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The Nellie J. Banks was a 35 GRT cod fishing schooner turned ‘rum runner’ built in 1910. She was one of the last rum runners to be seized off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1938. The Nellie J. Banks was renamed Leona G. Maguire in 1941.

Description
Nellie J. Banks was a schooner with two masts (the usual foremast and two top masts) the hull was black. The ship was 57 feet 3 inches long, with a beam of 18 feet, and a depth of 7 feet. She had a GRT of 35. She was propelled by sail until 1916 when an engine was brought aboard. Nellie J. Banks has been said to be a beautiful vessel and was constructed with the special object of speed as she was built for the cod fishing industry. She was designed by Freeman Pyzant of Lockeport. It has been said that she looked more like a yacht than a fishing schooner, being neatly rigged and having such sheer.

Brief History
The ship was built by Alfred Banks from Nova Scotia in 1910 and launched October 21 1910 from the shipyard of Howard Allen and Company of Allendale Nova Scotia. Her port of register was in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. She was used for fishing until 1926. During September 1926 Ray Clarke and Captain Edward Dicks bought her for about $2,000. They decided to buy her because they thought she was the perfect vessel for smuggling booze to Prince Edward Island because they were the province mostly affected by the 1901 prohibition. In 1927 she was seized by the coastguard ship Bayfield. That was only a small setback for the Nellie J. Banks and crew she would continue smuggling until her final seize in August 1938 by the R.C.M.P cutter Ulna she was then towed back to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. In 1941 the Nellie J. Banks would be renamed the Leona G. Maguire after her new captains daughter. In the early part of 1943, a sea Captain named Roberts lived aboard her in Murray Harbour, Prince Edward Island. In 1947 she was permanently tied up in Murray Harbour, PEI. When she became too old and an eye sore she was taken out of the water to see if she could be repaired when there was not enough money to restore her to her former beauty Captain Maguire put her out of her misery but lighting her on fire in 1953 on the shore of Murray Harbour, PEI.

Also See
Rum-running in Windsor