New Lowther Street was built at the beginning of the 18th century. Before that the shore had extended closer to Strand Street. It is so named because when it was first built it wasn't an extension of Lowther Street although this was obviously part of James Lowther's plan. This was because at first Lowther Street formed a T-junction with King Street with only an alley further down providing access to Strand Street. It was only when properties on the seaward side of King Street were removed that the road opened up providing a view from the Castle all the way to the harbour.
We see from the 1811 directory that there were 4 ship's Captains on this street. Three of them part owned their ships - John Collins who was part owner and master of a 244 ton brig called Hope, William Branthwaite who was part owner of a 157 ton brig called the Betsy and Abraham Edgar who had a 157 ton snow called Isca. (A snow was similar to the two masted brig but with a small extra mast just behind the second mast to carry a triangular or gaff rigged sail). William Atkinson was master of the much larger Clarendon, a 507 ton ship owned by W. Stitt and Co. It is likely that they could keep an eye on their ships just by looking out of the window and be on hand to check they were properly tethered if a storm blew up.
© WAWL 2009