Mimosa

A.Friedley 1905 – 1911 Original name Albert Edward

Built in 1905, her original name was Albert Edward, the first two names of Edward VII. Her owner was A.Friedley of Bradford.

Friedley might be an anglicised version of the German Swiss surname Fredlei. German wool merchants played an important part in the development of wool manufacturing in Bradford.. There is an area of Bradford known as “Little Germany.” King Edward’s father Prince Albert, Victoria’s consort was German.

Her home port was Morecambe. Morecambe was known as  Bradford by the Sea due to the resort’s popularity with holiday makers from Bradford. .

E.Robertson 1909 – 1911 Name changed to Mimosa

By 1909 she had a new owner. She is listed in Lloyds Register in 1909 as belonging to E.Robertson a Salford Mill owner. Her name had be changed to Mimosa.

Mimosa was a popular name for yachts in the 1900s with 12 listed in Lloyds Register. Mimosa (or sensitive plant) is a pink flowered plant with fern like leaves that close up with touched. It can be grown outdoors, but it is often grown indoors in a conservatory or hothouse. There is a Mimosa tree which has yellow flowers in Spring that is native to Australia and common on the French Rivera.

Under E.Robertson’s ownership Mimosa came fourth in the Liverpool – Isle of Man Midnight Race. She was a winner at Lytham Regatta beating Wallaroo into the second place.

At 21 tonnes she was the largest yacht to navigate the upper reaches of the Mersey locking into the canal at Fiddlers Ferry. Presumably she was overwintered in the canal at Fiddlers Ferry.

Mimosa going through the locks at Fiddlers Ferry in 1909

Mimosa was brought by two brothers, Nicholas and Edward Worsley in 1911 from East Lancashire. They were cotton manufacturers.

Nicholas Worsley (1872 – 1942) was a Bury Cotton Manufacturer. He owned mills in Accrington, Bury, Haslingden and Manchester. He was a member of Manchester Royal Exchange, now a theatre, but then where cotton products were traded. He was born in Haslingden. He moved to Knott End in 1914.

Nicholas Worsley in 1911

He was a Bury Councillor and Chair of the Board of Guardians, which ran the Bury Workhouse and administered poor relief.  He became a Lancashire County Councillor for the Garstang Division in 1922 after moving to Knott End and was made an alderman in 1938.  He was a J.P for the Garstang area from1930. He was a member of Preesall Urban District Council, which Knott End is part of.  He was chair of the Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries Committee.  In Fleetwood he was Governor of the Grammar School and a member of the Elementary Education Committee. He was Managing Director of the Palace Theatre Cinema. He was chair of Knott End and Fleetwood Golf Course.  He went on the maiden voyage of RMS Queen Mary in 1936. He was member of the Royal Mersey, Isle of Man and Blackpool and Fleetwood Yacht Clubs.

There is Worsley Close in Knott End, a 1960s development of the Esplanade, which may be where his house Northlands was. William Ashworth who owned Wallaroo, a well known Crossfield’s boat from 1927 to 1933 lived nearby at Hackensall Hall. Like Nicholas, he was in the cotton trade and a member of Preesall Urban Distict Council.

Edward Worsley (1876 – 1915) was Nicholas Worsley’s youngest brother. He was involved in the family business, but also ran us own business in Manchester. He lived in Fleetwood in a house called Haseldene on Fleetwood Esplanade. He had holidayed in the town in the past. He was active in Civic Affairs in the town and a prominent member of the Conservative Club. Edward and Nicholas’ sister Clara was married to Dr Gill, the Chief Medical Officer for Fleetwood. He was a Haslingden Councillor in 1900s before he moved to Fleetwood

In 1913 Edward  successfully sued the captain of the Queen of the North, a pleasure steamer for creating too much black smoke, which had filled the cabin of Mimosa when he was eating his breakfast.

It would be interesting to know which brother instigated the purchase of the yacht. Was it Edward or Nicholas? Edward would seem the most likely He owned Scout a 34 foot yacht built by Armours of Fleetwood in 1895 from 1908 to 1911.  He must have taken up yachting when he moved to Fleetwood.

And how they managed their cotton businesses in East Lancashire, whilst living in Fleetwood and Knott End. In 1914 Knott End would have had a railway. A train to Fleetwood followed by the ferry to Knott End would be another option. To get from Bury to Fleetwood by train would have involved changes at Accrington and Preston. By the 1920s, Nicholas would probably had a car. (and chauffeur?)

Under Nicholas Worsley’s ownership, Mimosa had an outstanding racing record. She was one of the top racing yachts in the North West.

Liverpool – Isle of Man Midnight Race

Mimosa won the Liverpool Isle of Midnight Race in 1927, 1928 and 1930. She came second in 1922, 1926 and 1929. She was third in 1920 and 1921 and fourth in 1918. A record unsurpassed by any other boat. Run over night, the 85 miles Midnight Race was the premier yacht race in the North West.The race was reported in the press with spectators watching the start and finish. Despite Mimosa being based at Fleetwood, Nicholas Worsley competed under the flag of the Royal Mersey.

Conditions varied from year to year. In 1922 the race took place in a gale with driving rain. The 1930 race which Mimosa won was affected by fog. Mimosa arrived at Douglas at high tide 12 hours 34 minutes and 1 second after the start of the race in the Mersey whilst the following yachts were faced with an ebbing tide and a dying wind trying to get into Douglas. In 1928 Race, which Mimosa won in 9 hours 50 minutes beating Wallaroo by 13 minutes, conditions were perfect with a good breeze allowing yachts to set full sail. The start of the race was at 8.35 pm with Mimosa arriving in Douglas at 6.15 am.

Mimosa’s winning crew in 1928 Isle of Man Midnight Race

The Worsleys employed a professional skipper to sail Mimosa. He also looked after the boat for them. They may have employed professional boatman drawn from Fleetwood’s fishing community as crew on an ad-hoc basis

Captain Tom Rawlinson

In  1921 the yacht’s professional skipper was Captain Tom Rawlinson, aged 78 years old.  He had a life long sea faring career. Tom Rawlinson was on board the first ship to come into Fleetwood Dock when the dock opened in 1877 throwing the mooring line to the shore. He was the first manager of Fairhaven Lake in Lytham. One of his friends, a ships’ pilot sailed in a 14 foot single sailed dinghy from Fleetwood to the Isle of Man and back to see Mimosa finish the Liverpool Isle of Man Midnight Race in 1921.

In June 1922 a tender carrying Tom Rawlinson and Nicholas Worsley’s eldest son out to Mimosa capsized. Tom, who may have been able to swim had to spend the weekend in bed due to cold shock missing the Fleetwood – Isle of Man Race. The Fleetwood Chronicle described the incident as “exciting”.  Without her skipper on board, Mimosa was unplaced in the 1922 Fleetwood – Isle of Man Race. In July 1922 she came second in the Liverpool Isle of Man Race presumably with her skipper back on board.

In Sept 1919 Nicholas Worsley and Mimosa rescued 36 passenger from the steamer “Royal Consort” which had gone aground on a sandbank off Fleetwood. Mimosa was on a cruise from Morecambe to Fleetwood. As Mimosa could not get alongside Royal Consort due to the shallow water,  Mimosa’s tender was sent out to the steamer to transfer passengers to the yacht. They were then taken in Mimosa under sail to the Fleetwood shore. 4 trips were required to get all passengers to the shore, a skilled operation.

Mimosa remained at Fleetwood after World War II

From 1947 to 1950 she is listed in Lloyds Register as being owned by J.E.Dewhurst from Edenfield in Rossendale. Her home port was still Fleetwood

From 1955 to 1963 she is listed as been owned by Alexander Morris of Lytham Rd, Blackpool. He also owned the Jewel Class Yacht Emerald up till 1957.

Mimosa’s history after 1963 is unknown.

Mimosa did not have an engine till the late 1920s.

In 1928 she was recorded as having an engine in Lloyds Register for the first time. Her engine was a Hyland Wakefield Petrol Engine. Hyland, who were based in Wakefield also made deck machinery for ships such as winches. They were acquired by Vickers-Armstrong 1952.

Around 1953 this was replaced with a new 15hp 3 cylinder oil engine made by Enfield Industries.