Giles Loring (March 26, 1813 – October 2, 1893)''Ancient North Yarmouth and Yarmouth, Maine 1636-1936: A History'', William Hutchinson Rowe (1937) was an American

shipwright Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces i ...

during a prolific period at

Yarmouth Harbor Yarmouth Marina is a natural harbor and estuary of Casco Bay, and is located adjacent to the town of Yarmouth, Maine, United States. It is situated on the Royal River, around southeast of the town center, in an area known as Lower Falls. Today ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

.''Images of America: Yarmouth'', Alan M. Hall (Arcadia, 2002), p. 16 His shipyard was one of the four major ones during the town's peak years of 1850–1875,"Yarmouth Historic Context Statement
– Town of Yarmouth and it launched the harbor's final vessel.

Early life

Loring was born on March 26, 1813, in Pownal,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

(now in Maine).

Career

Established in 1854, the Giles Loring Shipyard became one of the four major shipyards at the harbor of Yarmouth during its time in the industry. Loring's yard was on the eastern side of the

Royal River The Royal River is a small river, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 30, 2011 in southern Maine. The river originates in Sabbathday Lake in New Gloucester and ...

, and it was there that he built 34 ships, mostly

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

s and

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

s, with an average size of around 400 gross tons. The largest vessel he built was the 989-ton ''Alice Vennard'', launched in 1860.''Two Centuries of Maine Shipbuilding'', Nathan Lipfert (2021) It was from his yard that the last major vessel, the three-mast

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

''Damietta and Joanna'', was launched in 1890. He sometimes built in tandem with Charles Poole (his son-in-law), John M. Cobb or Benjamin Chadsey.

Personal life

Loring married twice: first to Sarah Mitchell Stubbs from 1834 until her death 1885, then Lydia Hannah Schofield, of

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

, England, from 1887 to his death in 1893. After retiring in 1890, he went bankrupt after his investment in a mineral spring in North Yarmouth failed.

Death

Loring died on October 25, 1893, aged 80. He is interred in Yarmouth's Ledge Cemetery. Although Loring was her second husband, and she married twice more after his death, Lydia was buried with him at the Ledge Cemetery upon her death in 1922.''Church of England, Maine and Massachusetts Vital Records''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loring, Giles People from North Yarmouth, Maine People from Yarmouth, Maine 1813 births 1893 deaths American shipwrights