National Museums Liverpool Blog - Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The volunteers’ team are happy to announce that our Discovery Volunteers project has been named the regional winner North West for THE UNITE AWARD for team activity at the vinspired Awards 2010.

Since summer 2009, 72 young people have been involved with the project, having volunteered on gallery at World Museum – chatting to our visitors about specially chosen handling objects. We are really pleased that this award recognises all their hard work and the positive impact that they have made within our museums. We would like to say a big well done to all the young people who have taken part as a Discovery Volunteer!

Winning the regional award means that Discovery Volunteers are now in the running for the national award – which will be announced early 2011. We will keep you posted on this next year, but please keep your fingers crossed for more good news!

More information about the Unite Award which Discovery Volunteers have won can be found on the vinvolved website, you can also find out more about youth volunteering too.

If you are aged 16-25 and interested in youth volunteering projects at National Museums Liverpool please contact the volunteer team.

Tibet Museum in Dharamsala

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am currently in India undertaking research on the Tibet collections held at National Museums Liverpool. Upper Dharamsala or Mcleod Ganj is home to the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile and it is here that many cultural and governmental institutions were rebuilt after 1959 when many Tibetans including the Dalai Lama came to this small hill station to seek refuge.

Here you will find government offices, libraries and museums and a focus for many Buddhist pilgrims from around the world; the Tsuklagkhang.  In exile the Tsuklagkhang has become a focus for Tibetan Buddhist practice and in many ways acts as a replacement for the Jokhang, the seventh century temple which sits at the very heart of Lhasa in Tibet and is considered the most important Buddhist site for Tibetans. 

The Tsuklagkhang complex is home not only to the Dalai Lama’s official residence, but also the Tibet Museum, which tells through personal stories, photographs and video installations the events that changed individual Tibetans lives and choices and sacrifices those people made to reach India. I was impressed with the way those individual stories acted as symbols for the stories of many Tibetans who had made those journeys and unlike most museums I visit I read every word! 

Surrounding the complex is a peaceful track cut into the hillside that is strewn with prayer flags, piles of mani stones and rows of brightly painted prayer wheels. This is where pilgrims come to take kora, (a circuit of the complex), it has become a good place for me to walk and clear my head a little after a full day in front of the archives.

Four children bound for Fairbridge Farm School, Molong 1938. Reproduced courtesy of Molong Historical Society.

ANMM approached us a few years ago about collaborating on a project looking at the history of Britain’s child migrants, and this exhibition is the culmination of that work. The partnership has been very productive and engaging – if sometimes challenging due to the distance and time differences!

'On their own – Britain’s child migrants' traces the history of child migration schemes, concentrating on the mass migration movements in the 19th and 20th centuries. It will be on display at ANMM until May 2011, before touring other venues across Australia. The original plan had been for the exhibition to come to Merseyside Maritime Museum next November and then tour the UK. However due to central government cuts to our funding we have been forced to cancel plans for hosting the exhibition.

To accompany the exhibition we have developed the 'On their own – Britain’s child migrants' website which has just gone live. It contains much of the exhibition content, including oral histories of former child migrants and personal stories to compare and contrast the varying experiences that these children had when they were sent away to Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) as part of the child migration schemes.

I hope that many of you will visit the exhibition website to at least experience it virtually.

To coincide with the exhibition opening in Australia we have organised a new Child migration display within our Emigrants to a New World gallery in the basement of Merseyside Maritime Museum. We felt it was important to represent the story of child migration in some form, even though we cannot host the main exhibition. The story is such an important one and is part of the wider history of emigration that we already tell.

The display features William Kelly; a local boy who was taken into care by the Liverpool Sheltering Homes in 1925 and sent out to Canada with Barnardo’s shortly after. His son has recently donated his child migrant trunk to us which is a very special addition to our collection.

The display has also given us the opportunity to screen some short films that were developed for the exhibition; Children - building blocks of Empire, and Two Voyages as well as show some archives related to child migration."

Rrrrrrrrrroarrrrrr!

Have you heard about the T-Rex yet? This fearsome creature will be coming to the World Museum in just a few weeks time! To celebrate we'll have loads of great dino events for you to enjoy during our Dinomania! weekend.

Here you can see a video of the T-Rex as visitors get up close to this 14ft long beast. It will be roaming around the museum from Thursday 2 - Sunday 5 December, so this is a one off event that you won't want to miss!

• For full details of our free events check our Dinomania events page.

If you want an even more special experience you can book for our Dino-night event, which includes dinner, Dino Disco and a face-to-face encounter with the T-Rex! More details here.

On 'Inside Out' on BBC1 in the North West at 7.30 this evening you can see an interview with Maritime Museum curator and Titanic expert Dr Alan Scarth. He'll be talking about the Titanic's connections with Liverpool - a subject that he researched recently for his book 'Titanic and Liverpool' - currently available from our online bookshop. He told us a bit more about it below.

Update 9/11/10: If you missed 'Inside Out' last night you can watch it online for the next week on the BBC iPlayer.

"Merseyside Maritime Museum has the best collection of Titanic-related objects in the UK, and one of the best of its kind in the world. These items have come from various sources, especially the White Star Line, Titanic survivors and crew members of the Liverpool-based liner Carpathia, which rescued all the survivors. We also currently have a display of loan items retrieved from Titanic’s wreck site.

Liverpool is central to Titanic’s story, because the ship was owned and managed by the city's White Star Line. It is true that most of Titanic’s crew came from Southampton. But most of the main British characters involved in the sinking and its aftermath, such as Bruce Ismay, captains Smith, Rostron and Lord, and even Lord Mersey, who presided over the Board of Trade enquiry in London, were men with long Liverpool backgrounds. Most of the ship’s senior officers and more than one hundred of her crew, many in key positions on the ship, also had strong links with Liverpool.  It is no coincidence that the main crew corridor running through Titanic was known as ‘Scotland Road’, after the famous Liverpool thoroughfare of that name.

However until my book was published a few months ago, my home city had been largely written out of the Titanic story, something that I found very difficult to accept. I'm very pleased that my book has been very well received by book reviewers around the world and am particularly pleased that it has been so warmly praised by relatives of Merseyside people who were directly involved in the Titanic story.

I understand that one elderly lady was moved to tears when she bought my book and saw a photograph of her grandfather, a steward from Liverpool who died on the ship.  She said that this was the first photograph of him that she had ever seen. I also heard from a relative of Bruce Ismay, Chairman of the White Star Line, who survived the disaster.  He was delighted that at last someone had written a book about ‘that ill-fated ship’ which did not ‘career off into fantasy and speculation.’

People are already asking about our plans to mark the centenary of the sinking. There will be commemorative events in all of the cities and ports with strong links to the Titanic story. On this side of the Atlantic the ‘Titanic Cities’ group, comprising Liverpool, Belfast, Southampton, Cherbourg and Cobh, is working to coordinate events for 2012. There will be a new Titanic exhibition at the Maritime Museum, plus other events across Liverpool."

Image courtesy of the Liverpool Daily Post & Echo.

Several of my seafaring ancestors headed for South America – some got there, others did not for a variety of reasons so this story has added poignancy for me.

It underlines the dangers of carrying too much cargo despite Samuel Plimsoll bringing about reforms which outlawed overloaded ships.

It was ironic that the ship in this story sank because she was carrying too much cargo, which was badly stowed.

This was more than 50 years after the Plimsoll Line was introduced, ensuring a clearly visible line on a ship’s hull indicating how much she was carrying.

Two young entrepreneurs started a shipping line that specialised in trade with three South American countries for well over a century.

Founded in Liverpool in 1845, Lamport and Holt was the brainchild of 30-year-old William James Lamport and his business partner George Holt, 21.

William, the son of a Unitarian minister, was born in Lancaster. George Holt belonged to a commercial dynasty. His father was an influential Liverpool cotton broker with shipowning connections.

George had four brothers who were all prominent in business. William worked with their father in the family cotton firm, Alfred and Philip ran what became the Blue Funnel Line and Robert was the first Lord Mayor of Liverpool.

George Holt’s home Sudley House in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, is now an art gallery containing his art collection (open seven days a week, admission free).

Lamport and Holt was an early pioneer of trade with Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

In the Merseyside Maritime Museum’s Liverpool: world gateway gallery there is a fine 1:64 scale model representing the Lamport and Holt sister ships Vauban and Vestris both built in 1912. They worked on Lamport and Holt’s New York – South America routes.

In November 1929, heading south two days out of New York for the River Plate, the Vestris capsized and sank in bad weather with the loss of 112 lives.

An inquiry found that the ship was overloaded and she went down because her badly-stowed cargo shifted.

Lamport and Holt suffered bad publicity from the loss of the Vestris. This, coupled with falling profits and the increasing economic depression, resulted in the New York – River Plate service being scrapped in 1930.

The Vauban was laid up at Southampton and was scrapped two years later. In 1944 Lamport and Holt was bought by the Vestey shipping group. The last Lamport and Holt ship was transferred to the Blue Star Line in 1991.

A new Maritime Tale by Stephen Guy appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo. A paperback – Mersey Maritime Tales (£3.99) – is available from the museum, newsagents and bookshops.

Find out how good you are at safely loading cargo in the fun online game Cargo-a-go-go.

Thirty two members of the St Michael in the City Church Group attended an event at the Maritime Museum this week to mark the close of six months of fact-finding in partnership with the Museum of Liverpool Global City gallery team.

Attending the event were those who grew up around Pitt Street and Cleveland Square, whole streets that were flattened in the May Blitz of World War Two. This area was once a hub of activity for Seamen from all over the world, their families part of a vibrant community that would form the foundations of Liverpool’s Chinatown as its known today.

Ted Lates, a member of the group at St Michael in the City said: “Chinatown used to be packed… early 50s that I can remember. Just full, like going into town now and seeing everybody out. It used to be like that, knee deep with people."

Those who attended the event included Elsie Kuloi, who in the 1930s starred in one of Edward Chambre Hardman’s most memorable images of Pitt Street. Now in her 80s, Elsie vividly recalls watching from her parent’s first floor flat as an incendiary bomb hit a fatal blow to the original St Michaels Church.

As well as being interviewed, attendees also spent many hours looking over a collection of over 200 photographs in Maritime Archives that dated right back to the 1920s. Unidentified by curators, members of St Michael in the City not only recognised their childhood homes, but their mothers, brothers and sisters.

Following an upbeat talk by demonstrator Dave Brown on the Blue Funnel Shipping Line the group were invited to tea and cake in the Maritime Dining Rooms.

Members of St Michael in the City Church Group enjoy tea and cake at the Maritime Dining Rooms

Interviews conducted by the Global City gallery team will feature in the special exhibition China, Shanghai and Liverpool which will open in the Museum of Liverpool next year.
For more information on China, Shanghai and Liverpool please contact assistant exhibition curator francesca.aiken@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

Today, I went along to see Billy Fury’s statue, which is positioned next to the Piermaster’s House at the Albert Dock.

After over six years of fundraising by the Sound of Fury Fan Club, the statue – created by sculptor Tom Murphy – was revealed in April 2003. The unveiling at the old Museum of Liverpool Life was a fantastic occasion witnessed by the many involved in the project, and those who simply wanted to honour the memory of the rock ‘n’ roll legend.

The Fan Club kindly donated the statue to National Museums Liverpool, and since the closure of the Museum of Liverpool Life, Billy has been moved across the bridge to the Albert Dock as the Museum of Liverpool takes shape.

Here he will stay, and what a fantastic spot he’s in; standing with the backdrop of the River Mersey behind him, striking his famous pose with an arm outstretched towards the new museum and the gallery named after his hit, Wondrous Place.

The new plaque is carefully attached to the Billy Fury statue

Placing the statue here is also reminiscent of Billy Fury’s days as a deck hand on the Mersey tug boat The Formby for approximately two years from 1956, before he became famous.

The reason for my trip to see him this morning was to witness the unveiling of a new plaque on the base of the statue, reaffirming the events that occurred on the day of the unveiling, and the hard work that went into making the sculpture possible.

Peter and Jen Davies from the Sound of Fury Fan Club were there to witness the occasion, along with sculptor Tom Murphy and Councillor Eddie Clein who led the original unveiling with the legendary Mr Jack Good and guest of honour, Billy’s mum Jean Wycherley.

Image courtesy of the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo

I had my first newspaper column when I was 18 and this paved the way to a successful 30-year career in journalism.

However, I thought I’d chosen the wrong job when I read that the pop singer Cat Stevens – who was also 18 – earned £1,000 a week (this was 1966).

My starting salary was seven guineas (£7.35) a week – and I gave my mum £2 10s (£2.50) towards household bills.

Scotsman William McAndrew was just 18 when he founded his shipping line in 1770 to import fruit and wine from Spain, Portugal and the Azores.

Like many successful entrepreneurs, he got in early at the right time. By this time people from all walks of life could afford things that were once luxuries enjoyed by the few.

The McAndrews Line was based in London and had an office in Liverpool where many of its ships berthed.

The vessels also carried general cargo and often had passenger accommodation. William had eight sons and eventually the McAndrew family sold the business to the Royal Mail Line in 1917.

At Merseyside Maritime Museum’s Liverpool: World Gateway gallery there is a model of McAndrews’ cargo liner Ravenspoint (pictured with me).

Built in 1918, she was one of the last ocean-going ships constructed on the Liverpool side of the Mersey. Ravenspoint was built at the Garston yard of Grayson’s of Liverpool and was acquired by McAndrews.

By the mid-19th century most Liverpool shipyards had been swept away to make way for docks in the booming port. A slight revival of the trade occurred in 1901 when Grayson’s opened at Garston, an area well away from the main docks.

They built a number of cargo steamers up to 3,000 tons but in 1921 the company closed and switched to ship repairs.

In 1942 the 1,787-ton Ravenspoint was sunk in Gibraltar harbour by a limpet mine but salvage teams soon refloated her.

The 1:48 scale model indicates that Ravenspoint was a sturdy, well-built ship. A wealth of detail includes hand-operated capstan and winches fore and aft.

In 1935 the McAndrews Line became part of the Andrew Weir Shipping Group. Ravenspoint continued in service with McAndrews until 1956 when she was sold to Thomas Leitch Shipping Ltd of London, renamed Elespoint and finally scrapped in 1960.

The McAndrews Line was bought by the French company CMA CGM, the world’s third largest cargo liner company. McAndrews container ships still trade regularly from Liverpool to Spain and Portugal.

A new Maritime Tale by Stephen Guy appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo. A paperback – Mersey Maritime Tales (£3.99) – is available from the museum, newsagents and bookshops.

'Pandora' by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

We've got a beautiful new book to give away in our latest competition - I really wouldn't mind a copy myself.

British Watercolours and Drawings - Lord Leverhulme's Collection in the Lady Lever Art Gallery is more than 250 pages of wonderful images from the collection at Lady Lever. It includes work by Ford Madox Brown, Burne-Jones, Constable, Turner, Landseer, Millais, Rossetti and Reynolds, and is truly a celebration of British drawings and watercolours at their finest.

If you'd like to get your hands on your very own copy - and it would make a fab Christmas present if you decided not to keep it - just answer this question.

Q. British Watercolours and Drawings features this pastel, Pandora, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Who was the model for Pandora?

   a. Jane Morris   
   b. Elizabeth Siddal
   c. Alexa Wilding

Send us your name, address and answer using this contact form. The deadline for entries is noon on 12th November.

And as ever, if you don't win a copy remember that you can buy it in our online book shop.

Updated: Don't forget to enter via the contact form and not through the comments box.