Scoresby Family Papers

Manuscripts Collection 55

Overview of the Collection

Repository: G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport
Creator: Scoresby family
Title: Scoresby Family Papers
Dates: 1775-1870
Extent: 213 items
Abstract: Chiefly papers of William Scoresby (1760-1829), whaling master, of Whitby, England, and his sons, William Scoresby, Jr. (1789-1857), whaling master and later clergyman, and Thomas Scoresby (1804-1866). Includes correspondence, diaries, notes, lectures, sermons, whaleship accounts, whaling journals, list of whaling vessels built in or hailing from Whitby, and autobiography of Thomas Scoresby.
Identification: Coll. 55

Biography of Members of the Scoresby family

William Scoresby Sr was a man from Whitby, England who, between 1791 and 1822, commanded thirty whaling voyages into dangerous Arctic waters and never lost a ship. He is credited with inventing the top gallant “crow’s nest” in 1807, and numerous other things connected with whaling operations.

In addition to being a successful whaling master, Scoresby developed keen navigational skills and was the fist after Hudson to trace the east coast of what was then called “West” Greenland, as distinguished from Spitsbergen, then known as Greenland and “East” Greenland. In 1822 William Scoresby Sr. and his son, William Jr. – now commanding his own whaling vessel and whose navigation abilities where perhaps equaled only by his father’s – explored an immense bay along Greenland’s east coast, known thereafter as Scoresby Sound.

William Scoresby Sr. was a farmer’s son, born in 1760, who spent nearly 43 of his 69 years at sea. He died at Whitby in 1829, approximately seven years after retiring from his career at sea.

William Scoresby Jr. was born in 1789, and at age 21 was master of the whaler RESOLUTION. After a very successful whaling career he continued his scientific and religious studies, receiving a degree of D. D. from Cambridge in 1839. He died at Torquay in 1857.

The younger son, Thomas Scoresby (1804-1866), received a degree in medicine after spending some years at sea. He practiced in Edinburgh and London before finally coming to the United States. He died at Ellenville, N. Y. in 1866.

For a more complete Scoresby biography, see volume #71 in this collection.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Available for use in the Manuscripts Division

Restrictions on Use

Various copying restriction apply. Guidelines are available from the Manuscripts Division.

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Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the G. W. Blunt White Library. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Scoresby, Thomas, 1804-1866
Scoresby, William, 1760-1829
Scoresby, William, 1789-1857

Subjects:

Medicine–Practice–England–London
Medicine–Practice–Scotland–Edinburgh
Whaling–Arctic regions
Whaling–England–Whitby
Whaling ships–England–Whitby

Document Types:

Autobiographies
Diaries
Lectures
Sermon

Occupations:

Clergy–England
Physicians–Great Britain
Whaling masters–England–Whitby

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Coll. 055, Manuscripts Collection, G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc.

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Index to Personal and Corporate Names

Bayley, J. 1/4
Bewick, Joseph 1/4
Bilton, Robert 1/4
Broughan, N. 1/4
Clarke, ? (Mrs.) 1/4
Clarke, Peter 1/4
Congreve, William (Sir) 1/4
Fenningley & Clarke 1/4
Jackson, J. (Mrs.) 1/4
Jackson, Thomas 1/4
Sheldon, ? 1/4
Topham, ? (Miss) 1/4
Wharton, Thomas 1/4

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

 

Papers; 1805-1925
Box Folder
1 1 Notes kept on board the ship RESOLUTION; ca. 1805
2 Inventory of whale oil, ship RESOLUTION; 1812 Jun 29
3 Accounts, William Scoresby Jr.; 1820-1825
4 Letters, Scoresby family; 1821-1858
5 Papers, ship FAME; 1823
6 Papers, ship BAFFIN; 1823
7 Notes, Whitby Harbor Improvement; ca. 1825
8 Notes, Whitby Harbor Improvement; ca. 1825
9 Memoir Notea, William Scoresby Sr.; ca. 1830
10 Thesis on English Highway system improvement; ca. 1840
11 Obituary, Dr. Edmund Scoresby-Jackson; 1867 Feb 2
12 Notes; undated
13 Sketches, Whitby Church door and ship FAME; undated
14 Photgraph, S.S. MOOLTAN; undated
15 Papers, Frederick S. Dellenbaugh & P. Edwin Clark; 1914-1925
16 Monograph, The Scoresby Family
Volumes; 1774-1858
Volume
1 Account book; 1811-1821
2 Account book; 1819-1822
3 Account book, ship BAFFIN, William Scoresby, Jr.; 1820-1825
4 Account book, ship BAFFIN, William Scoresby, Jr.; 1823-1824
5 Memorandum book, ship FAME; 1818-1828
6 Whale Oil Account, ship FAME; 1820-1828
7 Lecture; 1858 Feb 25
8 Lecture; 1858 Feb 25
9 Lecture; undated
10 Lecture; undated
11 Lecture; undated
12 Lecture; undated
13 Lecture; undated
14 Lecture; undated
15 Letter copybook, lectures; 1810-1812
16 Letter copybook, lectures; 1810-1812
17 Lecture; 1861-1862
18 Lecture; 1861-1862
19 Lecture; 1861-1862
20 Lecture; 1861-1862
21 Memorandum book; 1839-1844
22 Notebook; undated
23 Copybook; undated
24 Patent copybook; 1828 Oct 30
25 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
26 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
27 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
28 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
29 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
30 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
31 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
32 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
33 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
34 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
35 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
36 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
37 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
38 Sermons, Wm. Scoresby Jr.; 1852-1856
39 Cargo book, for ship RESOLUTION, whale oil; 1808
40 Cargo book, for ship RESOLUTION, whale oil; 1809
41 Chronology of whalers out of Whitby, England; 1774-1808
42 Listing of vessels built at Whitby, England; 1792-1797
43 Journal, ship HENRIETTA; 1787-1795
44 Journal, ship HENRIETTA; 1796-1797
45 Journal, ship DUNDEE; 1798 Feb 26-Jul 3
46 Journal, ship DUNDEE; 1802 Feb 2-Jul 18
47 Journal, ship MARS; 1817 May 28-Aug 18
48 Journal, ship FAME; 1819 Mar 24-Aug 30
49 Account book, ship RESOLUTION; 1809-1817
50 Journal, ship FAME; 1820 Mar 24-Aug 30
51 Journal, ship FAME; 1822 Apr 8-Sep 17
52 Journal, ship BAFFIN; 1823 Apr 8-Sep 12
53 Daybook; 1821-1828
54 Journal, ship ALEXANDER; 1828 Mar 19-Dec 8
55 Journal, ship BAFFIN; 1823 Apr 8-Jul 16
56 Math Rule Book; undated
57 Math Rule Book; undated
58 Catalog, free lending library; undated
59 Memoir, Thomas Scoresby; 1760
60 Account book, Wm. Scoresby, Jr.; 1820-1834
61 Account book, Wm. Scoresby, Jr.; 1827-1839
62 Autobiography, Thomas Scoresby (Part I); 1810-1855
63 Autobiography, Thomas Scoresby (Part II); 1810-1855
64 Autobiography, Thomas Scoresby (Part III); 1810-1855
65 Autobiography, Thomas Scoresby (Part IV); 1810-1855
66 Diary; 1848 Nov 9-1856 Jul 8
67 Diary; 1837 Jul 20-Sep 10
68 Diary; 1858 May 24-1860 Jan 25
69 Diary; 1858 May 24-Jun 12
70 Letter copybook, William Scoresby Sr.; 1811-1812

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