Advanced search

Following the enquiry into the 'Pibroch''s scuttling, Baines is temporarily reduced to mate. The head of the board, Sir Walter Teal, asks Baines and Onedin to take his young son David as an apprentice. The boy is keen for a mariner's life and his father hopes the harsh realities will make him change his mind. James and Baines are very hard on him, which Albert notices, but James tells him he would be better occupied patching things up with Elizabeth. David ultimately proves himself as a very capable sailor and even puts in a good word for Baines with his father.

Five pounds is stolen from the office of the Frazer Line and Uncle Percy Spendilow is accused, found guilty and sentenced to six months in prison. Elizabeth finds this hard to believe and so she sets a honey trap, leaving money lying around. It is taken by Drumond, a clerk, and, as a result, Uncle Percy is freed. However, he has an unpleasant surprise in store for Elizabeth. And James' daughter Charlotte becomes ill.

James and Letty are to be married on board ship by Captain Baines but this nearly does not happen when a group of shanghaied sailors attempt to overwhelm them, the plan being foiled by elderly Billy Oakum and the marriage does go ahead. Daniel Fogarty has begun a charity, the Prince Albert Fund, and is knighted for his services. He marries Elizabeth at last but James's experience has prevented him from being their best man.

Steam is now in the ascendancy and sail looks as if it is danger of becoming obsolete. James' main rival Briggs is investing heavily in steam-ships and Elizabeth urges Frazer to build some more for him. Briggs also buys the 'Anne Onedin' from James but James buys a fleet of six sailing ships from elderly Captain Fowey in the knowledge that a miners' strike is sending coal prices rocketing, giving sail the temporary advantage.

Max Van Der Rheede is imprisoned and James is free. He beats Samuel to the contract of transporting nitrate and sets sail with his first cargo. Against his orders Margarita accompanies him. She is pregnant and eventually gives birth to a son. James is overjoyed. Elizabeth, on the other hand, receives distressing news. Daniel's ship has sunk returning to England.

Captain Baines is marooned in revolution-torn Venezuela but gets permission to leave if he will take Colonel Flores, who is accompanying some art treasures to prevent the rebels seizing them. However Baines discovers that Flores is attempting to smuggle gold to America and has him arrested. Ada Mitchell, widow of the man to whom Frazer sold the 'Scotch Lass' tells James Onedin that she will give him the ship if he marries her but he refuses. He is about to propose to Caroline when he learns that Fogarty, sailing the 'Scotch Lass' home, is in severe difficulties so he rushes off to salvage the ship. When he returns Caroline turns down his proposal, feeling that any wife must come second to the shipping line.

Callon proposes Robert buy another shop from him but Albert points out this would put Robert in Callon's behest and finances another premises. James is charged to take a mysterious passenger to Italy, who turns out to be the revolutionary Garibaldi. Attempts are made by enemies posing as crew members to kill Garibaldi but he shoots them, using his new, six-shooter revolver and is safely delivered.

Anne lodges with a grateful Mrs. Jessop but initially has trouble finding work until she becomes a bookkeeper in a shop. James discovers a stowaway, Peter Thompson, whom he puts to work on the 'Charlotte Rhodes' but the boy is unused to sailing and has a bad fall. James is annoyed to discover that Peter's father is a wealthy potato merchant who, after learning of Onedin's treatment of his son, not only refuses to deal with James but also has him beaten up.

Accompanied by Portuguese speaking Caroline and the Braganzas Onedin, Frazer, Baines and Fogarty take four ships up the Amazon with a view to establishing a coal trade with the Brazilian railways. Fogarty's men are spooked when they are attacked by natives. Ultimately Caroline knows from her understanding of the language that the locals have no intention of doing anything but fleecing the visitors and they all withdraw. However Jose Braganza is killed by natives, causing his father to terminate his dealings with Onedin.

Anne is pregnant and Elizabeth urges James to buy a house and move out of the warehouse for the baby's sake. James comes across the immaculate but deserted ship the 'Maria da Gloria', and travels to Ireland, where it is to be the subject of a low-key auction, as it is a former slave ship but extremely fast. Daniel arrives and competes with James to buy the ship. It goes to James but he has paid more than he intended and thus cannot afford a house. However, on return to Liverpool, he is sad to find that Anne has miscarried.

The Onedins and Albert travel to Turkey, where James is annoyed to find that Albert is about to agree to a ten year contract making steam engines for a local pasha. Albert is even considering living with Leyla, a concubine, unaware that back home a row between his wife and Daniel has ended in a kiss. When the pasha is murdered by enemies, however, Albert is implicated and the Liverpool party must flee as a nearby volcano erupts.

Caroline's acquaintance Henry Wickham asks Onedin to smuggle valuable rubber seeds out of Brazil so that he can start a plantation in India. Onedin and Caroline set sail but they fall foul of local big-wig Ortega and, for their own safety, have to return home without the seeds. Eventually they discover that they were being used as decoys by Wickham, who, with Fogarty, set out on a separate expedition and obtained rubber seeds.

James is delivering a cargo to the Southern states of America but the Civil War is raging and the North are blockading ports. With him are Anne, who dislikes the idea of helping slave-owning states to profit, and Albert. A nervous pilot is not keen to run the blockade so James decides to run it himself. He is captured by Captain Ferguson, a Northern captain but fortunately for him Ferguson has a great enthusiasm for steam-ships, and, impressed by Albert's plans for a new steam vessel, the 'Golden Nugget', not only allows James to go about his business but defects to join Albert.

An ancient cannon Captain Baines believes to have belonged to Henry Morgan and spirited Margarita, daughter of South American president Juarez, join James' latest cargo, but on arrival in Margarita's home country James finds that her father is about to be overthrown in a revolution by his brother-in-law. When the rebels attack, James and Tom help the Juarezes to escape but the president is shot by a sniper, and, as the surviving trio row back to the ship under fire, the cannon comes in very handy. Elizabeth counts the financial cost of putting up ransom money for her brother.

James goes to Paris to collect an old debt, despite the fact that the city is in the hands of the Citizen Communards, and they are involved in a civil war with the rest of France.

James Onedin is in a battle with his former employer and main competitor, Mr. Callan, to keep what few clients he has. Callon has put the squeeze on Mr. Watson, who recently consigned a small shipment to Onedin, telling him they will refuse to carry his trade to India unless they get 100% of his business. Callan's son Edmund begins to set his eye on what few assets James has managed to acquire. When Mr. Baines fails to return from a visit to his sister, James knows it has to be Callan's handy work. With Mr. Fogarty away, Elizabeth is at her wits end and Anne thinks she knows what the problem is. Albert Frazer inherits a house and invites not only James and Anne but also Elizabeth, who is the prime reason for extending the invitation.

Anne's pregnancy puts her health at risk. James travels to Zanzibar, where he meets Said Ben Salim, a sheikh who asks him to take some Islamic pilgrims to Mecca. However, it soon transpires that these are not pilgrims but slaves and James puts them ashore in Africa, enabling them to return home. On his return to Liverpool he learns of an unusual challenge. He and Daniel Fogarty are to race each other to Foochow in China and back with a cargo of tea, the winner assuming the overall control of the Onedin Line. He is well and truly up for this, as is Daniel but Emma is less enthusiastic as the race is to start on their wedding day.

Without revealing her identity Elizabeth goes to see Carrie Harris, who is not pregnant but told Albert she was to get money from him. She knew Albert was married and this makes Elizabeth determined to leave him. Captain Baines is given command of the 'Pibroch', an old ship with a mysterious cargo. In fact it is a coffin ship, one that the owners deliberately want sunk because it is too old for service but sinking means they can claim the insurance. The ship is indeed sunk, Baines saves the crew with help from James but is barred for six months from captaining another ship.

William takes a Frazer ship out in fog and gets it in a collision with one of the Onedin ships. It is arranged that the elderly, weak Captain Oliphant should be held responsible. Oliphant later kills himself and William is filled with remorse. Elizabeth is relieved to see that he possesses some humanity. However he is still seeing Charlotte, who is also dating a dissatisfied Samuel, who wants a more active life than working in the family shop. At dinner Samuel's father Robert tragedy strikes.

James has taken emigrants to Australia where he hopes to make enough money to buy off the Pampero by bringing home a cargo of wool, but the sheep-farmers have all left to join the gold rush. He agrees to ferry a load of 'lost souls' from Papua to Victoria for McPherson, a parson, but discovers the parson is actually a slave trader intent on taking the group to the West Indies. After the Papuans have set fire to the 'parson' James returns them to their homes.

Samuel Plimsoll returns to Liverpool to investigate the dangerous over-loading of ships. Inevitably he crosses swords with Onedin and prepares to take him to court for contravening the limit. However he comes to learn that Fogarty has actually bribed a surveyor to falsely claim that Onedin is breaking the rules to gain advantage over his rival. To show good faith Onedin invites Plimsoll on his next voyage and impresses him with his seamanship when the ship hits a storm. Annoyed by Fogarty's dirty dealings Plimsoll agrees to drop the court case providing Onedin ships carry the Plimsoll line.

Samuel does not let sentiment cloud his father's death, proposing to Letty that her mill-workers make bed linen which he will sell through a catalogue for his store, though Letty drives a harder bargain than he had imagined. William is shocked to learn that the 'Indian Queen', a Frazer ship which he chartered to a Mr. Lillie without his parents knowing, was deliberately sunk with loss of life for the insurance money. James has his suspicions but, even with the use of a diver, cannot prove that the cargo was never loaded.

In Ireland an enigmatic woman, Miss Indigo Jones, asks James to get her damaged ship the 'Samantha', with its cargo of guano, home to Liverpool. James is suspicious that there is something wrong but, motivated by greed as usual, consents. The ship is filthy but James has it cleaned and, having bribed a relation of Albert he gets it through customs. Only then does he learn the horrifying truth. Miss Indigo has killed several crew members because they had Yellow fever, which even now may have entered Liverpool. Captain Baines attempts to reconcile the Onedins but each is too stubborn to give way.

At last James buys a house for Anne. Sailing on the 'Lady Lazenby', Baines suffers an accident and is in danger of needing his leg amputated. Onedin opposes this, believing that the leg can be saved if it is set, and he is proved right. Albert and Elizabeth prepare for divorce but ultimately decide to give the marriage another chance. Fogarty admits to Emma that he fathered Elizabeth's child but they still plan to marry.

Charlotte is reunited with her father after visiting him in jail. Margarita and Samuel pursue the man suspected of planting the necklace on James' ship, only to find he is dead. However a letter arrives from Betsy, addressed to Letty, who was good to her, outlining how Van Der Rheede used her to get the necklace. Furthermore Captain Baines, now anxious to help Onedin, establishes that Van Der Rheede planted it in a chart he knew that the captain was returning to James' ship. The family confronts the Dutchman and force him to confess, whilst Elizabeth hears that Daniel is returning home to be reconciled with her.