the British merchant fleet, for over fifty years, with Liverpool, England, his homeport for most of those years. He obtained his Certificate of Service, No. S36324,* due to his lengthy service. However, there is evidence to suggest that his wife Elizabeth sailed with him on many of his voyages.

Out of eleven children, three of the oldest, Elizabeth Knollin, Benjamin, and Mary Utt died in infancy or early childhood between 1843 and 1848. Their daughter, Mary Utt Bustin, died in Jamaica, according to newspaper reports carried back to Saint John. Their next three children, Edward Sancton, Agnes Hannah, and Maud Catherine, were born in Liverpool, but all died as very young children.

The other five children, three sons and two daughters, lived to adulthood, and the sons followed their father into the merchant trade. The oldest son, John William, worked his way from Second Mate up to Master Mariner, but unfortunately fell overboard off the coast of England and drowned. He was 27 years old, and had just obtained his Master certificate:

William Walker also obtained his Master certificate:

James Scoullar also went to sea, in 1883 aboard the ship "Anselm," as attested by this newspaper announcement of his death:

"...the announcement of the death of James Scoullar BUSTIN, the second s/o Capt. B.B. BUSTIN of this city. Mr. Bustin died at Cardiff on 18th ult., but the news of his death did not reach St. John until yesterday. Some months ago he was taken ill with fever in Africa, but on his return to the U.K. he recovered so rapidly that he started on another voyage. When he returned to Cardiff he was sent to hospital where he died soon afterwards."
-- The Daily Sun (Saint John) 18 Feb 1891


Perhaps the greatest price Benjamin B. Bustin paid for his life sailing the seas was the death of his wife Elizabeth. She died aboard the ship "King Cedric," where she was accompanying her husband on a voyage from Bombay to Hull. She was, of necessity, buried at sea.

d. 2nd Jan., on board ship "King Cedric" on voyage from Bombay to Hull, Elizabeth Knollin BUSTIN w/o Capt. B.B. BUSTIN, St. John, N.B. (cross reference: Elizabeth KNOLLIN)

By the 1891 Canadian Census, the widower Benjamin Bishop Bustin was living back in Saint John with his brother Thomas, and within a year he was dead at the age of 80 years old. He is buried in Fernhill Cemetery, although no headstone exists. His obituary in the Saint John Globe illustrates his long life, and his relationship to his grandfather, and my 4th great grandfather, the Loyalist Thomas Bustin:

"Capt. Benjamin B. BUSTIN, one of the oldest St. John shipmasters, died this forenoon in his 80th year from paralysis. Born in St. John, Capt. Bustin went to sea at an early age and when twenty years old commanded a vessel. For fifty years he was a master of ships and in all that time never lost a vessel and never met with a serious accident. Ten years ago he retired from active seafaring life. By his death the first break in 75 years is made in a family of eight boys. Capt. Bustin leaves two daughters residing in St. John and one son, master of a steamer, with residence in Liverpool. The grandfather of Capt. Bustin was a Loyalist - Thomas BUSTIN, who was born in North carolina and who joined the royal army at New York when the revolution broke out. He served three years under General Burgoyne. Once, it is recorded, when in a tent with the General, a shell dropped through the canvas. Fortunately the fuse went out. Thomas left New York in 1783 in the second fleet for St. John (Parr Town) on board ship "Sovereign". He was married on Sept. 6, 1785 to Miss UTT in a log house on the corner of Princess and Charlotte Streets, on the next lot below what is known as Bustin's corner."

-- Saint John Globe, Saint John, 20 May 1892

* Index to the Captains Registers of Lloyd’s of London (Guildhall Library Ms 18567) (http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/capsB2.pdf). Can be consulted at the London Metropolitan Archives.

From 1845 men intending to become masters or mates of foreign-going British merchant ships, had to take voluntary examinations of competency.  This system was made compulsory by the Marine Act of 1850 and the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854 extended it to masters and mates of home trade or coastal vessels.

Certificates of Service were issued to those who were exempted due to long service, but those without sufficient service, or wishing to rise in rank, were granted Certificates of Competency on passing formal examinations.


Photo Credit:

A trading brig drifting into a Continental harbor, oil on canvas by Charles John De Lacy
[Charles John De Lacy [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]


Sources:



1891 Census of Canada, Census Place: Queen Ward, Saint John City, New Brunswick; Roll: T-6303; Family No: 158.

Ancestry.com. 1861 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Ancestry.com. 1871 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Ancestry.com. Canada, Seafarers of the Atlantic Provinces, 1789-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Ancestry.com. Liverpool, England, Crew Lists 1861-1919 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.

Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 27 June 2015), memorial page for Capt Benjamin Bishop Bustin (1812-1892), Find A Grave Memorial no. 82041498, citing Fernhill Cemetery, Saint-John, New Brunswick, Canada.

FreeBMD. England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

Index to the Captains Registers of Lloyd’s of London (Guildhall Library Ms 18567) (http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/capsB2.pdf)

New Brunswick Courier, Saint John, 28 Oct 1837, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

New Brunswick Courier (Saint John) 14 Oct 1843, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

New Brunswick Courier, Saint John, 23 Dec 1843, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

New Brunswick Courier (Saint John) 22 July 1848, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

New Brunswick Courier (Saint John) 15 May 1852, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

New Brunswick Courier (Saint John) 24 July 1852, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

Saint John Globe, Saint John, 20 May 1892, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

Surnames Index to Baptisms, Wesleyan Chapel, Upper Stanhope Street, Toxteth, 1851 to 1889. (http://www.toxtethparkcemetery.co.uk/Wesleyan%20Chapel,%20Upper%20Stanhope%20Street,%20Toxteth/Stanhope%20Street%20Wesleyn%20Chapel%20Baptisms%201851%20to%201889.htm)

The Daily News (Saint John), March 13, 1877, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

The Daily Sun (Saint John) 18 Feb 1891, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

Tracing seafaring ancestors in the Merchant Navy Information Sheet (Mersyside Maritime Museum) (http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/info-sheet.aspx?sheetId=47)