FREDERICK WILLIAM  1859 - 1939

Frederick and Deera Prance with four of their five sons

from left to right: Arthur, Bertram, Clarrie & Claude. Photo taken about 1915

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Frederick William Prance was born 22nd. February 1859 the eldest son of William and Harriet. He married Deera Hollway on 4th. December 1884 at the Zion Chapel, Silver Street, Bideford. Frederick later became known as Captain Prance when he skippered his own fishing vessel the 'Deera' which was based in Bideford but trawled in the once fertile waters of Bideford Bay from Hartland to Morte Point and around the island of Lundy. In the early part of the twentieth century these waters teemed with an abundant supply of herring, mackerel and other fish and provided a good living for those prepared to face treacherou' Atlantic gales and the rocky coastline for which the area is famous. The narrow entrance from the Bay into Appledore Pool known as 'The Bar', is bordered by shifting sandbanks and a trap in heavy weather to anyone not familiar with its dangers. Fortunately Frederick was a tall strong man and an able swimmer and is reputed to have saved a number of lives during his career at sea.

One such incident occurred in April 1909 and was fully written up in the Devon Weekly Gazette. The French ketch "Andree" manned by the Captain, his wife and crew of four and carrying 140 tons of coal, struck a rock off Boggy Point and was foundering. Frederick, accompanied by his permanent mate John Folley, was trawling in the bay in the "Deera" and saw the distress flag flying on the "Andree". He immediately hauled in the trawl and made for the stricken vessel which was about three miles distant. The head of the "Andree" was down but their small boat was launched with three of the crew and the Captain's wife, their belongings, boxes, ship's papers, a drake and a poodle. Everything was done to get the people aboard the "Deera" as soon as possible and they were just putting the Captain'\s wife into the trawler when the ketch suddenly went down in eight fathoms of water leaving the Captain and one of his crew in the water. The wind was strong with a heavy sea and as the two unfortunate men were being buffeted about prompt action was necessary if their lives were to be saved. Without waiting to get any of the others aboard, Captain Prance made his own boat fast and went to the rescue of those who were struggling in the sea., and after tacking twice while it was blowing a gale of wind he, with some difficulty, succeeded in rescuing them in an exhausted condition. Once they were all aboard the "Deera" he was able to bring them to Bideford Quay. The "Andree" having sunk in a position in which she was a danger to navigation was later blown up by the Trinity Boat. It was generally acknowledged that but for the skill and bravery of Captain Prance there is little doubt that the six french would have perished. In recognition of this, the Royal National Lifeboat Intitution later presented Frederick with a fine pair of binoculars made by Ross of Bond Street. Copies of newspaper articles from the 'Bideford and North Devon Gazette' giving full acoounts of the incident can be found at the bottom of this page.

The presentation took place on 16th June 1909 at Petticombe on the occasion of the annual fete of the Appledore branch of the RNLI. The Mayor, Mr H R Bazeley, presented Captain Prance with the binoculars and his mate John Follet (Folley?) together with Mr Tom Pridham of the MORNING STAR cheques for two pounds.

 

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THE BIDEFORD & NORTH DEVON WEEKLY GAZETTE
and Devon & Cornwall Advertiser
TUESDAY APRIL 27 1909 No.2,983

FRENCH CREW RESCUED
BIDEFORD CAPTAIN'S SMART SEAMANSHIP
VESSEL LOST OFF THE BELL BUOY

A fine display of cool and masterful seamanship in Bideford Bay on Wednesday afternoon last resulted in saving the lives of the Captain, his wife and four men, who formed the crew of the French ketch "Andree." Captain Francois Cabon of Morlaix, is the owner of the vessel, which was well found, a seveteen year old craft 150 tons dead weight, but sailed from Cardiff on Wednesday morning with 140 tons of coal for Laurante. The "Andree" had a fresh breeze down Channel, but struck a rock just off Rockham Bay, Morte Point, and sprung a leak. The rock is not unknown to local mariners, and more than one tale of mishap and disaster is recorded in connection therewith, Bideford and Appledore craft being among those which have had narrow escapes in the past. The rock, it is said, is not marked on the charts, and being underwater at low tides is particulrly dangerous. There is a good depth on each side of it, and some vessels take the risk and pass it on the shore side, although this is not the general practice. The "Andree" promptly sprung a leak after the impact, and the Captain at once ran up a signal of distress, flying the French flag at half mast. There were on board with Captain Cabon, his wife, who does not usually accompany him, and was in fact, taking a health trip, and a crew consisting of Yves Allan, Yves Gegou, Francois Allan and Yves le Bonniee. A heavy South-east gale came on and the Captain, still keeping his distress signal up, came round Baggy Point, passed off Croyde signal station, and across the Bay towards the Bar. The vessel was making water badly, but there was no sign of the signal being seen from the shore.

Here, the story may be taken up by Mr. Fred Prance, of Bideford, who was fishing in the Bay, with his mate, John Folley, in his trawler "Deera" (BD 13). Mr. Prance states that he was trawling about 2 o'clock when he saw a signal of distress flying at half-mast from a ketch, which was then about three miles away, and about a mile North-West of the Bell Buoy. He immediately hauled in the trawl on board and went to the vessels assisstance. On approaching, he found she was in a sinking condition. She was down by the head and awash at the horse-holes. He stood by until the ketch launched her boat with three of the crew and the Captain's wife and their belongings, boxes and the ship's papers, a drake and a poodle dog. Everything was done to get the people aboard the "Deera" as soon as possible, and they were just putting the Captain's wife into the trawler when the ketch suddenly went down in eight fathoms of water, leaving the Captain and one of the crew (the latter having a life-buoy) in the water. The wind was very strong, and making a heavy sea, the two unfortunate fellows were being badly buffeted about. Prompt action was necessary if their lives were to be saved. Without waiting to get any of the others on board Captain Prance had the boat made fast, and went to the rescue of those that were struggling in the sea, and after tacking twice while it was blowing a gale of wind, he with some difficulty succeeded in rescuing them in an exhausted condition. When they were all on board the trawler it was about 3.30, and he brought them to Bideford Quay, which was reached without further incident, The "Andree" being left North-West of the Bell Buoy with her mizzen mast just showing above the water.

As told by Mr. Prance, his rescue of the Frenchmen would seem a very simle matter, but those who know the Bay in a gale and the spot where the rescue was effected, are full well aware that it was far from a very simple matter, but one calling forth a high degree of pluck and skill in seamanship, to tack twice and bear down close to the wreck and pick up the two men without mishap. What the fate of the crew would have been had he not providentially seen the signals of distress, there is not very much doubt. Those who are used to going out in the lifeboat say in such weather it would have been impossible for the Frenchmen to have landed in their boat, and their only hope would have been to have kept her head to the weather, on the off chance of being picked up by some passing craft.

On arrival at Bideford Quay the shipwrecked crew were taken into the Bideford Harbour Office, where the Harbour Master, Mr. Sidney Prance (a brother of Mr. Fred Prance, of the "Deera") and his wife very kindly put them up a good hot meal, of which they were all in need after their trying experience. They were all wet through when rescued, but their clothing had partially dried during the sail up the Torridge. They were afterwards handed over to the care of Mr. Stapledon, the French Consular Agent, and were accomodated at Mr. Hopkin's Three Tuns Inn, where they were made most comfortable. Mr. Pascoe, the local representative of the Shipwrecked Mariners Society, also interested himself in the case, but found that the Consul had taken charge of it and was making arrangements for the return of the men to their homes.

Only the Captain could speak a little English, but they were all high in their praise of the efforts of their rescuers, and thanked them and all who had shewn acts of kindness to them during their stay in the borough. Captain Cabon, it appeared, had been at sea a good many years, and the vessel, for which he gave £800, was his own, and, unfortunately for him, not insured, although the cargo was. He had only just spent £80 on new sails for the craft before leaving Cardiff, so that his loss is a very heavy one.

When Captain Prance bore down on the Frenchman, he could not induce them for some time to put off in their boat. This reluctance was afterwards explained by Capt. Cabon, who said he did not think his vessel was going to flounder so quickly. He seems to have given his orders most cooly, and to have acted with considerable determination under trying circumstances. He is himself a very powerful swimmer, and his idea was to send two of his crew with his wife and the yougest boy and some of their belongings to the trawler in the ship's boat, and for the boat then to return for him and the next yougest hand, who he provided with a life-belt. But as it happened, the vessel suddenly made a plunge and sank before the boat could return. The boy was more exhausted when picked up, and Capt. Prance bears testimony to the splendid swimmer Capt. Cabon is, though he was obviously sufffering from the buffeting he received, when, on the second tack of the 'Deera' he was caught and dragged into the boat. When he was asked subsequently if he thought he should be drowned he replied in the negative, and added in english 'me swim a long time'. But it was evidently the opinion of all on board the 'Deera' that he had been swimming quite long enough.

A curious little slip, it might be here mentioned, found its way, probably owning to a printers error, into one of the published reports of the incident. It being stated that the Captain screamed when the ship went down. This was a quite unintentional slight upon the Frenchman, who had shown himself every inch a seaman throughout the episode. It was the Captain's wife who had screamed when she saw the vessel disappear and her husband thrown into the water, and being in poor health it was not surprising that she was still in rather a nervous condition when Bideford was reached.
The Captain and most of the crew were subsequently sent to Southampton, en route for St. Malo, while one was sent by the french Consular Agent to Plymouth, subsequently leaving for Brest for his home in Quimper. Interviewed in Plymouth, he bore out what had been gleaned in Bideford, that all on board had a very narrow escape indeed of being lost. He expressed great gratitude to Mr. Prance and to those who had treated them so kindly at Bideford.

The "Andree" having sunk in a position in which she was a danger to navigation, a Trinity Boat went out on Sunday afternoon and at low tide successfully blew her up.

(The above article also included photographs of the "Deera" and Captain Prance)

"Much excitement" (writes our Appledore correspondent) "was caused on Wednesday afternoon when it was reported that a French ketch had sunk in the Bay, the crew having a narrow escape. There was much comment because signals of distress shown by the crew were not observed at Appledore, but out of justice to the sailors it is only fair to state that when vessels fly their flag at the mizzen (as was the case of the French vessel) it is taken as a signal that a pilot if required. No doubt (the correspondent adds) an enquiry will be made as to why the lifeboat was not launched, and it really seems hard that vessels should be in distress and no assisstance rendered. There have been several mistakes of late, and it is hoped that something will be done and arranged so that in future assisstance will be rendered when required."

In a leading article on Friday, the "Western Morning News" said :- "Contained in the particulars of the loss of the French ketch "Andree" in Barnstaple Bay, which we reported yesterday, is another strong Indictment against the look-out system on the North Devon shores. By a succession of unseen wrecks this locality has earned for itself the unenviable title of "the unwatched coast" and successive public enquiries have failed to produce any tangible result. Mr. Soares, the member for the division, has been appealed to again and again to press for some method of rendering the navigation of Barnstaple Bay more safe, and has been instrumental in having additional land lights provided, but strenuous as his exertions have been in regard to the watching, the results have been nugatory, and the Board of Trade inquiries proved as barren of result as they have been costly. Local mariners have asked time and again, "How long is this to last?" Have they still to ask in vain?

Before the coast can be properly watched, there must be an end to the system of "discretionary" watches which coroners' juries have been told are kept in North Devon on some daylight stations, where there is discretionary power whether the watch shall be continued after dark, or the coast then left to look after itself. A revison of the duties of coastguards generally would have a salutary effect, and the loophole should not be left for either chief officer or boatman to explain, when a wreck has not been seen, that "the duty of the coastguard is to prevent smuggling" or that "the lookout is war signal station."

Again, there should be more cohesion between the coastguard and the Lifeboat Institution. The latter body, it is understood, is at all times willing to co-operate with the coastguard, and in many instances where the Institution officers keep no lookout - and it is not part of their regulations to do so - they depend on the coastguard to give them warning of wrecks. At Appledore, for instance, the lifeboatmen only keep a lookout at night in very rough weather, and then at the discretion of the coxswain. notification of wrecks to lifeboats where they are stationed, has crept into the routine of a coastguard's duty, but it should occupy a more important place in their regulations,

In the instance of the "Andree" under notice, we have the old, old story of signals of distress being shown and no notice taken from the shore. In the case of the "Madeleine" the distress signals were said to have been misunderstood - that vessel was also thought to have been at anchor, when as a matter of fact she was almost on the Pebble Ridge at Westward Ho! Which has never been regarded as an anchorage. There, however, the coastgiard had the excuse that it was a squally night, although that to a landsman would rather appear to be a reason for a sharper lookout.

But Monday's disaster occured in broad daylight, at two in the afternoon, and the "Andree" leaking and sinking, with a gale blowing, met the fate of the "Phyllis Gray", with no answer from the shore to the signals of distress. For some hours the "Andree" must have been visible from the different coastguard lookouts, and for two hours Captain Francois Cabon states he had his flag at half masted. In this he is not altogether un-corroborated, for Capt. Fred Prance, the master of the Bideford trawler "Deera", whose plucky rescue of the Frenchman deserves tangible recognition, saw the signal of the "Andree" at 2 o'clock, while the vessel did not go down until about 3.30. Possibly the coastguard saw the "Andree" - their regulations prevent them giving information to the press - but if they did one is entitled to ask why the lifeboats were not notified? This is where complaint is found with the system. To answer that the "Deera" was already on her way to the rescue is insufficient, for when Captain Prance saw the "Andree" she was three miles away, and before he could start to get to her he had to hawl in his trawl. Either the Appledore or the Braunton lifeboats could have effected the rescue had the crews been summoned, and but for the providential presence of the "Deera" the whole of the Frenchmen must have lost their lives in the absence of the lifeboats, as their own boat, large as it was, could hardly have lived in the seas that were running.

The coolness and pluck of Captain Fred Prance in the manner in which he effected the rescue is the admiration of all who know the Bay. His "Deera" is perhaps the smartest trawler on the Torridge, and when he brought up to the sinking Frenchman three of the crew and the captain's wife left the vessel in their boat, Captain Prance got Madame Cabon aboard when he observed the ketch disappear, and knew that the Captain and the cabin boy, Yves Le Bonniee, must be in the boiling surf. To attempt to get these three Frenchmen - Yves and Francois Allan and Yves Gegou - out of their boat and aboard the trawler would have possibly meant losing those who were in the water, so Captain Prance made fast the boat, and, towing her behind, tacked twice in the gale, and running down on the boy, picked him up in an exhausted condition, only the lifebuoy had kept him afloat. Captain Cabon, is a strong swimmer, and kept up until Captain Prance and the crew of the "Deera" had completed a rescue that was only accomplished by good seamanship and plenty of pluck in manouvering a vessel under conditions calling forth the indominitable heroism of the British mariner.

The "Andree" now lies about three-quartes of a mile north-west of the Bell Buoy, and being in the fairway, it has been reported to Mr. Stapledon, The French consul at Bideford, that she will probably have to be blown up for the safety of navigation. At the last Board of Trade enquiry at Bideford, it will be remembered, the Barrister instructed by the Board of Trade passed some severe criticism on the action of the Press in their strictures on the efficiency of the look out system. It would be better if the authorities would render the strictures unnecessary than criticise them when made.

THE BIDEFORD & NORTH DEVON WEEKLY GAZETTE
and Devon & Cornwall Advertiser
TUESDAY APRIL 27 1909 No.2,983

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A much more pleasant phase of the matter to dwell upon, is what is on all hands regarded as the smart and praiseworthy seamanship of Captain Fred Prance and his mate in so manoevering their little trawl in the gale of wind that they succeeded in saving all the lives on the French vessel, though the rescue was effected only just in time. Those who know the Bay off the Bar in a gale appreciate the difficulties encountered, and are heartiest in their commendation. The Lifeboat Institution has a decoration to mark its appreciation of these smart examples of seamanship to save life at sea and around our coasts. This is a case in which we think our readers will agree it might be bestowed.

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