Captain Lauritz P. Schjonemann was born in the village of Romo in Denmark in 1860. His seafaring career began in 1872, at the age of 12, when he walked the thirty miles to Esbjerg to join a British clipper schooner as cabin boy.
The captain's wife, who lived on board, took to the lad and taught him English. Known to his English friends as Peter, he proved a quick learner. By the age of 22 he had achieved his Second Mate, First Mate and Master's tickets.
He first visited Brixham when he was 14 and his voyages brought him back from time to time. On later visits he courted and married Lucy Fry, the daughter of a Brixham mariner. They had four children, Annie, Lauritz, Lavinia and Annie Maria, who was born when the family retired from the sea back to Brixham.
In 1888, when he was 28 years old, Captain Schjonemann was given his first command - the Esmeralda - a schooner out of Brixham on which he had earlier served as first mate. Lucy and the family sailed with him.
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