Peake's of
Newlyn
The firm was
founded by the family around 1835 and was based
at what was the Tolcarne Quay in the Tolcarne
area of Newlyn. Prior to 1914 they built mostly
luggers up to 30 or 40 feet long. These were
mainly for Newlyn owners, but some went to
owners in Penzance, Mousehole, St Ives and even
Ireland. Their boats acquired a high reputation
for quality and dependability, and
were also
some of the fastest boats in Mount's Bay.
It was common to build boats
on any piece of vacant land or beach convenient
to a launching point and we can see in the
photograph below how one of these boats - Pride
of Erin, a 47 footer of 15ft 6in beam built by
Peake's was man-hauled on her side from her
building site to the slipway at Newlyn harbour.
From left to right: Henry
Peake & staff at the Tolcarne premises,
"Blush Rose", a lugger almost
completed, "Valiant"PZ142,
"Valiant" under construction at the
Tolcarne, "Provider" PZ19, "Penlee"
under construction.
