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Compliments of the Ragged Islands Historical Society
65 John Street
PO Box 437
Lockeport NS B0T 1L0
(902) 656-2352
July-August
This commemorative stone was placed at the site of the ALLENDALE SHIPYARD
in 1992 by the
RAGGED ISLANDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Lockeport, Nova Scotia.
References:
The Nelly J. Banks
by Geoff and Dorothy Robinson
and
Quest for the Phantom Fleet
by James T. Bebb
Front Cover: "General Laurie" Built by Howard Allen, 1908.
The Allendale Shipyard was the result of a business venture between Howard M. Allen, a ship’s carpenter, and William MacMillan, a businessman. The business, which carried the name "Howard Allen and Co.", began in 1907.
During its years of operations, the company launched many fine vessels, the last being the "Dominion Trader" in 1914. However, Howard Allen often serviced the Town of Lockeport’s ferry, the "D.D. Mann" and in 1917, the schooner "Myrtle L." was retopped there. This was the final course of operation, for before the end of the First World War, shipbuilding by Howard Allen and Co. was no longer in existence.
In 1918 Thomas M. Rawding, of Liverpool, Nova Scotia purchased the company. During his time at Allendale, five tern schooners were built. He later sold the business to the Lockeport Shipbuilding Co. for the sum of
$1.00, and William MacMillan was once again brought into the picture
Unfortunately for MacMillan, trouble hit. He received tax demands from the Inspector of Taxation in Halifax. MacMillan tried to sell the business for an advertised price of $15.96, but there were no takers. And so ended the shipbuilding era in Allendale.
The Nellie J. Banks
The story of the famous rumrunner, the "Nellie J. Banks" begins in a shipyard in Allendale in 1910. Built by master craftsman, Howard Allen, the "Nellie J. Banks" has been said by many to be "the nicest looking vessel that ever sailed out of Lockeport Harbour."
The ship, which measured seventy feet in length and weighed in excess of thirty-four gross tons, began her career as a fishing vessel.
Proving unsuccessful in this area, the ship’s crew, masters, and owners changed rapidly and as frequently as the winds that drove her.
The "Nellie J. Banks" eventually fell into the hands of the Prince Edward Islanders, who used her extensively for rum running during the days of Prohibition. The boat escaped government cutters for a long period of time, but she could not outrun them forever; she was finally seized on August 7, 1938.
Now, with legal action hovering about her, the "Nellie J. Banks" changed owners, and finally her name as well. However, the final change took place one night in 1953. A combination of oily rags, newspapers and matches put, the then badly failing ship, to rest, never to sail again.
And even though the boat is gone, Her legend lives on.
