The Mary Lacy

Photo courtesy of Lewisham Heritage.

by Nate Hathaway

For it is fine weather now at sea, and if you go, I will get you a good master’ said the recruiter. And so the tale of Mary Lacy began...

A runaway at the age of 19, Mary found herself in men’s clothes entering a man’s world - as a helper to the ships’ carpenter aboard the HMS Sandwich in 1759. Mary went on to have a successful career in the maritime world as William Chandler, a combination of her father’s first name and mother’s maiden name. She went from working in carpentry on fighting vessels, to a formal apprenticeship, to being a fully qualified shipwright. Somewhere along the way, she even bested several other mariners in a rowing contest and was described as ‘a man and a half’. Her service ultimately awarded her a Navy pension when she retired, and despite revealing her identity as a woman, her request was immediately granted. 

Emma, our Waterfront and Seamanship Director who is currently enrolled in the 12-week program, decided to name her Susan Skiff after Mary Lacy. Mary came to Emma’s attention after Emma began to research prominent female shipwrights; Mary’s narrative was found to be one of the earliest and most captivating.

The construction of the Mary Lacy kicks off a campaign to raise funds for a boatbuilding scholarship for women. We will be raffling the Mary Lacy off; all proceeds from the raffle (buy a ticket here) will go towards the scholarship.

For anyone interested in more of Mary’s tale, she published an autobiography in 1773, The History of the Female Shipwright. Her narrative is also discussed in the last chapters of the book Female Tars: Women Aboard Ship in the Age of Sail by Suzanne Stark.