Old John Sainty
Submitted by on Thu, 05/15/2008 at 1:31am.
An extract from 'The Northseamen' - by John Leather
The story of the building of the ‘Pearl’ has been told many times and, traditionally, Sainty, is supposed to have built her in 1815 at Wivenhoe on a site just north of the present Cook’s shipyard, but the following eye witness account by a Colchester Customs Officer disproves this –
"It was in 1814 that I came into the excise and was ordered to Colchester (Buonaparte had been sent to Elba, and the short peace that took place led many to go abroad). There was,in Colchester at the time, a man by the name of Brown, a whip-maker by trade; he left Colchester and went over to Holland, and took with him a vast many counterfeit guineas, and after a while he was detected. I, with many others, watched the newspapers every day, expecting to see an account of his death for the crime."
"At that time, Sainty used to sail backwards and forwards to Holland, and did a vast deal of trade in contraband goods; he had a vessel with false sides. Sainty had great interests in Holland, and through this he got Brown off and brought him home in his vessel. As soon as they landed, Brown informed against Sainty, and told where the smuggled goods were to be found. (It was supposed Brown got a vast sum of money for this information, as he came to Colchester and took public house in Barrack Street. I have several times been in it and seen him, but he did not prosper long, he had to leave it, went to his trade again; but could not do; and I forget now what became of him. Sainty’s vessel was condemned; and Sainty, his son and his brother, were sent to Chelmsford goal (It was stated, for life).
"In 1815, Buonaparte made his return to France, and soon after, The Marquis of Anglesea lost one of his legs at the battle of Waterloo. After the war was over (it was 1816 or 1817, I cannot say the year exactly) the Marquis came to Colchester to inquire about John Sainty; and was told he had been imprisoned for life; and I heard the report that the Marquis said ‘that if he were in hell, he would have him out.’ The Marquis went out and saw Sainty, and asked him if he were the man who built his prize winning, racing yacht, years ago the ‘Emerald’. He said he had. He then asked Sainty if he could build him one more, that would beat that one. He said he could, and one that no other could beat. In consequence The Marquis wrote to the Prince Regent, and an order was sent to the Governer to liberate John Sainty. Old John knew what he was about, and his sons name also being John, he sent him out in his place."
"When The Marquis saw him, he found he had let out the son instead of the father. He then wrote for the fathers liberation, which soon took place, and when he saw The Marquis, he told him that he also had a brother in goal that he could not do without. In a few days all three were in Colchester. Upon receipt of £100 a year from the Marquis after building the ‘Pearl’, Old Sainty swore an oath never to build such a yacht again, but after a while, he broke this contract.
The ‘Pearl’ was launched in 1819. Although the ‘Pearl’s memory is now enshrined in a tradition of successful racing, actual records of it are few and far between and she does not appear to have competed often. The Marquis was so certain of victory when racing her that once he was reported to have proclaimed '‘If the ‘Pearl’should be beaten, I will burn her as soon as she gets back." He must have regretted these words early in the race when the ‘Arrow’ led, but the ‘Pearl’ eventually won by 10 minutes and escaped a fiery end!