The Black Ball Line (originally known as the Wright, Thompson, Marshall, & Thompson Line, then as the Old Line) was a passenger line founded by a group of New York Quaker merchants headed by Jeremiah Thompson, and included Isaac Wright & Son (William), Francis Thompson and Benjamin Marshall. All were Quakers except Marshall.
The line initially consisted of four packet ships, the Amity, Courier, Pacific, and the James Monroe. All of these were running between Liverpool, England and New York City. This first scheduled trans-Atlantic service was founded in 1817. In operation for some 60 years, it took its name from its flag, a black ball on a red background.Stephen Fox, Transatlantic: Samuel Cunard, Isambard Brunel, and the Great Atlantic Steamships, Harper Collins (2003) , pp. 3–16 (introductory chapter on sailing packets)
History
The Wright, Thompson, Marshall, & Thompson Line was founded in 1817 and began shipping operations in 1818. At some point in the line's history, it was known as the Old Line and, after the 1840s, as the Black Ball Line. The Black Ball Line pioneered regularly scheduled shipping with fixed departure dates, thus contributing to the eventual development of travel by ocean liner. Governments contracted the packet ships to carry mail and also carried passengers and time-sensitive items such as newspapers. Up to this point, there were no regular passages advertised by sailing ships. They arrived at port when they could, dependent on the wind, and left when they were loaded, frequently visiting other ports to complete their cargo. The Black Ball Line undertook to leave New York on a fixed day of the month, irrespective of cargo or passengers. The service took several years to establish itself, and it was not until 1822 that the line increased sailings to two per month and reduced the cost of passage to 35 guineas.
The sensation this created brought in competitors such as the Red Star Line, which also adopted fixed dates. The average passage of packets from New York to Liverpool was 23 days eastward and 40 days westward. But this was at a period where usual reported passages were 30 and 45 days, respectively, while westward passages of 65 to 90 days excited no attention. The best passage from New York to Liverpool in those days was the 15 days 16 hours achieved at the end of 1823 by the ship New York (though often incorrectly reported as Canada). The westward crossing had a remarkable record of 15 days 23 hours set by the Black Ball's Columbia in 1830, during an unusually prolonged spell of easterly weather which saw several other packet ships making the journey in 16 to 17 days. Captain Joseph Delano was reported to be "up with the Banks of Newfoundland in ten days".
In 1836 the Line passed into the hands of Captain Charles H. Marshall, he gradually added the Columbus, Oxford. Cambridge, New York, England, Yorkshire, Fidelia, Isaac Wright, Isaac Webb, the third Manhattan, Montezuma, Alexander Marshall, Great Western and Harvest Queen to the fleet.
The Black Ball Line is mentioned in several sea shanties, most prominently in "Hurrah for the Black Ball Line" (Roud 2623), which extols the speed and efficiency of the line and the hardness of its sailors. It is also mentioned in other shanties such as "Blow the Man Down", "Homeward Bound", "Eliza Lee", and "New York Girls".
List of Black Ball Line (USA) ships Year built Name Tonnage LengthBeam Shipyard Remarks1807Pacific A. & N. Brown, New YorkSold in 1819 and became a whaler 1816 Amity 382 (bm) New York stranded on 24 April 1824 in Manasquan1817Courier381 tons103'6''29'S. Wright, New YorkWas a whaler from 1826 to 1861 and a part of the Great Stone Fleet during the Civil War 1817 James Monroe424 tons118 ft28'3''A. Brown, New York The first packet of the Black Ball liner to depart on time, 5 January 1818; left the packet service in 1823 to the Cuban trade; ran aground in 1850 off the Tasmanian coast 1819 Albion New York wrecked off the coast of Ireland, near Kinsale, April 25, 1822, with a loss of forty-six livesLiverpoolwrecked on her maiden voyage 1822 Isaac Webb In 1822, Isaac Webb built the three-masted ship Superior in New York City for Charles Hall of the Black Ball Line. 1822 James Cropper 1832 South America 1843 924 (bm) William H. Webb, New York wrecked on Jones Beach, Long Island, 18 May 1854. 1843 996 (bm) William H. Webb, New York in February 1862 lost on the trip from New York 1845 895 (bm) William H. Webb, New York 1869 1,683 (bm) William H. Webb, New York In 1887 sold to Norway as Sovereign; burned while loading coal 20 March 1891 1846 Columbia 1,050 (bm) William H. Webb, New York 1847 Isaac Wright 1,129 (bm) William H. Webb, New York caught fire on 23 December 1858 on the Mersey and sank Orpheus 1850 Manhattan 1,299 BRT William H. Webb, New York broke out on 14 March 1863 Liverpool en route to New York; disappeared 1851 Isaac Webb 1,359/1,497 BRT William H. Webb, New York went to the dissolution of the Black Ball Line for Charles H. Marshall & Co. and sank on 25 October 1880 1851 Great Western 1,443 BRT William H. Webb, New York Eagle Orbit Nestor William Thompson Albion Canada Britannia 1854 1,383 BRT sank 31 December 1875 after a collision, in the Irish Channel 1855 James Foster, Jr. 1,410 BRT William H. Webb, New York was in 1881 as a Hudson sold to German owners 1855 Neptune 1,406 BRT William H. Webb, New York ran in April 1876 to the Nova Scotia coast and broken 1860 Alexander Marshall 1,177 BRT William H. Webb, New York sank 1869 in the North Atlantic
Similar shipping lines In 1851, James Baines & Co. of Liverpool entered the packet trade using the same name and flag as the New York company, despite its protests. Thus, for about twenty years, two "Black Ball lines", under separate ownership, were operating in direct competition in the transatlantic packet trade. James Baines & Co. also operated ships running between Liverpool and Australia, including famous clipper ships such as Champion of the Seas, James Baines, Lightning, Indian Queen, Marco Polo and Sovereign of the Seas. The Saint John-Liverpool Packet Line, which existed for a couple of years in the 1850s, was also known as the Black Ball Line. It was managed by Richard Wright, St. John, and William and James Fernie, in Liverpool. In 1894, Charles Peabody, a descendant of one of the founding Marshall brothers, created the Alaska Steamship Company and used a variation of the Black Ball Line's flag. In 1928, Peabody's son, Alexander Marshall Peabody, used that flag for his own new Puget Sound Navigation Company, which operated ferries under the name "Black Ball Line". Black Ball Ferry Line, a successor company to Puget Sound Navigation Company, currently operates the MV Coho daily across the US/Canada border. The Coho crosses from Port Angeles, Washington to Victoria, British Columbia.
Notes
References
External links
A Tribute To A Dynasty: The Black Ball Line and The Pacific Northwest Transatlantic WNYC Reading Room Steamship Ticket for Passage of Mr. Nicholas Fish on the Packet Ship Yorkshire, 1859 at GG Archives