John Towill Scagell, plot B88
John Towill Scagell was born in 1841 and is shown living at the 'Strand, East Teignmouth, Devon' in the 1841 census. His father was William Scagell born in 1797, and his mother, Elizabeth, was born in 1801. John had four brothers and one sister.
John joined the ship, Schyryd, as an Ordinary Seaman on the 1st of January 1863. The Schyryd was registered at the port of Teignmouth, number 23518, the year 1857. The Master of the ship was Charles Scagell. His previous ship being the Durley.
Merchant Navy crew list for the Schyryd
John Towill Scagell drowned on the 4th of January 1877.
Teignmouth. Two Fishermen Drowned. A most distressing occurrence happened on Thursday night, when two fishermen, named John Scagell and John Pitwood, were drowned through the capsizing of their boat, heavily laden with herrings, outside the bar.
There were two other men, William Paddon and William Soper, onboard the boat at the time, but they were saved from a watery grave by clinging to the bottom of the boat, in which perilous position they remained upwards of an hour, at the expiration of which time the poor fellows were picked up by a passing boat, and conveyed to the shore in a most exhausted state.
At present, the accident seems somewhat inexplicable, as the sea was calm, and those on the beach had no reason to fear that the men were in such imminent danger.
Plot B88
