George Underhill Sands
Ralph Wood has kindly allowed me to post the following biography by him of George Underhill Sands, who was Ralph’s great grand uncle.
Ralph has been unable to find an image of Sands and I would be very grateful if someone could provide one.
HF: We already have some information about Sands which can be found in the articles linked in Related Indhhk articles below.
George U. Sands’ father, Hart Sands, was a lighterman in NYC. Lighters were, generally, small schooner class sailing ships used to transport freight to and from ocean going vessels and (in the case of Manhattan , since it was an island) from shore to shore. By 1830 there were 86 steamers plying the Hudson and LI Sound, one of the most developed commercial steamship manufacturing sites in the world. Although I get the impression that sailing lighters were still in common use at the time of Hart’s death in 1847, I have confirmed that steam tow-boats were moving freight in barges in NYC harbor at least as early as the mid 1840’s.
When Hart died, his son, George Underhill Sands, took over his lighterman business, which was located at the South St. Seaport in Manhattan . I am guessing that he obtained experience with steam engines during this period because, by 1850, he had secured a position as seaman on the ocean going Steamship “Empire City”.
Considering that the first transatlantic steamship trip was not until 1838 and the first steamship trip around the Horn from NY to San Francisco was not until 1848/49, one can gauge that the “Empire City” was one of the early ocean going steam ships. It was launched in 1849 and maintained a regular route between NYC and Garges, a port in Panama, which was the major transit point across the isthmus of Panama.
It appears that he gained considerable additional expertise in steam navigation on the “Empire City” because, when the River Bird left NYC in 1854 for Hong Kong, George was Chief Engineer. Although steam ships had been in use in the Far East at lest as early as 1830, when the S .S. Forbes caused a sensation in Macao, prior to 1854 (according to Gideon Nye in his book told to Thomas Gibbons “History of American Commerce with China”), small steamships were being used exclusively for local river trade and were brought over in pieces from NY or Great Britain. According to Mr. Nye, it was his idea, together with his partners, Robert Sturgis and J.B. Endicott, to have a larger steamer, the “River Bird” built in NY for the Hong Kong to Canton trade and have it steam over to China.
According to a New York Times article dated February 1, 1855 (pg 8), the “River Bird” was able to make 18 knots. This was pretty fast for the time and was probably the result of its modest size, by ocean going standards. The Kin Kiang, built in NY for Olyphant & Sons (a NY-China trading family which will be mentioned later) in 1863 for the China river trade was 243 feet long and was considered so fast, at 16 knots, that the War Dept. issued a challenge to its owners for a race against one of the Navy’s fastest steamers.
According to a NY Times article bylined Hong Kong, February 1, 1863, the Po-Yang, built in NY in 1861 for Olyphant & Sons (220 feet long according to American Lloyd’s Registry), made the NY to Hong Kong trip in , what was considered at the time, a remarkably fast 86 days in 1863 . The route was via Cape Town, South Africa.
According to Nye, the Chinese river trade was disrupted by war between 1856 and 1858. He sent the “River Bird” to Calcutta. In 1858 Mr. Nye’s former partner, Robert Sturgis, in partnership with George Sands , commissioned the building in NY of the Steam Ship “White Cloud”. The White Cloud, also, steamed to Hong Kong, with Captain Sands at the helm.
Thereafter, Captain Sands agreed to be Captain of the Hankow, being built in NY in 1861 for J.M. Forbes & Co. The Forbes family of Boston were wealthy China traders from whom John Forbes Kerry, the MA senator and presidential candidate is descended. Sands captained the Hankow between NY and Hong Kong in about 1861. The NY Times shows the Hankow clearing the NY Harbor on 1/18, 4/6 and 5/9 1861.
The Hankow, anchored in Hong Kong harbour. Courtesy: Ralph Wood
By the time that the Hankow was destroyed by fire near Hong Kong in 1865, Sands was no longer captain. It was in that year that the company , Hong Kong, Canton, and Macao Steamship Company was formed. Sands was involved in the management. He, also, was involved in the management of two other companies, the Novelty Iron Works, and the Patent Slip and Dock Company. These names, together with the statement in an article in the Washington Post concerning his daughter Valeria, suggest that he was actually constructing steam ships in Hong Kong some time between 1865 and his death in 1877. There is more about these companies in some posts at https://industrialhistoryhk.org/ . From these posts it appears that these two companies were located on Praya St. in the Kennedy Town section of Hong Kong Island. There is, now, a Sands St. there and a beautiful park by the corner of Sands St. and Praya Kennedy St. (by the way the H. C. Bailie mentioned on the Industrial History of Hong Kong site as the manager of both of these companies is George’s wife’s nephew, Herny C. Bailie as set forth on this page).
The Po-yang, mentioned above, although originally built for Olyphant, was owned by the Hong Kong, Canton, and Macao Steamship Company at the time that it was lost in a typhoon on a voyage between Hong Kong and Macao in 1875. The White Cloud, Sands’ first ship, sunk in 1899 on a voyage between Hong Kong and Manila. Like all of his ships, it was made of wood and is said to have sunk due to the ravages of the white rat.
Although screw type steamers were being made in the 1860’s, the Sands ships that I know of were all side wheelers.
In the late 60’s or early 70’s he resided in Hong Kong with his wife, Jean, and his daughter, Valeria. He is said to have built one of the largest mansions in Hong Kong.
This article was first posted on xxxx xxxx.
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