National Museums Liverpool Blog - Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Cheshire Street, E2, 1986 © Paul Trevor. All rights reserved.

The Victorians it seems were just as interested in documenting life around them as we are now. I perhaps shouldn't have been surprised to have seen so many incredibly fresh shots by John Thomson – he was after all the photographer responsible for my favourite exhibition of last year, China through the lens 1868-1872 at the Maritime Museum. A pioneering photojournalist, his scenes such as the encounter between 'Hookey Alf' and a young girl are bursting with life and characters. There are also some remarkable shots by unknown amateur photographers on show, taken from albums in the museum’s collection.

The pictures show great changes over the years – men look identical in the early shots, with their smart suits, moustaches and hats, then slowly seem to develop their own identities. The equipment used to photograph them changed dramatically too and the exhibition has an interesting display of the 'tools of the trade' from early medium format cameras to an iPhone.

However it was interesting to see in the accompanying interviews that the In-Public photographer Matt Stuart prefers to use a film Leica camera for street photography, instead of the digital SLR he has for his commercial work. It seems that there is still a place for discreet small, quiet cameras out on the streets.

Another Leica user who is very well represented in the exhibition is Paul Trevor, who spent two decades documenting the area round Brick Lane where he lived. His obvious affection for and interest in the people around him shines through. This is possibly what helped him to make such strong connections with the people he met in Liverpool when he visited on a documentary project in 1975.

These connections were so strong that he felt compelled to return and track down the people he photographed 35 years later. It seemed a tall order but last summer he was reunited with many familiar faces when he visited Everton Community Centre. One of them commented "Paul, it’s like you’ve never been away" – a sentiment he liked so much that it became the title of his upcoming exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery.

I highly recommend a visit to the London Street Photography exhibition - and if you like Paul Trevor's Brick Lane photos then do come and see his Liverpool exhibition at the Walker in May.

'Fantine' by Margaret Bernadine Hall. Inspired by the tragic character in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables

When Laura Davis, arts editor for the Daily Post, asked us to nominate art works that were inspired by or connected to literature, the only difficulty was knowing where to begin!

Due to the Walker Art Gallery’s fantastic collection of Victorian art, in particular the Pre-Raphaelite works, we had a lot to choose from.

In the end our curator, Dr. Laura MacCulloch went for a theme close to her heart following her stunning exhibition, 'The Rise of Women Artists' and selected five works by females.

The three paintings and two sculptures are featured in three interviews to celebrate the launch of LiveRead 2011, the Liverpool Daily Post & Echo's online literature festival.

The first can be heard on the Daily Post’s site from today.

Details are as follows:

March 1: Discover the tragic story of 'Fantine', from Victor Hugo's 'Les Miserables', in Margaret Hall's moving portrait.

March 2: A tale of two female firsts, looking at Harriet Goodhue Hosmer's sculpture of the mischevious 'Puck' from Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and a bust of American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by Hosmer's pupil Edmonia Lewis.

March 3: Two paintings by women about women and love - Sophie Anderson's 'Elaine', the beauty jilted by Sir Launcelot, and 'Ophelia' from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' by Henrietta Rae.

Dr. Laura MacCulloch also features in a new podcast produced by Seven Streets. It highlights some of her personal favourites from the Walker's permanent collection.

Running from March 1-3, LiveRead 2011 is the Liverpool Daily Post & Echo's online literature festival. A celebration of Liverpool writing, it features videos, podcasts, live interviews, competitions and more, encompassing the work of best-selling authors such as Stephen Baxter and Willy Russell, amateur writers dreaming of a publishing contract and people who write purely for pleasure and never expect to see it in print.

Image courtesy Liverpool Daily Post & Echo

This shipwreck happened just as I was starting my working life after leaving school and I still feel the sadness.

A ship sailed into new waters and sank due to a combination of terrible weather, bad luck and sheer stupidity.

I remember that people were particularly shocked because it involved holidaymakers enjoying the winter sun.

The big refrigerated truck loaded with oranges was driven on to the car ferry and parked next to the loading door.

The Heraklion set sail from Crete heading for Athens – a gale was blowing and the ship pitched and tossed.

It was the evening of 7 December 1966. Today the Greek ship would have been barred from sailing in such atrocious conditions but in those days it was up to the captain. Skippers were often under commercial pressure to sail.

The truck was either loosely secured or not tethered at all. As the journey progressed and the ship rolled more and more, the truck moved of its own accord.

Back and forth the empty vehicle went until it was crashing against the loading door like a great battering ram.  By now it was the early hours of the morning and most people on board were either asleep or prostrated with sea-sickness.

With an enormous crashing sound the doors gave way and the truck plunged into the mountainous seas. Tons of foaming water came pouring into the ferry through the open door.

In less than 20 minutes the Heraklion capsized and 217 passengers and crew died – just 46 survived.

Among the dead was 24-year-old Michael Robert Hall King, a grandson of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouts.

Ironically, the truck that caused the disaster was found floating the following day. A Greek inquiry found the ship’s owners – the Typaldos Line – guilty of negligence.

Heraklion was well-known in British shipping circles before moving to Greek ownership – she was originally the Bibby Line’s passenger and cargo liner Leicestershire.

There is a 1:76 scale waterline model of the Leicestershire in the Liverpool World Gateway gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum. She is depicted in her Bibby days complete with swimming pool.

Leicestershire and her sister ship Warwickshire could each accommodate 75 passengers plus cargo.

They soon lost money due to changing circumstances following the independence of Burma and Ceylon in 1948. As a result they were often chartered out to other companies. Leicestershire was sold to her new Greek owners the year before she sank.

Founded in 1807 in Liverpool - where it is still based - the Bibby Line (Bibby Brothers & Co) may be the oldest independent shipping company in the world.

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.

The Museum of Liverpool education team is currently trying to track down a number of objects they can use as handling resources for learning sessions when the new museum opens.

If you think you could help us track down one of the objects we require for handling sessions like this one, please let us know

Being able to touch and feel an object is a great way of bringing history to life for visitors, and if you think you can help provide us with any of the objects listed below, then please get in touch.

The list of objects required is as follows:
• Liverpool-made toys
• Victorian metal bucket and spade set
• Vintage Union Jack flag
• Opera glasses
• Top hat
• Items linked to imports and exports from Liverpool history - clay pipes, locally made clocks and watches, Herculaneum pottery, tea chests with Liverpool links.
• First World War or home front items linked to Liverpool such as postcards, mementos or photographs
• Carpet bag
• 19th Century Italian lire
• Victorian Knife sharpening equipment or tailoring equipment
• Items related to the Liverpool Overhead Railway
• Docker’s Hook
• Original Beatles records
• 1950s or 1960s transistor radio and TV
• 1960s primary or secondary school text books
• Old-style school desk  - wooden with inkwell
• 1960s Afghan coat

All you have to do is email our assistant curator of urban history Katie Brown on katie.brown@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk with the words handling items in the subject line. Donors must be based in the Liverpool area for ease of collection.

Next Thursday 3 March 2011 sees the official launch of photography exhibition ‘42’ Women of Sierra Leone at the International Slavery Museum. The exhibition of 42 colour photographs documents the lives of women of Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world.

Members of the public are invited to attend the launch where there will be a special in-conversation event with photographer Lee Karen Stow and Rebecca Kamara, one of the women featured in the exhibition.

Guests are asked to arrive at the International Slavery Museum Campaign Zone at 1.30pm where refreshments are available.  From 2pm there will be an in-conversation event between Lee Karen Stow and Rebecca Kamara. Afterwards from 3.00pm guests have the opportunity to ask questions.

Spaces for this event are limited so please RSVP by Wednesday 2 March 2011 to learning@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk or call 0151 478 4543

Rebecca Kamara from West Africa will launch '42' Women of Sierra Leone. Copyright Lee Karen Stow

Lloyd's Weekly Casuality Reports, September 1934

Lorna, Assistant Librarian at the Maritime Archives & Library, has been cataloguing our collection of Lloyd's Weekly Casualty Reports, which are useful sources of information for shipwrecks and other maritime mishaps.  We can tell something is up because she keeps laughing and reading bits out.  While the early Casualty Reports, ours start in 1890, are a fairly straightforward list of ships that have been wrecked, burnt or otherwise damaged, in later years they become more widespread in their tales of woe including, in September 1977, entries regarding a fire in a glove factory in Aberdeen and the kidnapping of a stamp collectors' daughter in Italy.  The editors appears to have become rather ghoulish.  However, the thing to remember when using Lloyd's records, which include many of the great sources for maritime research, is that it's all about insurance, not about collecting information for ship enthusiasts or family historians. If you had just been asked to underwrite a glove makers you would need to know that there had been a serious fire in no less than the 'largest manufacturers of knitted gloves in the western hemisphere' and if you're setting rates for life insurance, kidnappings are important. All that being said, I do have a suspicion that their correspondents were having a competition to see which is the daftest thing they can get published - for example a reported 'near riot' on 4th September 1977 at a music festival in West Germany caused by the 'absence of some well-known groups'.  1970s German rock music, I think I'd have rioted.

We held a press call for a new acquisition for the Walker Art Gallery yesterday.

Paper conservator Keith Oliver discusses painting with the press

'Goodbye on the Mersey' was bought with help from a 100% grant from the Art Fund, the UK’s national fundraising charity for works of art last December.

It is currently at the National Conservation Centre where it will be undergoing some conservation work before going on display at the Walker Art Gallery later this year.

The painting is a touching scene of a middle class family saying goodbye to relatives bound for America on a large transatlantic liner. The unusual vantage point is the deck of a tender or ferry, behind the central figures, helping the viewer feel close to the action. From here the 1880 Liverpool skyline is also captured beyond the ship. If you look closely you can spot what looks like the spire of St. Nick’s church.

'Goodbye on the Mersey' joins another painting by the artist in the Walker Art Gallery’s collection.

'Portrait of Mrs Catherine Smith Gill and two of her children' was commissioned by Chapple Gill, a senior partner in a Liverpool firm of cotton brokers. It is a tender image of Gill’s family in their house, Lower Lee in Woolton, Liverpool and features in our interactive Talking Heads gallery.

As a young news reporter in the 1970s I flew by helicopter to an exploratory gas rig in Morecambe Bay on a facility trip. We were taken on a fascinating tour but what I remember most was how strange we all looked in flight suits and helmets.

This was especially true of Ron and Les Clare – twin brothers who were at that time the Liverpool correspondents of the Daily Telegraph and Daily Express respectively. Oil and gas rigs may not be the most beautiful structures on the seas but they have become familiar sights off our coasts. A 1:100 exhibition model of the Sovereign Explorer semi-submersible oil rig at Merseyside Maritime Museum bristles with amazing detail and demonstrates the supreme practicality of these craft.

In 1981 shipbuilders Cammell Laird of Birkenhead received an order from Dome Petroleum Ltd of Canada to build this drilling unit for offshore oil exploration. At that time it was the most valuable offshore contract obtained from abroad for a British yard, marking the start of a new era for Laird’s. The massive Sovereign Explorer was handed over in June 1983. Standing at 109 metres, she was specially designed to tap the vast resources of oil located beneath the sea bed in the North Sea’s British section.

Sovereign Explorer was a steel catamaran where two huge hollow barges or pontoons supported a three-deck platform on four columns. She was capable of drilling to a depth of 7,600 m and exploring underwater depths of up to 600 m in severe wind and sea conditions. Another 1: 100 exhibition model depicts the self-lifting offshore accommodation platform AV-1 of 1985, also built at Cammell Laird’s, It was built for British Gas for use in the Morecambe Bay Gas Field. This unit had four 88 m legs with a hydraulic jacking system enabling it to operate in tidal waters to a maximum depth of 47.5 m. It had a helicopter landing deck (helideck), storage areas, workshop, cinema and gymnasium. A huge crane could lift up to 150 tonnes over a radius of 50m.

A gangway provided access to adjacent gas or oil rigs. Until 1975 most of Britain’s oil had to be imported and natural gas came in liquid form on tankers from North Africa. Once natural gas and oil were discovered in the North Sea, a number of fields were developed off North East Scotland and further south. Fields were later developed in Liverpool and Morecambe Bays. Before Britain’s resources began to decline, the industry supported more than 300,000 jobs including 4,000 seafarers on various kinds of offshore and support vessels.

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.

Did you know that today is International Mother Language Day? UNESCO set up the date to help safeguard and promote languages and linguistic diversity.

The date is significant as it is the anniversary of a student demonstration in 1952 for the recognition of their language Bangla as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan. Some of the students were shot and killed by police in the demonstration in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.

Find out more in a free talk 'Why mother tongues matter' at the International Slavery Museum at 2pm on Wednesday 23 February. Further details are on the International Slavery museum website.

Emigration Office, Illustrated London News, 6th July 1850 (DX/287/62/5)

There has been a recent change to the regulations regarding the number of non-EU immigrants that can work in the UK.  In 1850 emigration from the UK was seen as a good way for the unemployed to seek new opportunities.  Government supported emigration required more regulation.  This image from the Illustrated London News shows the Medical Inspectors Office.  Destination countries obviously wanted healthy new arrivals and the spread of disease on a crowded emigrant ship could cause many deaths.  I hope that dog isn't being left behind.

As emigrates were leaving, as the name suggests, there was not much interest from the authorities in recording information about them, to the frustration of family historians.  More information is found in the countries to which they were travelling.  However, the Maritime Archives & Library does hold a good collection of journals and letters that give some insight into the emigrant experience. Most voyage experience follow roughly the same pattern - excitement and sadness at leaving, smugness at their good sea legs, terrible seasickness once out of the Mersey, then settling down into a routine broken only by food and an obsession with the weather, and back to excitement once their destination is sighted.  They actually make very good reading.