MAT Volunteer Jane Thakker tells the story of a remarkable woman, Mrs McGuire, who stepped in to captain a ship when the actual captain, her husband, was struck ill.

In 1939, the Mariners Museum and Park in Virginia, USA acquired another figurehead for their collection. Captain Yngve Eiserman, a marine surveyor who had become a buyer for the museum, destermined that the carving had come from a German owned, full rigged ship called the Galatea. It had arrived in Cape Town in 1879 in very poor condition and, after it was discovered how much it would cost to fully repair it, only some basic work was done and it became a coal hulk in Table Bay. After a hurricane struck in the early 1880s, it parted its cable and was wrecked on Bloubergstrand beach. The wreck was purchased by a Mr Stevens who salvaged the figurehead which was later sold to a Mr Bleach who kept it on display for many years in his hotel. When he retired he donated it to the South African Museum in Cape Town, where it was found by Captain Eiserman.

The ship had originally been called the Chieftain, and was built in Boston by Paul Curtis, for Peter Wright & Sons of Philadelphia. Thomas McGuire, who had overseen the ship’s construction, became her first captain when she was launched on November 15 1864.

Between 1864 and 1868 the Chieftain sailed regularly between Philadelphia and Liverpool. In March 1868 the ship departed Liverpool for Calcutta, arriving on July 23. Having taken on a cargo of linseed, jute and gunny cloth it left Calcutta for New York on October 28. By early November it was about 127 miles southeast of Calcutta in the Bay of Bengal.

About four weeks after this Captain McGuire was struck down with what was known as Calcutta fever, which is thought probably to have been Dengue fever and, although there were twenty three crew on board, including second and third mates, they were relatively inexperienced, so the captain asked his wife to take command.

Mrs McGuire had been accompanying her husband on his voyages for 20 yrs and had become a very knowledgeable mariner. The New York Daily Herald of March 4 1869 says that “she knew every spar and rope and sail on the vessel. She knew every word of command. She made all the observations herself. She kept the log book. She was on deck at all hours of day and night. She watched the barometer. She noted the shifting cloud and the varying breezes”. Her expertise must have been readily acknowledged by the crew as they happily obeyed her every command and Able Seaman James Connolly described her as “a thorough navigator and sufficiently skilled in seamanship to take the ship home quite as well as any of themselves.”

As well as fulfilling the post of captain, Mrs McGuire also nursed her sick husband and cared for her eight year old son. The crew’s respect and regard for her was made evident, as she said that they “walked down on tiptoe and spoke only in soft whispers” when near the captain’s cabin. After rounding the Cape of Good Hope the Chieftain put into St Helena on 10 January 1869. Merchants from a local company had Captain McGuire carried from the ship to a private lodging house, so that medical care could be provided, but on examination doctors feared that he would not live. The US consul therefore proposed putting another captain on board, but Captain and Mrs McGuire were absolutely opposed to this.

The McGuires prevailed and the Chieftain continued under the command of Mrs Captain McGuire arriving in New York on 2 March 1869. The ship’s arrival was greeted with great excitement and the underwriters presented Mrs McGuire with a cheque for $1000 for bringing the ship safely to port. The ship’s consignees also commented that they were “highly pleased that she had retained command”.

This was not the first time Mrs Captain McGuire had brought a ship to port, however, as several years before, the entire crew of the Pam Flush had come down with yellow fever. Mrs McGuire being the only healthy person on board, she became captain, crew, navigator, cook and nurse and got the ship safely into harbour.

There are several mentions in Liverpool newspapers of the Chieftain’s arrivals and departures at the port: the Liverpool Mail, the Liverpool Weekly Courier, the Liverpool Daily Post, the Liverpool Mercury, the Liverpool Shipping Gazette as well as in Lloyds List, the Daily Commercial Advertiser and the Shipping and Mercantile Gazette.

There are also two reports of Mrs McGuire’s amazing feat, commanding and navigating the Chieftain from the East coast of India to New York:

Liverpool Post Monday 22 March 1869
The ship Chieftain arrived in New York this week from Calcutta. When five weeks out the Captain (Maguire) was prostrated by fever, and his wife taking command brought the vessel safely to port.
Mrs. Maguire, it is said, has sailed with her husband for 20 years, and knows every rope and spar aboard ship. Several years ago, while in command of a brig, Captain Maguire with his crew were taken sick, and Mrs. Maguire navigated the vessel to port with scarcely assistance.—. New Yuri Letter. (New York Daily Herald?)

Barnsley Independent 22 May 1869
SOMETHING LIKE A WIFE Very recently the ship Chieftain reached this port from Calcutta, having been safely piloted across two stormy oceans by a woman. Captain McGuire was prostrated with fever at Calcutta, and was unable to assume command, and the mates were inexperienced and incompetent; but his wife, who accompanied him, took his post and filled it bravely. She made all the observations herself. She kept the log book. She was on deck at all hours of day and night. She watched the barometer. She noted the shifting cloud and the varying breezes. But in the midst of her multiform duties she was unremitting in her attention to her husband. In the sick chamber she was soft, soothing and tender; on the deck she was stern, unyielding and peremptory. The sailors were disciplined and obedient, the weather favourable, the voyage short and prosperous. This was being strong minded to some purpose – New York Round Table.

It seems that the McGuires did not go to sea again after this adventure, and extensive research has failed to uncover the remarkable Mrs Captain McGuire’s first name.

With thanks to the Mariner’s Museum and Park, the Mariner’s Mirror, and the British Newspaper Archives.