Markwell of Jersey under reduced sail in heavy weather

The Markwell was a 290-ton wooden barque built at Gaspi, on the Canadian Gulf of St. Lawrence, in 1853. Owned by Charles Robin & Co. of Jersey, she was engaged in the lucrative Canadian trade which likewise employed many other Jersey-owned vessels in the mid-nineteenth century. So important was this trade to Jersey's economy, in fact, that some 35-40 of the nearly 100 vessels recorded as owned by Robin & Co. at one time or another were built at Gaspi and used to bring home the plentiful cod from the Grand Banks and Newfoundland fishing grounds which enriched many a St. Helier merchant.