Completed thanks to all who looked - Decipher a name please?

[Ecneps]

Hi,
Yes I've 'googled' the Captain without success, have found a James Parkhill mariner in Hull census but nor sure if it's the one, will have to find out from Lloyds register.
Many thanks for your interest,
Barbara

[yn9man]

Hi -

I tried again to ascertain the name on the front of the log. I agree that the first two initials are P and J. As for the last name the writing trails off after RICH___. I will keep looking when I find my better magnifying glass.

There was so much ship traffic in those coming in and out of the port of San Francisco. Maybe the local SF paper would have the shipping news. I will check that out also.

yn9man

[Ecneps]

Many thanks - I think the fact that the name is written inside a box means it won't extend beyond that, so either Rich or Riches, don't think there's room for Richardson.  Wish I could find him in a census somewhere, but I don't know his age or place of birth...

[yn9man]

A couple of thoughts.

Originally, I thought PJ was from San Francisco. However most San Franciscans don't use the term "Frisco" when referring to San Francisco. People who first sailed from the East Coast of America to the SF area did however use that term.

The writing style and words however do seem / appear to be American.

I also assume he was single (in church with a young lady), possibly an officer (steering the ship) or at least not an ordinary seaman which meant he could have probably spent most of his working life on board a ship. 

yn9man

[yn9man]

Ecneps -

Did a bit more research on your log book , diary. Spoke to some people at a Maritime Libray and they mentioned a few things.

Log books were usually kept by the Captain and would usually take on shore with him. Entries in a log book would be made by the watch officer (usually 3 -4 times a day) and also signed by the Captain. The owners agent would also sign at the end of a sailing. Watch officers would usually write in sea conditions, winds, longitude and latitude readings/headings.

If information such as this isn't in the book then it probably is a diary kept by one of the crew members.

Hope the above helps.

yn9man

[PrueM]

Hi Barbara,

Is there any chance you could scan the cover again, at a higher resolution?  Or take a high-res digital photo?  I think with some tweaking in Photoshop I should be able to read the name.

Another thing you could try, if you have access to a UV light, is to see if the writing comes up better in UV.  If you don't have a UV light (sometimes called a black light) you might be able to sweet-talk your local tanning salon to let you stick the book under one of their sunbeds for a bit!  The iron gall ink with which this was written should absorb UV light, making the writing appear darker than it actually is, and thus easier to see.

Prue

[Ecneps]

Hi Prue

Sorry for late reply have been away for 2 wks.
attaching a higher resolution scan - interesting idea about the tanning salon, would never have thought of that one!

Thanks very much for your interest
Barbara

[Ecneps]

Hi yn9man

Sorry for late reply, just back from holiday..

I think you're right, not an official log-book, although that's what he calls it, more likely a diary, just one entry per day and not signed by the captain, but he does take the wheel, and describes all the things you mention, weather conditions, lat., long., compass headings, as well as what work was done, what sails and rigging, what they ate, other ships passing and their headings, all very interesting, just wish I knew who he was ...
Barbara

[PrueM]

Hi Barbara 
Nicely scanned! 
It looks very much like "P J Ricke..." - perhaps Rickett or Ricketts?  It's the last couple of letters that are the problem, they seem to be gone altogether.  I'm playing with it in photoshop in the hopes of bringing it up better.
Prue