Daniel Brocklebank (c. 1741-1801) was a shipbuilder, first in North America and then in

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

, and a mariner in between. He was born in 1741 (or 1742) at

Torpenhow Blennerhasset and Torpenhow is a civil parish in Cumbria, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 437, reducing to 423 at the 2011 Census. It includes the villages of Blennerhasset and Torpenhow at and the smaller set ...

, England. At age 14 he moved to Whitehaven to take up an apprenticeship as a carpenter for a shipbuilder.Daniel Brocklebank - accessed 21 October 2015.
/ref> In 1770, Brocklebank established a shipyard at Sheepscutt (Sheepscot), which is near

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. National Museums Liverpool - Maritime Archives & Library Information Sheet #18: Thomas & John Brocklebank - accessed 21 October 2015.
/ref> He brought with him his wife Anne, to whom he had been married only one year, and their baby daughter Sarah. At Sheepscot he built five ships, one per year. When the

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commenced, he took his family and his newest vessel, ''Castor'', launched in early 1775 and not yet fully fitted out, and sailed home to Britain. In 1779 he received a

letter of marque A letter of marque and reprisal () was a Sovereign state, government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or French corsairs, corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with t ...

and became a privateer, using ''Castor'', reportedly a brig of 220 tons (bm), that he armed with 20 guns.''The Compass'' (1960; Vol.304), p.67. When ''Castor'' was lost near Jamaica in 1781, he had the firm of Spedding & Co. build a second ''Castor''. This was probably the ''Castor'' launched in 1782 that traded as far as Bengal and served until 1808, though Brocklebank apparently sold her in 1791 or 1792. Spedding & Co. also built the ship ''Precedent'' and the brig ''Cyrus'' for Brocklebank. In addition, Brocklebank purchased several ships from Stockdale & Co. Brocklebank was able to restart his shipbuilding firm in 1785 (or 1788). Here he built some 25 (or 27) vessels. By 1795 he had built up a fleet of eleven vessels of a total burthen of 1,750 tons ( bm). Brocklebank died in 1801. His two sons then took over the firm, which they renamed Thomas and John Brocklebank; later it became Thos. and Jno. Brocklebank.

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brocklebank, Daniel (shipbuilder) 1740s births 1801 deaths English shipbuilders People from Whitehaven