National Museums Liverpool Blog - Monday, January 14, 2008

HM Grampus model. Image courtesy of the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo

I, Stephen Guy, had ancestors living and working among the shipyards that dotted the Liverpool waterfront in the 18th century.

Liverpool was a shipbuilding centre for more than 200 years, developing alongside its growth from a small port to a major centre of commerce. By 1700 several shipyards were established around the Pool, a creek long since covered over, which gave the town its name.

With the opening of the first dock in 1715 and the Salthouse Dock in 1739, shipbuilding moved to the Mersey Strand on the site of the Albert Dock. Today the Strand and Strand Street remind us that this was once a long beach, a strand of mud and sand. My ancestor Henry Guy was born in nearby Moor Street in 1728 and was a shipwright in the yards.

In 1739 John Okill began work on the 44-gun HMS Hastings, the first ship built in Liverpool for the Royal Navy. The construction of wooden warships and merchant ships occupied the many Liverpool shipbuilders until the late 18th century.

The early docks of the 19th century brought competition from shipyards in Canada. They were near forests providing wood for the ships and had cheap labour so the Liverpool shipyards were undercut. By 1840 it was estimated that almost half the ships owned in Liverpool were built in Canada.

Eventually the demand for more new docks on the Liverpool side of the Mersey drove the shipbuilding industry to the opposite Wirral shore. The last large vessel launched on the Liverpool shore was HMS Britomart, a gunboat built by WH Potter & Sons in Queens Dock in 1899.

Models of Liverpool-built ships are on display at Merseyside Maritime Museum. The 50-gun HMS Grampus was launched at John Fisher’s shipyard in 1782. This superbly-detailed model shows the three-master with three huge lanterns at the stern.

The Jhelum (1849) was one of the last Mersey-built wooden ships and was employed in the guano trade shipping bird droppings for fertilizer. Her beached hulk still lies in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. Merseyside Maritime Museum staff have visited her. Alongside a small model of Jhelum are a number of artefacts from the hulk including nails and copper sheathing. This online feature covers the damage being done to the Jhelum by the lowly shipworm.

The Wanderer, a four-masted barque of 1891, was an unlucky ship with her captain being killed in a severe storm on her maiden voyage.  In 1907 she was sunk in the River Elbe after being rammed by the German liner Gertrud Woermann.

More on shipbuilding on the Mersey and related documents in our collections can be found in our Maritime Archives section. A new Maritime Tale appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo.

You may have noticed some reports in the media recently about the possible discovery of a Viking boat at Meols in the Wirral. There has been considerable interest in the story and our Field Archaeology Unit have had a lot of enquiries about it, so they have put together some helpful information for the website with a summary of the facts that are actually known about the discovery.

So if you have been wondering 'Has a Viking boat really been discovered in Meols?' then you need look no further for the answers you seek. It's also interesting to find out what happens when a possible discovery is made, how archaeologists go about investigating it and why sometimes the best way to protect a site is not to investigate it at all but to preserve it for the future.

If you want to see some actual Viking treasure then don't forget that the Huxley hoard of Viking silver is currently on display in the Magical History Tour exhibition at Meresyside Maritime Museum, before touring to other venues in the area.

The staging for Friday's launch being built outside St George's Hall

You can't have failed to notice that Liverpool is European Capital of Culture this year. The official People's Opening takes place this Friday, 11th January, at St George's Hall plateau on Lime Street. Took a snap this morning to show you the progress made with staging. The blue containers seem to form a stage area at either end of the plateau with another stage in the centre. Also looks like there's going to be staging around Steble Fountain, just outside the Walker.

As well as Ringo Starr on the roof and a community choir there's also what the Liverpool 08 website is describing as, "an epic aerial ballet of dancing cranes, containers and scissor lifts, as Liverpool celebrates the transfromation of the 'Big Dig' into the 'Big Gig'". All kicks off at 8:08pm (20:08?)

To mark the occassion, and because we are literally a minute away from the main event, both the Walker Art Gallery and World Museum Liverpool will be staying open until 10pm, with last entry at 9.30pm which is also when the venue cafes and shops close. If you're planning to take the kids to Big Art at the Walker we suggest you go early rather than later as it will be closing at 7.30pm.

The museum will be hosting a number of environmental organisations, which will complement the launch of an international school environmental project exploring climate change and disaster risk reduction.

And to cap it all there will be fireworks! Huzzah!

Last year (!) the Antiques Roadshow visited St George's Hall and unearthed the usual hoard of gems. While there Michael Aspel popped over the road to see some more treasures at the Walker Art Gallery. If you're a fan of the AR, the Walker or both tune into BBC 1 this Sunday (13th) at 6.40pm to see the show. 

Liverpool is celebrating being European Capital of Culture this year and I, Stephen Guy, have been reflecting on the many beautiful artworks produced here. These include remarkable products, some with maritime connections, made by Liverpool’s innovative Herculaneum Pottery between 1796 and 1841.

Image courtesy of the Liverpool Daily Post & Echo.

The Toxteth-based pottery was established by local merchant Samuel Worthington and quickly established a reputation for the quality of its wares. The name Herculaneum was probably chosen to rival the Italian classical name of Etruria so successfully used by Josiah Wedgwood in Staffordshire. The Herculaneum Pottery rapidly expanded and a large proportion of its products were exported, especially to the fledgling United States.

In 1837 the factory was purchased by Ambrose Lace who leased the works to Thomas Case and James Mort and later to a partnership between Mort and John Simpson.

In the end the Herculaneum Pottery was the victim of competition from the Staffordshire potteries and Liverpool’s huge commercial success. There was more money to be made from importing and exporting than from manufacturing. The pottery was swept away to create the Herculaneum Dock.

There are many stunning items produced by the Herculaneum Pottery on display at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. A huge earthenware punch bowl is colourfully decorated with Masonic symbols such as a set squares and an eye. Conjuring up images of smartly-dressed gentlemen imbibing in convivial surroundings, it is inscribed: “The gift of Brother Squire Hargreaves as a token of his respect for the Society of Freemasons belonging to the Mariner’s Lodge No 362. And presented at the Festival of St John the Evangelist December 27th 1813. Then held at the Freemasons Tavern Sir Thomas’s Buildings, Liverpool." A matching jug has similar decorations and is inscribed simply “Squire Hargreaves”. There is a picture of a man wearing a Masonic apron and regalia - perhaps Mr Hargreaves himself.

A large mug commemorates Lord Nelson and his victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. It includes a fascinating list of all the British fighting ships that took part and the number of guns each carried. A map shows the battle formation when the British fleet destroyed the combined fleets of France and Spain.

A soup plate made between 1800 and 1820 shows a fashionably-dressed young woman waiting in anticipation as a sailing ship returns to port. It is touchingly inscribed:

When seamen to their homes return,
And meet their wives or sweethearts dear,
Each loving lass with rapture burns,
To find her long lost lover near

A new Maritime Tale appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo.

Flower Sellers of London (1875) by Louis Gustave Doré (1833-1883)

Just when I was feeling hard-done-by for being back at work after Christmas when someone people have until Monday, I was sent this image which had the dual effect of being both depressing and uplifting. It's a rather huge piece by Gustave Doré called ‘Flower Sellers of London' which entered our collections in 1880.  The reason I'm flagging it is because it's about to undergo pretty extensive conservation before going on display at the Walker, where I'm sure it'll be very popular with the public - a nice painting with a sad story, pretty protagonists and a bit of social realism thrown in.

Doré was a French illustrator and painter who, like other Romantic artists, often visited London specifically to paint such scenes of poverty. At the time London was the largest and richest city in the world with extremes of opulence and misery. Apparently Doré "was touched by the sad beauty" of such flower sellers, many of whom are thought to have been prostitutes.  

Will keep you posted on the progress of the conservation work.

Image courtesy Liverpool Daily Post and Echo

The nearest I, Stephen Guy, have got to embarking on a New Year cruise is taking a ride on the Mersey ferry. Taking a sea cruise has added attractions at this time of year with opportunities to swap dull days in Britain with azure seas and exotic places to visit.

Holiday cruises by sea to and from Britain began on a modest scale in the late 19th century. Originally they were beyond the means of most people and were the preserve of the rich. They became more widely available from the 1920s when many passenger liners began cruising because their usual routes were becoming less profitable.

Although enjoying a boom period in the 1950s and early 60s, cruise holidays remained expensive. In recent years lower prices and wider choices of destinations have made them more popular than ever. Cruise liners have grown in size and prestige, becoming floating holiday resorts with many attractions.

Displays in the Lifelines gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum look at cruising on the River Amazon in South America. Visitors can listen to an audio account by Mary Harte of a Christmas and New Year cruise on this mighty river in 1934. Mary made the trip on the Booth Line passenger cargo liner, Hilary, with her mother and sister. Mary’s father, Charles Good, was in charge of the Booth Line’s affairs in the Amazon Basin and was based in Pereira, Brazil. The Hilary berthed at Pereira where Charles met his family and they spent Christmas Day on board before lodging in a company house for two days. Mary later spent two weeks on the Amazon travelling 1,000 miles to Manaos.

In 1866 the Booth Line began regular passenger and cargo services from Liverpool to north Brazil and the Amazon. From the 1920s to 1964 the company ran popular holiday cruises to Manaos. Among the display items is this colourful Booth Line poster showing the Hilary. The ship called first at Portugal, then Madeira and on to north Brazil before sailing up the Amazon.

Souvenirs of a cruise on the Hilary include a Booth Line notebook, playing cards and paper knife. Also displayed is a deck chair from the ship. A hilarious photograph shows passengers in a fancy dress revue with such characters as a devil, French maid, sailor and clown. Also featured in the display is a prize-winning model of the Booth Line’s Hildebrand which operated on the Liverpool – Amazon service between 1911 and 1934. She could carry up to 218 First Class and 406 Third Class passengers.

A new Maritime Tale appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo.

Illustration of long tables laid out for food, with people in period costume seated on both sides.

On ship or on shore there is nothing like sea air to stimulate the appetite for me, Stephen Guy, and the traditional pleasures of food and drink come to mind during this festive season.

It was the development of the steam ship that led to dramatic improvements in passenger facilities. From the mid-19th century sea travellers of all classes began to enjoy comforts that had previously been available only on land. Then, as now, eating and drinking were close to most passengers' hearts. Many steamship owners were glad to meet the wishes of the prosperous to dine in style.

Displays in the Lifelines gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum feature the paraphernalia of food and drink on passenger ships. There are items used on two great ships designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. An 1860s dessert plate from the Great Eastern shows a lady in a Britannia-like pose waving to the great ship in the distance, sails unfurled. A meat dish, silver cream jug and kettle along with a glass condiment set were all used on the Great Britain. A colour print (shown) shows the main saloon on the famous ship in 1852. A huge tureen from a Royal Mail Steam Packet evokes images of hot steaming soup served below decks.

After a good meal, the male passengers would retire to the smoking room to relax and let their food digest. A passenger wrote in the 1890s: "The refectory is usually the rendezvous of those passengers who have fairy tales to relate over the fragrant weed etc and the extreme comfort of the installation is certainly conducive to good fellowship."

On display is White Star Line crockery from the 1900-14 Edwardian era when its ships were the last word in sea-going luxury.

Distinctive tableware was used on the legendary Queen Mary, in service between 1936 and 1967 and one of the largest and fastest ships in the world. The Queen Mary was the first British liner to embrace the art deco style and this was reflected on the dining tables. Most of the tableware was supplied to Cunard by Stoniers, the well-known Liverpool store which supplied fine china and related items to the major British shipping companies for more than a century. A feature of passenger liners was the cube-shaped teapot developed to create a pot which would not overturn on a rough crossing. Several examples are on display.

A new Maritime Tale appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo.

I've got some exciting news from my favourite Christmas fairy, namely Claire Noble from World Museum Liverpool.

Tomorrow at 2pm the Treasure House Theatre will be hosting a performance of the classic Grimm’s Brothers story 'Snow White and Rose Red'.

This adaptation by Tiny Giants theatre company promises to bring the strange, magical tale to life before your very eyes. Walk into a forest of dreams and watch out for the twists as this version of the classic tale has more Christmas spirit than a fairy on a tree.

Then don't forget that after Christmas the National Museums Liverpool's Youth Theatre are performing 'A Dickens of a Christmas' - their own retelling of 'A Christmas Carol'. If you didn't catch their antics in the museum over the weekend then try to make it to one of these shows.

Full details of all the free events and exhibitions taking place during the Christmas holidays at our venues are available on the website.