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Hen Frigates: Wives of Merchant Captains Under Sail
An account of the lives of the wives of nineteenth century sea captains, who were often taken on voyages with their partners. The information has largely been taken from the diaries and letters of the women themselves.
274 pages, Hardcover
First published June 3, 1998
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About the author
Joan Druett
51 books186 followersBack in the year 1984, on the picture-poster tropical island of Rarotonga, I literally fell into whaling history when I tumbled into a grave. A great tree had been felled by a recent hurricane, exposing a gravestone that had been hidden for more than one and a half centuries. It was the memorial to a young whaling wife, who had sailed with her husband on the New Bedford ship Harrison in the year 1845. And so my fascination with maritime history was triggered ... resulting in 18 books (so far). The latest—number nineteen—is a biography of a truly extraordinary man, Tupaia, star navigator and creator of amazing art.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
June 14, 2025
OK I will cut straight to the chase with this - the format killed this book for me. I found it incredibly piecemeal and hard to read, I found no flow of narrative and couldn't connect to the featured persons because they all blended into one.
The topic should have been fascinating. The sheer volume of research and organisation of the book is impressive and admirable - most information came from diaries and letters of the wives. There were a lot of good photographs and the authors husband contributed excellent sketches, mostly of ships.
Essentially, the book is about the wives and children of captains of (mostly merchant) ships throughout (mostly) the 19th century. The book is arranged into chapters of themes, eg - The Honeymooners, At Sea, Children at sea, Ship /kitchens, Hazards of the Sea, etc. But the problem was that each wife had only a few paragraphs (or often just one) on each topic, so in 20 or 30 pages we her from 40 or 50 women. Each woman referenced requires a ship's name, a year and her husbands name to be able to even attempt to keep track, but for me I was not able to manage the sheer number of people, and they all blurred. Being so structured in this format it also became quite dry reading, with loads of repetition with only minor changes to the narrative.
Hard work to complete, with too few gems to be found amongst it.
2 stars
The topic should have been fascinating. The sheer volume of research and organisation of the book is impressive and admirable - most information came from diaries and letters of the wives. There were a lot of good photographs and the authors husband contributed excellent sketches, mostly of ships.
Essentially, the book is about the wives and children of captains of (mostly merchant) ships throughout (mostly) the 19th century. The book is arranged into chapters of themes, eg - The Honeymooners, At Sea, Children at sea, Ship /kitchens, Hazards of the Sea, etc. But the problem was that each wife had only a few paragraphs (or often just one) on each topic, so in 20 or 30 pages we her from 40 or 50 women. Each woman referenced requires a ship's name, a year and her husbands name to be able to even attempt to keep track, but for me I was not able to manage the sheer number of people, and they all blurred. Being so structured in this format it also became quite dry reading, with loads of repetition with only minor changes to the narrative.
Hard work to complete, with too few gems to be found amongst it.
2 stars
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December 21, 2016Very Good – non-fiction
The Hook 2106 Reading Plan – bookWOMEN: A Readers’ Community For Those Who Love Women’s Words, Vol 6, No.5, June-July 2002,“My Journal, my life” by Linda Beall, pg. 8-9.
In this article Beall talks about the benefits of reading and writing journals and how we all have stories to tell. Hen Frigates offers stories of women who follow their husbands to unknown places on sailing vessels in the name of love.
The Line ”In Brisbane, Australia, a cockroach came on board that was so huge Hattie Atwood mistook it for an man’s slipper.”
The Sinker – Joan Druett sets the tone for these personal looks at intrepid women who choose to marry and then follow their men, the captains, to sea in her introduction to Hen Frigates
”History, I often think, is like a tap on the shoulder. This story of what is was like to be a captain’s wife or daughter at sea is eloquent evidence of this, for the writing involved a whole series of nudges from the past. The research for Hen Frigates was an ever-evolving process, which included the discovery of a long-hidden nineteenth-century gravestone, a wedding portrait that returned home, and diaries hidden in an attic.”
The stories of these women are interwoven in a series of eleven chapters depicting their daily lives that allow us to vicariously sail along. We meet some of the women frequently throughout the book, and others make cameo appearances. Some stories will be quickly forgotten and others encourage further research. Hen Frigates answers the question of what it is like to be the only woman on a ship of men. It answers the question of why one would even consider this, and gives a dose of what their lives were like. There is a honeymoon, there is sex, there are children born, they cook, they clean, they gain their sea legs, they are bored by the tedium of ship life, they are frightened by the hazards they encounter, the illnesses they must deal with; they, their husbands or their children die. There is also laughter, love, and comradery with other wives, adventure, and exotic travel to other lands. It is quite the life, obviously not for all, but for these courageous women it is the one they choose. Some make only one voyage and that’s enough, others truly live a life at sea.
The ships and voyages are as varied as the women themselves. Peppered throughout are intricate drawings by the author’s husband Ron Druett. As much that is known about the women through their diaries and journals, there often is no ending to these beginnings as their stories sail off into the sunset.
Remember that cockroach described in the line I chose to quote. The seamen often tolerated cockroaches as they thought they’d eat bed bugs, a worse scourge, and the big ones were used for bait. Rats, centipedes and little white worms from dates and figs were much more of a problem.
Many women learned to navigate the ship, which became quite handy if their husband or the mates were unable due to illness or death. Often though, the women’s opinions, these ”She Captains” were ignored as heeding their advice was seen as an insult to the male masculinity.
There were many stories that caught my interest.
Consider the chapter on dropping anchor and getting from one ship to a boat to get to land. This could often be a challenge and involved strapping the woman into her armchair with the stars and stripes, ensuring her modesty. Thus, no limbs were seen by sailors and the chair was secured to a windlass and she was heave-hoed over the ship rail into her husband’s arms on the boat. Other times a well calculated jump was the only way from ship to boat.
The chapter regarding children at sea is a gem. It explains the business of well, the baby’s business.
”In Victorian times babies’ napkins were made of red flannel, and stitched onto the baby with needle and three—very useful tools, for in rough weather babies were often sewn into their cribs as well, with stitches attaching the swaddling blanket to the mattress. Washing diapers was a bigger problem, though Elizabeth Linklater recorded a young father tying napkins to a rope and towing them behind the ship. This seems a very efficient way of laundering them (provided they did not attract sharks), but unless they were very thoroughly rinsed in freshwater, a residue of salt would remain behind that would not be ideal for baby skins.”
In the chapter outlining what the women did while at sea, it was heartening to know that reading was a very popular way to pass the time, especially in latitudes with much evening light. Like many travelers today, many books, newspapers and magazines were carried and as read, exchanged with others as the journey progressed. There was even a Loan Library for Seamen in New York that provided books on board for sailors. Cleaning, sewing, children and even just being an ear to her husband kept the wives busy. The wives “were women of consequence” and in port dress accordingly but on ship their frocks were often inappropriate and yet the women weren’t liberated enough to wear the pants and shirts that the men wore on deck. Eliza Edwards was quite brave to wear a Bloomer Dress”, a waltz-length dress and baggy trousers which were gathered at the ankles, designed by Libby Gerrit Smith and named after women’s rightest, Amelia Bloomer.
I was very taken with one woman, Sarah Gray of Liberty Hill, Connecticut, a neighborhood of Lebanon, which still exists today and is in close proximity to where I live. Sarah Gray’s time on ship spanned twenty years. Her last voyage was on the whaleship James Maury was a sad one. Sailing from New Bedford her husband, Captain Sluman Gray died.
”The log for March 24,1865, reads “Light winds and pleasant weather. At two PM our Captain expired after the illness of two days.”
Some sailors were buried at sea but Sarah made a cask and preserved the Captain with spirits. On June 28, a Confederate raider, the Shenandoah, captured the ship. Though the Civil War was over the Shenandoah’s Captain Waddell didn’t believe it and continued to capture ships. Eventually the cask made it home and Captain Gray is buried in the Liberty Hill graveyard. I intend to visit his grave.
Included are an appendix and index that should help anyone wanting to further research this topic.
c.1998, Simon & Schuster, 274 p.
The Hook 2106 Reading Plan – bookWOMEN: A Readers’ Community For Those Who Love Women’s Words, Vol 6, No.5, June-July 2002,“My Journal, my life” by Linda Beall, pg. 8-9.
In this article Beall talks about the benefits of reading and writing journals and how we all have stories to tell. Hen Frigates offers stories of women who follow their husbands to unknown places on sailing vessels in the name of love.
The Line ”In Brisbane, Australia, a cockroach came on board that was so huge Hattie Atwood mistook it for an man’s slipper.”
The Sinker – Joan Druett sets the tone for these personal looks at intrepid women who choose to marry and then follow their men, the captains, to sea in her introduction to Hen Frigates
”History, I often think, is like a tap on the shoulder. This story of what is was like to be a captain’s wife or daughter at sea is eloquent evidence of this, for the writing involved a whole series of nudges from the past. The research for Hen Frigates was an ever-evolving process, which included the discovery of a long-hidden nineteenth-century gravestone, a wedding portrait that returned home, and diaries hidden in an attic.”
The stories of these women are interwoven in a series of eleven chapters depicting their daily lives that allow us to vicariously sail along. We meet some of the women frequently throughout the book, and others make cameo appearances. Some stories will be quickly forgotten and others encourage further research. Hen Frigates answers the question of what it is like to be the only woman on a ship of men. It answers the question of why one would even consider this, and gives a dose of what their lives were like. There is a honeymoon, there is sex, there are children born, they cook, they clean, they gain their sea legs, they are bored by the tedium of ship life, they are frightened by the hazards they encounter, the illnesses they must deal with; they, their husbands or their children die. There is also laughter, love, and comradery with other wives, adventure, and exotic travel to other lands. It is quite the life, obviously not for all, but for these courageous women it is the one they choose. Some make only one voyage and that’s enough, others truly live a life at sea.
The ships and voyages are as varied as the women themselves. Peppered throughout are intricate drawings by the author’s husband Ron Druett. As much that is known about the women through their diaries and journals, there often is no ending to these beginnings as their stories sail off into the sunset.
Remember that cockroach described in the line I chose to quote. The seamen often tolerated cockroaches as they thought they’d eat bed bugs, a worse scourge, and the big ones were used for bait. Rats, centipedes and little white worms from dates and figs were much more of a problem.
Many women learned to navigate the ship, which became quite handy if their husband or the mates were unable due to illness or death. Often though, the women’s opinions, these ”She Captains” were ignored as heeding their advice was seen as an insult to the male masculinity.
There were many stories that caught my interest.
Consider the chapter on dropping anchor and getting from one ship to a boat to get to land. This could often be a challenge and involved strapping the woman into her armchair with the stars and stripes, ensuring her modesty. Thus, no limbs were seen by sailors and the chair was secured to a windlass and she was heave-hoed over the ship rail into her husband’s arms on the boat. Other times a well calculated jump was the only way from ship to boat.
The chapter regarding children at sea is a gem. It explains the business of well, the baby’s business.
”In Victorian times babies’ napkins were made of red flannel, and stitched onto the baby with needle and three—very useful tools, for in rough weather babies were often sewn into their cribs as well, with stitches attaching the swaddling blanket to the mattress. Washing diapers was a bigger problem, though Elizabeth Linklater recorded a young father tying napkins to a rope and towing them behind the ship. This seems a very efficient way of laundering them (provided they did not attract sharks), but unless they were very thoroughly rinsed in freshwater, a residue of salt would remain behind that would not be ideal for baby skins.”
In the chapter outlining what the women did while at sea, it was heartening to know that reading was a very popular way to pass the time, especially in latitudes with much evening light. Like many travelers today, many books, newspapers and magazines were carried and as read, exchanged with others as the journey progressed. There was even a Loan Library for Seamen in New York that provided books on board for sailors. Cleaning, sewing, children and even just being an ear to her husband kept the wives busy. The wives “were women of consequence” and in port dress accordingly but on ship their frocks were often inappropriate and yet the women weren’t liberated enough to wear the pants and shirts that the men wore on deck. Eliza Edwards was quite brave to wear a Bloomer Dress”, a waltz-length dress and baggy trousers which were gathered at the ankles, designed by Libby Gerrit Smith and named after women’s rightest, Amelia Bloomer.
I was very taken with one woman, Sarah Gray of Liberty Hill, Connecticut, a neighborhood of Lebanon, which still exists today and is in close proximity to where I live. Sarah Gray’s time on ship spanned twenty years. Her last voyage was on the whaleship James Maury was a sad one. Sailing from New Bedford her husband, Captain Sluman Gray died.
”The log for March 24,1865, reads “Light winds and pleasant weather. At two PM our Captain expired after the illness of two days.”
Some sailors were buried at sea but Sarah made a cask and preserved the Captain with spirits. On June 28, a Confederate raider, the Shenandoah, captured the ship. Though the Civil War was over the Shenandoah’s Captain Waddell didn’t believe it and continued to capture ships. Eventually the cask made it home and Captain Gray is buried in the Liberty Hill graveyard. I intend to visit his grave.
Included are an appendix and index that should help anyone wanting to further research this topic.
c.1998, Simon & Schuster, 274 p.
December 9, 2018
I read this book with GR group Nonfiction Book Club. And I read it for the love of Austen. In Persuasion at a dinner to meet Captain Wentworth, the captain, his sister, and her husband all discussion wives on board ships. Not very much. That might lead to a real social commentary in an Austen novel 😉 Yet my interest is piqued by that conversation. Why did women risk their lives onboard ships, and where they uncomfortable or in the way? I have read this group biography about wives onboard ships before re-reading the novel. Yet I think that Captain Wentworth said that the women were in the way or that the women had no real accommodations for their comfort. After reading this biography, I have an understanding of Women's experience onboard ships and may have an opinion to contribute at that dinner to meet Captain Wentworth.
As for the qualities of this bio.
Some things that worked for me
1. Pics of women so I could often connect names and faces.
2. Discussion of the big topics I would want to know about women's experiences as merchant ship-travelling wives amd daughters.
3. Discussion of difficult decisions made about husbands, children, real estate at home.
4. Good seminal research.
One thing I really really wanted. A more friendly style of writing, and less a a sense of well-written research. The writing was rather dry. I wanted Druett to write for us, the women interested in women's history and women's work. The work may not have been constant as ship captain's wife, but sometimes the work was bringing in a ship that was almost a ghost ship and would have become one if some woman had not taken the helm. Important work that.
Overall. Very Good Seminal Research.
Very Good Work.
As for the qualities of this bio.
Some things that worked for me
1. Pics of women so I could often connect names and faces.
2. Discussion of the big topics I would want to know about women's experiences as merchant ship-travelling wives amd daughters.
3. Discussion of difficult decisions made about husbands, children, real estate at home.
4. Good seminal research.
One thing I really really wanted. A more friendly style of writing, and less a a sense of well-written research. The writing was rather dry. I wanted Druett to write for us, the women interested in women's history and women's work. The work may not have been constant as ship captain's wife, but sometimes the work was bringing in a ship that was almost a ghost ship and would have become one if some woman had not taken the helm. Important work that.
Overall. Very Good Seminal Research.
Very Good Work.
March 11, 2011
Ever since making the acquaintance of Mrs Croft in Persuasion, I've been intrigued by the idea of a woman living in such a thoroughly male environment as a naval ship, at a time when the spheres of men and women were far more strictly defined than today. So I was drawn to this account of captains' wives on sailing ships in the 19th century. It covers a period a little later than Mrs Croft's, and these were commercial vessels rather than naval, but conditions must have been similar in many ways.
Hen Frigates gives us glimpses from the lives of many such women, gleaned from journal entries and letters, and occasionally from newspaper accounts. There's excitement, boredom, irritation, sorrow, laughter and joy. Storms at sea; tedious becalmings; even getting caught up in battle. It could be a lonely life as the only woman on board, but there's little sense of self-pity in these accounts.
One example to give a small taste of these tales: Emma Browne took herself off to England in 1876, hoping that James Cawse, with whom she'd corresponded for the previous two years, would marry her when she arrived. Fortunately for her he did! A few weeks later they sailed off together, and by the time she returned to England she had a baby daughter - delivered at sea by her husband. Having the husband deliver the baby, unless the ship happened to be in port at the right time, was quite a typical experience, it seems. Many children were then raised on board, although parents tended to prefer to send their girls back to relatives when they reached their teen years.
The accounts are fascinating, though I did feel there might have been almost an overabundance of women represented (and even these are a subset of the comprehensive list the author provides in her references). After a time I started to feel I knew some of them specially well, and enjoyed their stories all the more for that. I wondered if the tales might have been even more effective if just a few women had been concentrated on, giving us more of a narrative structure of those particular lives.
Although I certainly wouldn't want to miss out on such exciting tales as that of sixteen-year-old "Miss Arnold", the daughter of the ship Rainbow's captain. Her father died, the first mate was a drunkard, and the second mate was "a cad". She "repelled... his dastardly attempts" [from the newspaper account], and threw herself on the protection of the crew, who acted like true British gentleman. It's a wonderfully melodramatic tale, with the virtue of being true, it seems.
I'm left with huge admiration for these women who went against the norm, for their own various and varied reasons. The opening quote is from one of the book's main "characters", Mary Rowland:
"As Henry [her husband] says, we have only one life to live, and he cannot be at home, and it is very hard for us to be separated so much".
She wrote that in 1873, 21 years after marrying Henry, and three years before he died. They had spent all those years together at sea, enduring difficulties but with the comfort of each other's company. I think Sophy Croft might have said something similar.
Hen Frigates gives us glimpses from the lives of many such women, gleaned from journal entries and letters, and occasionally from newspaper accounts. There's excitement, boredom, irritation, sorrow, laughter and joy. Storms at sea; tedious becalmings; even getting caught up in battle. It could be a lonely life as the only woman on board, but there's little sense of self-pity in these accounts.
One example to give a small taste of these tales: Emma Browne took herself off to England in 1876, hoping that James Cawse, with whom she'd corresponded for the previous two years, would marry her when she arrived. Fortunately for her he did! A few weeks later they sailed off together, and by the time she returned to England she had a baby daughter - delivered at sea by her husband. Having the husband deliver the baby, unless the ship happened to be in port at the right time, was quite a typical experience, it seems. Many children were then raised on board, although parents tended to prefer to send their girls back to relatives when they reached their teen years.
The accounts are fascinating, though I did feel there might have been almost an overabundance of women represented (and even these are a subset of the comprehensive list the author provides in her references). After a time I started to feel I knew some of them specially well, and enjoyed their stories all the more for that. I wondered if the tales might have been even more effective if just a few women had been concentrated on, giving us more of a narrative structure of those particular lives.
Although I certainly wouldn't want to miss out on such exciting tales as that of sixteen-year-old "Miss Arnold", the daughter of the ship Rainbow's captain. Her father died, the first mate was a drunkard, and the second mate was "a cad". She "repelled... his dastardly attempts" [from the newspaper account], and threw herself on the protection of the crew, who acted like true British gentleman. It's a wonderfully melodramatic tale, with the virtue of being true, it seems.
I'm left with huge admiration for these women who went against the norm, for their own various and varied reasons. The opening quote is from one of the book's main "characters", Mary Rowland:
"As Henry [her husband] says, we have only one life to live, and he cannot be at home, and it is very hard for us to be separated so much".
She wrote that in 1873, 21 years after marrying Henry, and three years before he died. They had spent all those years together at sea, enduring difficulties but with the comfort of each other's company. I think Sophy Croft might have said something similar.
February 18, 2010
I am, admittedly, a family history freak! Now even my reading choices are affected by my roots. This winter we have uncovered an AMAZING story in our family tree- an ancestor, Louisa Price, who sailed with her Captain husband, John James Price, on a "merchant" ship in the mid 1800's out of England. Louisa gave birth multiple times on board the ship- the Sorata. Their oldest daughter, Lilian, has the middle name of the ship (Sorata). Louisa had 6 children. When Louisa was 34, the family set sail for Jamacia. They left the oldest daughter at home in England (she was 7 years old- presumably left for schooling purposes), and took the 5 younger children. The ship ran into a terrible storm in the Straits of Dover (England) at midnight on 11 Nov 1877,and went down with NO survivors. This whole story is new to our family- we knew the oldest daughter was orphaned, but didn't know anything of the details or about this shipwreck until this winter. We stumbled onto it via the internet and the Times (London) newspaper searches.
I have been FASCINATED imagining her life, and my heart is broken with how it ended. I have wanted to know more about life as a Captain's wife traveling the world with your children. This book was an intriguing look into that topic- taken directly from these women's diaries. Details (like diapers!) that I had never even thought about (they towed them behind the ship sometimes to rinse them).
Though the book does not have any addition from the diary of Louisa Trent, in the section of "Hazards of Sea", I came across a reference from another woman's diary that I believe is an EYE WITNESS account of the sinking of the Sorata. This woman recounts being in the English Channel with 14 other ships in Nov. of 1877 (noting that the Channel was extremely crowded). She tells of an extreme storm that arose and their survival, but says that around midnight they heard the sinking of the ship next to them, and heard the cries of the drowning, but were unable to do anything to assist. I am in communication with the author to further document details. This unexpected find is a bonus that broke my heart all over again.
I have been FASCINATED imagining her life, and my heart is broken with how it ended. I have wanted to know more about life as a Captain's wife traveling the world with your children. This book was an intriguing look into that topic- taken directly from these women's diaries. Details (like diapers!) that I had never even thought about (they towed them behind the ship sometimes to rinse them).
Though the book does not have any addition from the diary of Louisa Trent, in the section of "Hazards of Sea", I came across a reference from another woman's diary that I believe is an EYE WITNESS account of the sinking of the Sorata. This woman recounts being in the English Channel with 14 other ships in Nov. of 1877 (noting that the Channel was extremely crowded). She tells of an extreme storm that arose and their survival, but says that around midnight they heard the sinking of the ship next to them, and heard the cries of the drowning, but were unable to do anything to assist. I am in communication with the author to further document details. This unexpected find is a bonus that broke my heart all over again.
December 4, 2012
This was a great find by one of our book club members. Although Hurricane Sandy interfered with our meeting date, which had to be rescheduled, the rough weather gave us even greater admiration for these women we read about, living aboard ship(s) in the 1880's.
The full sailed schooners and clippers carried along more wives and daughters than I'd ever imagined before reading this compilation of their journal entries, letters home and other 'evidence' of their brave travels. Many didn't make it back to their home ports, and the conditions on board were often so difficult, some wished they were dead. Being pitched about in heavy seas, tossed from their bunks, ship wrecked in foreign oceans, often overrun with the stench or the insects that came on in cargo...
Imagine giving birth on board a rolling vessel, with a limited supply of drinking water that turns quite rank after sitting for several weeks in wooden barrels, and picking maggots out of your breakfast porridge, and having your husband, the Captain, die of fever, and then having to command the ship yourself...
You might get a wee confused by how the book is organized, according to subject matter, rather than staying with a single vessel, or one woman throughout her time at sea, but this is an amazing look into the hardy ancestors we've had, and how little we have to complain about nowadays, by comparison!
The full sailed schooners and clippers carried along more wives and daughters than I'd ever imagined before reading this compilation of their journal entries, letters home and other 'evidence' of their brave travels. Many didn't make it back to their home ports, and the conditions on board were often so difficult, some wished they were dead. Being pitched about in heavy seas, tossed from their bunks, ship wrecked in foreign oceans, often overrun with the stench or the insects that came on in cargo...
Imagine giving birth on board a rolling vessel, with a limited supply of drinking water that turns quite rank after sitting for several weeks in wooden barrels, and picking maggots out of your breakfast porridge, and having your husband, the Captain, die of fever, and then having to command the ship yourself...
You might get a wee confused by how the book is organized, according to subject matter, rather than staying with a single vessel, or one woman throughout her time at sea, but this is an amazing look into the hardy ancestors we've had, and how little we have to complain about nowadays, by comparison!
May 8, 2020
A delight. The book opens with a ghost story, or an ancestor-story: Druett falls into the grave of a sailing lady, recently reopened by a man acting in obedience to a dream of his ancestor. i love ghost stories and ocean-stories and i am quite fond of Druett as well; i want her eloquence & dry wit at my dinner parties.
An entire chapter on sex ("Sex and the Seafaring Wife"), which notes that marital relations must be difficult at sea due to the tossing of the ship in the waves ("opportunity for satisfaction was an uncertain matter on board") and also has this gem, direct from a seafaring lady's private journal: "I shall not be a fellatrix, Captain, oh my Captain, and if that be mutiny, make the most of it."
Well!
And then: the terrible, grieving, triggering story of Margaret Fraser, who was trapped at sea for years with an abusive husband, and writes a journal with the upmost caution (even so, he scribbled derisively over entries); what options did she have, after boarding?
Wives stopped joining their husbands with the age of steam boats: the presence of women is distracting. Odd, says Druett, "for no one has ever said that about a man who ... works on shore."
DROP MIKE.
An entire chapter on sex ("Sex and the Seafaring Wife"), which notes that marital relations must be difficult at sea due to the tossing of the ship in the waves ("opportunity for satisfaction was an uncertain matter on board") and also has this gem, direct from a seafaring lady's private journal: "I shall not be a fellatrix, Captain, oh my Captain, and if that be mutiny, make the most of it."
Well!
And then: the terrible, grieving, triggering story of Margaret Fraser, who was trapped at sea for years with an abusive husband, and writes a journal with the upmost caution (even so, he scribbled derisively over entries); what options did she have, after boarding?
Wives stopped joining their husbands with the age of steam boats: the presence of women is distracting. Odd, says Druett, "for no one has ever said that about a man who ... works on shore."
DROP MIKE.
December 25, 2018
I read this even though it does not fit my adventure and survival reading norm. The author also wrote "Island of the Lost" which I greatly enjoyed. This book was not very riveting. Given all the sea going books I have read the book had some interest to me, but not enough to recommend it to anyone else. It was mostly about women about sailing ships in the mid 1800's. Did not have a good flow overall but some chapters did.
June 15, 2014
I like to read women's stories throughout history. Princesses Behaving Badly told of women who should've been famous for their status, but who were often forgotten after the gossip died down. They Fought Like Demons tells of women who dressed up as men to fight in the American Civil War. Sea Queens is a YA take on lady pirates. Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace is an intimate look into a Victorian lady's private life. I picked up Hen Frigates on a recommendation that it would be along those lines.
And it was, indeed. This tells of the women who joined their husbands at sea in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Women played ambassador, tended to the sick, raised livestock, helped mend sails, struggled with seasickness and rough seas, gave birth to and raised children, and sometimes even helped crew the ship, all in restrictive, heavy skirts. (One woman in these accounts wore trousers; the rest went about the ship in fairly standard laundry day garb.) The stories are told in their own words, as many women kept a diary while on board.
The book is full of information about naval life in general during the 18- and early 1900's. It contains maps of sleeping quarters and ship layouts, guides on naval lingo, definitions of types of sails, illustrations of the various kinds of ships, and lots of information about the general life onboard, for hired sailors as well as the wives.
The book does acknowledge the superstition about women at sea; some wives fretted they would be blamed for storms or disease or other misfortunes. But it doesn't stop the women from accompanying their husbands. Some women die at sea, some from childbirth and some from disease, and one wastes away because she can't keep food down. Overall, there were enough women at sea that landing at a port became a series of social calls, visiting with old friends one had encountered before.
Though many of the women are writing during the Victorian period, and they all have at least enough education to write, none are the wilting flowers the time period is known for. They remark on troubles with little more than a sardonic remark, the gravity of which has to be gleaned from their husbands' accounts of the same events. The most common complaint is boredom; once they run out of embroidery thread or sewing, many of them resort to learning navigation or other useful aspects of ship life. They're strongly discouraged from mixing with the sailors, though.
The book recounts two instances of a woman taking over the ship. In one case, a daughter puts down a mutiny after her father dies at sea, and navigates home. Another woman is left in control when disease ravages the ship, and she has to navigate, crew, and tend the sick while she, herself, suffers the illness.
Unfortunately, I ran into the same problem with this book as with They Fought Like Demons. The book covers so many women, and in such a scattershot way, that it was hard to follow any one narrative. It gives glimpses of various aspects of these women's lives, without going into much depth. The various sections are by subject, which are only loosely organized, at that.
I learned a lot reading this book, though, and not just about women I'd never heard of before. I found out a lot about the daily lives of sailors during this time period, and what it was like to sail on one of the old sailing vessels, before steamboats halved the time it took to cross the Atlantic. Interestingly, it was the ushering in of steamboats that quashed the practice of women at sea. The owners of the ships claimed the wives were too much of a distraction, and banned them. The book wraps up with the observation that wives aren't a distraction in any other vocation of the time period.
And it was, indeed. This tells of the women who joined their husbands at sea in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Women played ambassador, tended to the sick, raised livestock, helped mend sails, struggled with seasickness and rough seas, gave birth to and raised children, and sometimes even helped crew the ship, all in restrictive, heavy skirts. (One woman in these accounts wore trousers; the rest went about the ship in fairly standard laundry day garb.) The stories are told in their own words, as many women kept a diary while on board.
The book is full of information about naval life in general during the 18- and early 1900's. It contains maps of sleeping quarters and ship layouts, guides on naval lingo, definitions of types of sails, illustrations of the various kinds of ships, and lots of information about the general life onboard, for hired sailors as well as the wives.
The book does acknowledge the superstition about women at sea; some wives fretted they would be blamed for storms or disease or other misfortunes. But it doesn't stop the women from accompanying their husbands. Some women die at sea, some from childbirth and some from disease, and one wastes away because she can't keep food down. Overall, there were enough women at sea that landing at a port became a series of social calls, visiting with old friends one had encountered before.
Though many of the women are writing during the Victorian period, and they all have at least enough education to write, none are the wilting flowers the time period is known for. They remark on troubles with little more than a sardonic remark, the gravity of which has to be gleaned from their husbands' accounts of the same events. The most common complaint is boredom; once they run out of embroidery thread or sewing, many of them resort to learning navigation or other useful aspects of ship life. They're strongly discouraged from mixing with the sailors, though.
The book recounts two instances of a woman taking over the ship. In one case, a daughter puts down a mutiny after her father dies at sea, and navigates home. Another woman is left in control when disease ravages the ship, and she has to navigate, crew, and tend the sick while she, herself, suffers the illness.
Unfortunately, I ran into the same problem with this book as with They Fought Like Demons. The book covers so many women, and in such a scattershot way, that it was hard to follow any one narrative. It gives glimpses of various aspects of these women's lives, without going into much depth. The various sections are by subject, which are only loosely organized, at that.
I learned a lot reading this book, though, and not just about women I'd never heard of before. I found out a lot about the daily lives of sailors during this time period, and what it was like to sail on one of the old sailing vessels, before steamboats halved the time it took to cross the Atlantic. Interestingly, it was the ushering in of steamboats that quashed the practice of women at sea. The owners of the ships claimed the wives were too much of a distraction, and banned them. The book wraps up with the observation that wives aren't a distraction in any other vocation of the time period.
October 22, 2010
When we think of Victorian women, we do not often immediately think in terms of adventure, but there were a number of women--the wives of captains of the great sailing ships--who rather matter of factly sailed with the their husbands.
Druett has condensed these lives into a very readable account of what sailing, often as the only woman on board, meant in terms of liveability. I had already read book length accounts of two of these women (Susan Hathorn and Mary Ann Patten), but Hen Frigates opened up many new facets of the lives of these women. It makes our present-day whining about the inconviences of air travel seem trivial.
Druett has condensed these lives into a very readable account of what sailing, often as the only woman on board, meant in terms of liveability. I had already read book length accounts of two of these women (Susan Hathorn and Mary Ann Patten), but Hen Frigates opened up many new facets of the lives of these women. It makes our present-day whining about the inconviences of air travel seem trivial.
October 29, 2012
Joan Druett has compiled an amazing collection information about 19th century women, who took a leap of faith and went to sea with their ship captain husbands. Rather than remain at home alone with their children, these women risked it all to be near the men they loved, and trusted with their lives, and the lives of their children. Giving birth to children, raising children, surviving storms, illness, accidents, deaths, burials, and living at sea for years, are just a few of the challenges these women faced. One of the only accounts compiled of true stories of sea wives, who preferred a life at sea with the men they loved, over a life on shore alone.
July 6, 2019
This book does a great job of focusing on a specific topic in each chapter, providing details from various womens' lives, some with very differing perspectives on the subject. After watching one of my favorite movies showing the heroine living aboard ship with her husband, I'd always wanted to know more about a woman's life aboard.
I did alot of questioning the author's interpretation of a woman or man's words. You can't get someone's tone or inflections accurately from their writings, of course it's her prerogative to voice her interpretation, and I to take it or leave it.
I did alot of questioning the author's interpretation of a woman or man's words. You can't get someone's tone or inflections accurately from their writings, of course it's her prerogative to voice her interpretation, and I to take it or leave it.
July 6, 2020
Less a work of history and more a survey of journals and letters kept by women on British and American ships, organized by theme.
There is no thesis, no argument, no situating the primary sources within a wider historical, political, or social context (except for maybe once when Druett uses subscription data for a popular guide to how ladies should behave as evidence that the magazine was representative of the gendered mores of the time). No citations except for an appendix of primary sources that Druett is quoting from.
In a way the above made the book eminently readable because there wasn't a rigorous academic framing to puzzle through, which is why I was able to finish it in just a few days.
But there are so many claims simply put forth as fact without any backing, and it was stunning to see a book where merchants traveled to Peru, Japan, India, Hawai'i, and Java... make no mention of colonialism whatsoever. Racism permeates the primary source material Druett is quoting from, with no comment from the author, and Druett herself seems to have no distance from the historical content, frequently using terms like "Orient" and "exotic".
And to think this person calls herself a "maritime historian".
There is no thesis, no argument, no situating the primary sources within a wider historical, political, or social context (except for maybe once when Druett uses subscription data for a popular guide to how ladies should behave as evidence that the magazine was representative of the gendered mores of the time). No citations except for an appendix of primary sources that Druett is quoting from.
In a way the above made the book eminently readable because there wasn't a rigorous academic framing to puzzle through, which is why I was able to finish it in just a few days.
But there are so many claims simply put forth as fact without any backing, and it was stunning to see a book where merchants traveled to Peru, Japan, India, Hawai'i, and Java... make no mention of colonialism whatsoever. Racism permeates the primary source material Druett is quoting from, with no comment from the author, and Druett herself seems to have no distance from the historical content, frequently using terms like "Orient" and "exotic".
And to think this person calls herself a "maritime historian".
May 6, 2024
More a collection of snapshots than a comprehensive look at sailing women. I was hoping for something more along the lines of the extremely well-written narrative nonfiction found in The Heart of the Sea. Instead I found myself wishing the author had either wholesale reprinted the ladies’ journals she had access to, rather than the scattershot observations and quotes that her book provides. It’s only a little over 200 pages but I struggled to get to the end. Maybe it’s a symptom of how few firsthand accounts there are and the author trying to give a wide array of women their voices, but I would have preferred a richer look into fewer “sister sailors.”
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October 29, 2020Did not finish. Stopped at 26% percent. I do wanted to like this book as I love reading about women in history. I just could not finish. The writing style was very textbook style and a jumble of different women where it was hard to tell the stories apart. Maybe if she separated it by the individual it would have been better. I might try it again
June 18, 2021
I enjoyed the book. I normally would not have read this book except for the fact that one of my Aunt's ancestors is written about in it. The ancestor was Margaret Youle Fraser and was married to Captain George Fraser. To find out that he was murdered by his first mate while at sea was intriguing...
June 27, 2022
This is an amazing look into the lives of the wives and daughters of sea captains in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the age of sail. A way of life that we can only imagine. I think Aunt Jackie recommended this to me. Thanks Jackie.
June 7, 2021
Very tedious writing style. I am glad to have learned about these women, but I had to forcefully make myself slog through it. And the font was not helpful...much too small.
to-read-later
July 24, 2021Recommended at https://twitter.com/tearylaks/status/...
June 26, 2015
This was a great book, and I suspect the author of the Mary Celeste used it as a reference. Druett's husband is a maritime illustrator so she uses his art to advantage. Apparently one of his fellowships led her to discover the diaries of seagoing women on a New England assignment. The book is written in a meeting of minds fashion, so the women's stories are not told in cameo, but rather in conversation. She has a great transitional gift in her writing. I enjoyed the fictional Mary Celeste novel because it gave me glimpse of what life in the captains quarters was like, the sky light, the shuttered windows, etc. Given the descriptions of below deck conditions, I'm not sure I could face the brutal life of the common seaman even in description. Although I am curious how people dealt with shared bunks, fleas, rats, the pervasive stench of cargo, urine and worse. The slept in short shifts, so I guess duty in the rigging might have seemed like a relief from the press of bodies and aromas. Boredom was a major problem despite the heavy work, and this explains scrimshaw, and fancy toys made by sailors. I hadn't really expected needlepoint though. The common sailors dined largely in their own mess, sometimes accompanied by the captain and their families. They all ate the same revolting food on the democratic ships, but in most instances of passenger lines the classes ate separately and very differently. Ships have documented lives because the women and men often kept private journals as well as the ships log. Their isolation left them prolific letter writers as well. The coasters, small private commercial boats have no documentation because they did not keep logs or write prolifically. It becomes apparent that some of the captains wives had experience in smaller craft before they married, because in the event of their husbands deaths or extreme disability they were often required to take his place. Some of them were trained to take sexton sightings to alleviate their sense of alienation, boredom and general uselessness. Frequently they were the only ones on board, aside from the captains, that had these skills, which protected them from the crew if the captain was downed. In one instance a wife received a quick tutorial on steering from her injured and declining husband. In another it was the teenage daughter who took charge and saved the ship. These are great true to life stories that inspire the imagination in Druett's good storytelling.
June 22, 2012
There is gobs information available about what it was like to live a life at sea...if you were a man. But did women live lives at sea too? Some did.
In this interesting and in many ways comprehensive book, Druett uncovers what it was like for women to go to sea in "Hen Frigates". That is, merchant ships where captains took their wives and families to sea.
Druett does an admirable job of outlining what it was like for the new bride, the young mother, the mother separated from either her husband or her children, global travels, and perils of women going to sea in the age of sail.
The book contains LOTS of highly interesting anecdotes, gleaned mainly from the pages of journals women and even children at sea.
The main reason I read this book is that there were merchant ship captains in my wife's family history, and this book contains an account of what we believe happened to all but one members of some of her relatives. The captain, his wife, and I believe four children were at sea. The oldest daughter was not. She was left in England, presumably to attend school. The ship was anchored with many others in the English Channel, and a November gale blew up and scattered most of the ships, and sank one. Her relatives were on the ship that sank. This account is in the section, "Perils at Sea".
I tried to sit and read the book cover to cover, but it is frankly better to read in doses rather than all at once. Still, it's a great, and maybe even the best resource out there about the life and times of women and families of merchant captains at sea.
5 stars for great information!
In this interesting and in many ways comprehensive book, Druett uncovers what it was like for women to go to sea in "Hen Frigates". That is, merchant ships where captains took their wives and families to sea.
Druett does an admirable job of outlining what it was like for the new bride, the young mother, the mother separated from either her husband or her children, global travels, and perils of women going to sea in the age of sail.
The book contains LOTS of highly interesting anecdotes, gleaned mainly from the pages of journals women and even children at sea.
The main reason I read this book is that there were merchant ship captains in my wife's family history, and this book contains an account of what we believe happened to all but one members of some of her relatives. The captain, his wife, and I believe four children were at sea. The oldest daughter was not. She was left in England, presumably to attend school. The ship was anchored with many others in the English Channel, and a November gale blew up and scattered most of the ships, and sank one. Her relatives were on the ship that sank. This account is in the section, "Perils at Sea".
I tried to sit and read the book cover to cover, but it is frankly better to read in doses rather than all at once. Still, it's a great, and maybe even the best resource out there about the life and times of women and families of merchant captains at sea.
5 stars for great information!
December 15, 2016
This is a fantastic book about women who lived at sea, with their husbands. I first thought this might be a bit dry, but it was anything but dry. Each chapter was about a different topic, such as marriage, having children, etc. I learned about many well-known women who married men & went to sea. Some women could not make it & returned home as quickly as possible. Others made a good, albeit difficult, life for themselves, their husbands & children. Journals were a good source of information for the author to write this book. Life in the 19th century was difficult for women, in general, but absolutely harrowing for women who lived on the open seas.
November 10, 2017
4.5
Joan Druett's book about 19th century seafaring wives fills this gap in history that, I personally, had never really considered. Not only general history, but women's history surely. Through these seafaring women's diaries and journals, we learn about common sailing life and the women's lives and roles at sea. As the book often expresses, it was surely brave women that married and accompanied ship captains to sea.
Each chapter has something thoughtful and interesting to learn, and Druett did well in bringing to light these firsthand accounts from women who were for the most part lost to history, if not for the preservation of their private journals.
Joan Druett's book about 19th century seafaring wives fills this gap in history that, I personally, had never really considered. Not only general history, but women's history surely. Through these seafaring women's diaries and journals, we learn about common sailing life and the women's lives and roles at sea. As the book often expresses, it was surely brave women that married and accompanied ship captains to sea.
Each chapter has something thoughtful and interesting to learn, and Druett did well in bringing to light these firsthand accounts from women who were for the most part lost to history, if not for the preservation of their private journals.
July 5, 2013
This was a wonderful look at the wives of Sea Captains who chose to sail with their husbands (very much a minority choice as women on board a sailing ship were considered bad luck). It was very well written, relying heavily on the words of the women themselves from journals and letters. I love to learn of history from the words of those who actually experienced it.
August 10, 2011
Taken from the memoirs and diaries of women who sailed with merchant captains from the 1830s through the first decade of the 20th century, this book provides a wealth of detail about the role women played at sea--one I'd never before heard about.
Well worth reading for anyone interested in women's lives in the 19th century.
Well worth reading for anyone interested in women's lives in the 19th century.
October 15, 2014
Extremely well-researched, informative, and entertaining. Furthermore, the appendix at the end is proof of Druett's love of the subject and compassion toward other historians interested in these 19th century women as she provides a comprehensive list of sources to investigate. Wonderful book for anyone interested in sailing wives and their children.
January 24, 2009
This was an excellent book, combining the author's wonderful research with excerpts from journals and letters written by the "sister sailors" themselves. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in nautical and/or women's history.
July 21, 2009
This was one of the best books I've ever read! They really should make this one into a movie somehow. I never knew there were women aboard sailing vessels. And whole families! I was not only entertained, but I learned a lot from this book.
June 12, 2008
About women who went to sea with their sea captain husbands, taken from contemporary diaries. Fairly boring.
July 23, 2024
(Back to?) September 2, 2006
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