Fruing company ships
William Fruing 1788-1868
William Fruing was the son of William Fruing and Elizabeth Trachy. He was baptised in St Brelade’s Church on 3 August 1788 and his godparents were William Brine and Douce Laurent.
His brother Philippe was baptised in St Brelade on 26 October 1791 and his godparents were Philippe Nicolle and his wife Susanne Le Vesconte.
On 16 November 1822 William Fruing married Jeanne Elizabeth Alexandre in St Brelade's Parish Church and their eldest child, Mary Ann, was born on 25 November 1823. She was baptised on 4 January 1824 and her godparents were James Robin, Marie Gosset and Anne Madelaine Gosset.
Jeanne Elizabeth Alexandre was the widow of Jean Hamon. Her five brothers, Joshua, who was manager at la Pointe, Francis, John, Frederick and George, were all engaegd in the Gaspe fisheries
William and Jeanne’s second child, Louisa Janet, was baptised in August 1825 and her godparents were Jean Piton and his wife Anne Alexandre and Jane Elizabeth Hamon.
The couple had at least another five more children, all daughters, three of whom died in infancy
- Ellen Jane died August 1830 aged 10 months
- Anne died September 1831 aged 10 weeks
- Harriet died September 1834 aged one year seven months
The others were Amelia Elizabeth 1827, and Mary/Margaret who married a J Macintosh, a merchant from Caraquet, New Brunswick.
In 1835 William bought 36 La Colomberie from Marie Elizabeth Le Vesconte, the wife of Advocate Francois Godfray.
Robin Company
Both William and his brother James worked for the Robin Company. In 1814 Philip Robin returned to Europe leaving William Fruing in Paspebiac in charge of the company's operation in the Bay of Chaleurs. This was the first time the Robins had left a non-familiy member in charge of the company in Canada.
From 1820 the company directors in Jersey decided that it would be better for their chief agent in Gaspe to return to the island each winter so that they could review the past season's performance and to plan the next year's work. When he returned to Gaspe the following spring, Fruing carried the written directions of James Robin detailing the company's plans for the year.
These orders were supplemented throughout the year by further instructions sent by company vessels and timber ships. The increased marine traffic in Chaleur Bay allowed the Robins in Jersey to keep in more up-to-date contact with their manager at Paspebiac.
As the Robins’ chief agent, he also supervised the Paspebiac shipyard headed by James Day.
Own business
In 1830 Philippe had left Robin and was working for a Captain Duval on the island of Miscou north of Shippagan in New Brunswick. In the same year William was chief agent for Robin Paspebiac in Gaspe. In 1830 he also set up his own company, William Fruing and Co, at the Bay of Chaleurs in Miscou, with his brother-in-law Captain Joshua Alexander as partner and as the first manager.
In 1831 they employed Captain Jacques Hamon to pick up a cargo of cod from Caraquet, much to the annoyance of the Robins, who had a base there. Despite this the two companies worked together the following year and were able to employ 200 boats from that place.
This station (La Pointe) was in a place called Old Point, or Alexandre Point, and comprised a dock with drying racks - flakes, stores for salt, stores for 'green' cod and stores for salted cod; a pier and a shipyard with carpenter's shop, a forge and a foundry . There was also a house for the Jersey employees. The Fruings had 80 boats at Shippagan and 200 at Port Misson, New Brunswick.
Once he bought the Janvrin store at Grande Greve in 1852 he became established in the Forillon area and began to expand his newtork of stores to Riviere-au-Renard, Saint Maurice, Cloridorme, Grande-Vallee, Madelaine, and Mont Louis.
By 1861 he was exporting 18,000 quintals of dry salted cod and over 450 men worked for his company.
Benefitting from the years they worked with the Robins, the Fruings exported their cod to the Mediterranean ports of Naples, Bari and Messina, and to Oporto in Portugal. They also traded haddock and cod with Brazil, where it was sold by F S Nicholson. They exported brill to Cork in Ireland and any second grade cod was shipped to Barbados to Gardiner, Austin and Co. The return leg carried rum, molasses, brown sugar and tobacco.
William Fruing and Company operated from 8 Caledonia Place, Jersey. By 1855 Fruings had an officen agent in London. William's daughter Louisa Jane had married Frederick Warne of Frederick Warne and Co.
The directors of the company were Walter Langrish, Harold Edmund Warne, Louisa Jane Fruing, John Philip Tocque, Thomas Ahier, Alfred William Dolbel and Philippe Luce (later general manager). Philippe died about 1857
William died, aged 79, on 25 April 1868 and was buried in St Helier. His wife Elizabeth had died two years earlier in January 1866 aged 74.
In 1817, the Fruing company was announced en desastre (bankrupt) and was transferred into the name of J P Tocque, a director of Fruing and Co. and a ship owner in his own right.
The company continued to trade under the name of W Fruing for many years after this. Both the Fruing company and the J P Tocque company used the same house flag, a triangular shaped flag with a red background and a white circle in the middle.
The company was declared bankrupt by the Court in Perce, Gaspe, in June 1917 and in September, Robin, Jones and Whitman bought all the Fruings property in Gaspe for $20,000.
Fruing vessels
(This is a partial list of company ships)
- Susan – 73-ton Schooner-brig. Built Gaspe 1829 by John Dodridge. Owned by John Le Gresley and Philip Fruing 1830-1836. William Fruing and Co 1836-1843. Lost in Cobo Bay, Guernsey on passage to London
- Lady Harvey 112-ton schooner-brig. 1837 by Raymond and Grogan, Carlton, NB. William Fruing and Co 1836-1843. Lost on Grande Bature, Shippagan Harbour on passage from Jersey.
- Comus – 48-ton Schooner. 1839. William Fruing and Philip Luce 1840-1846. Bought for £200. Lost on Aberdovey bar on passage to Bristol.
- Amelia – 192-ton barque. 1840 by Joshua Alexandre at Shippagan. William Fruing and Co 1841-1856. Lost Le Havre, Guernsey to London with stone.
- Melvina – 187-ton brig. 1842 Caraquet, Newfoundland. William Fruing and Co 8143-1848. Wrecked near Bahia.
- Friendship – 95-ton Schooner-brig. 1842 by Richard Mauger at Bonaventure. William Fruing and Philip Luce 1845-1854. Sold.
- Crapaud – 122-ton schooner-brig. 1843 Shippagan. William Fruing and Co1844-1861. Sold.
- Favourite – 478-ton schooner. 1847 by George Nicolson, Patriotic Place, St Helier. William Fruing and Co 1847-1859. Lengthened by W Nicolson.
- St Brelade – 120-ton schooner-brig. 1849 by Henry James at Shippagan. William Fruing and Co 1850-1871. Sold. Wrecked off Gaspe 1887.
- Alliance – 339-ton barque. 1853 by F C Clarke, West Park, Jersey. William Fruing and Co 1853-1873. Wrecked off Ceylon.
- Ocean Bride – 334-ton barque. 1854, F C Clarke. William Fruing and Co 1854-1875. Registry transferred to Guernsey.
- Stranger- 227-ton brig. 1854 near Bayonne, France. William Fruing and Philip Luce 1854-1859. Abandoned sinking off Cape of Good Hope
- Mary Ann – 296-ton barque. 1855 Shippagan. William Fruing and Co 1856-1866. Sold.
- Envoy – 144-ton schooner-brig. 1856 Jersey. William Fruing and Co 1856-1859. Foundered off Falmouth.
- Alice Jane – 215-ton barque. 1836 Liverpool. William Fruing and Co 1857-1868, William Fruing and Philip Luce 1868; Philip Le Quesne and Philip Luce 1868-1874. Sold.
- Chieftain – 579 tons. 1857 F C Clarke, West Park. William Fruing and Co 1857-1859. Wrecked, China.
- Jane – 214 ton brig. 1858. William Fruing and Co 1858-1865. Wrecked Cape of Good Hope.
- Griffin – 898-ton brigantine. 1861 by Nicolson, Patriotic Place, St Helier. William Fruing and Philip Luce 1861-1866. Lost off Azores on passage New Orleans to Liverpool with cotton.
- Champion – 486-ton barque. 1863 by George Vautier, Havre des Pas. William Fruing and Co 1863-1872. Abandoned off False Point.
- Fox – 95-ton schooner. 1864 by George Vautier. William Fruing and Philip Luce 1864-1868. Lost in Gulf of St Lawrence.
- Rambler – 62-ton schooner. George Vautier. William Fruing and Philip Luce 1865. Lost off Newfoundland.
- William Fruing – 793-ton. 1867. William Fruing and Co 1867-1873. Sold.
- Shamrock – 126-ton brigantine. 1852 Bathurst. William Fruing and Philip Luce. Sold.
- Cornucopia – 180-ton brigantine. 1859 Shippagan. Built for Mediterranean trade.
- Trial – 36-ton schooner. 1831 by Philip Fruing, Shippagan. Philip Fruing, fisherman 1831-1876.
- Penguin – 13-ton schooner. 1897 Shippagan. William Fruing 1897-1940. Broken up.
- Pelican – 13-ton schooner. 1897 Shippagan. William Fruing 1897-1940. Broken up.
- Ibis – 11-ton schooner. 1897 Shippagan. William Fruing 1897-1938. Broken up.
- Britannia – 13-ton schooner. 1897 Caraquet. William Fruing 1897-1926 Broken up.
- Irene – 12-ton schooner. 1897 Caraquet. William Fruing 1897-1931. Broken up
- Kingfisher – 13-ton schooner. 1899 Shippagan. William Fruing 1899-1900. Lost New Brunswick.
- Hibernia – 13-ton schooner. 1899 Shippagan. William Fruing 1899-1926. Broken up.
- Heron – 13-ton schooner. 1899 Shippagan. William Fruing 1899-1928. Broken up.
- Fleetwing – 14-ton schooner. 1901 Shippagan. William Fruing 1901-1938. Broken up.
- Alice – 62-ton schooner. 1901 Shippagan. William Fruing 1899-1926. Broken up.
- Gypsy – 15-ton schooner. 1902 Shippagan. William Fruing 1902-1926. Broken up.
- Maple Leaf – 13-ton schooner. 1903 Shippagan. William Fruing 1903-1942. Broken up.
- Kathleen – 15-ton schooner. 1903 Shippagan. William Fruing 1903-1926. Sold.
- Sunbeam – 14-ton schooner. 1907 Shippagan. William Fruing 1907-1926. Registration moved.
- Spark – 10-ton schooner. 1907 Shippagan. William Fruing 1907-1925. Broken up.
- Mary - 29-ton schooner. 1853 Merigomish. William Fruing 1853-1861. Broken up.
