Wherry

A wherry (meaning "boat") is type of boat that was traditionally used for carrying cargo or passengers on rivers and canals in England, and is particularly associated with the River Thames. Passenger wherries evolved into the Thames skiff, a gentleman's rowing boat. In the late 18th century the name was given to the Norfolk Wherry with large sails which was developed to replace an earlier cargo boat the Norfolk Keel.

History

The term "wherry" or "wherrie" was a regular term used for a boat as the Coverdale Bible of 1535 speaks of "All whirry men, and all maryners vpo the see…" in the Book of Ezekiel.

Wherries along the tideway in London were water taxis operated by watermen and in Elizabethan times their use was widespread. A wherry could be rowed by two men with long oars or by a single waterman using short oars or 'sculls'. An Act of Parliament in 1555 specified that a wherry should be "22½ feet long and 4½ wide 'amidships'". [Calendar of State Papers Venetian, XV, p.102] and could carry up to five passengers [ [http://www.geocities.com/thameswatermen/chapter1.htm Geocities The Watermen] ] . Wherries were clinker-built with long overhanging bows so that patrons could step ashore dryshod before landing stages were built along the river. It is the long angled bow that distinguishes the wherry and skiff from the gig and cutter which have steeper bows following the rise of the Royal Navy, and building of landing stages.

One account concerning Shakespeare's Globe Theatre said, "Patrons were transported across the River Thames to Southwark by 'wherry boats.' At one time over two thousand wherries made their way to and from the theater district."Fact|date=March 2008 In 1820 there were still 3,000 wherries plying on the Thames, while in the same year there were only 1,200 hackney coaches. As late as 1829, the usual means of crossing the river from Westminster to Vauxhall was by boat, but the wherryman's trade came to an end when new bridges were built and cheap steamboats were put on the river. [ [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45154 "The river Thames: Part 2 of 3", Old and New London: Volume 3 (1878), pp. 300-311 Date accessed: 29 September 200] ]

In North America, particularly in the Penobscot Bay region of the Gulf of Maine, wherries became the preferred boat for the longshore Atlantic salmon fishery. The Lincolnville Salmon Wherry, the Rhodes Wherry, the Duck Trap Wherry, and the Christmas Wherry are still being built for recreational use. [ [http://www.duck-trap.com/wherries.html Walter J. Simmons "Wherries" 2004] ] They are generally long and narrow, with a straight stem, a wineglass stern and usually carvel planked (smooth sides). The boat usually has two seats, one for the rower, and one in the stern sheets for the passenger, although longer ones can have a third seat forward.

ee also

* Norfolk wherry

References