Tag Archives: ships

The Scene Mounting Baby

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Gary

And so our annual holiday to France begins. This year, for reasons to do with coincidence and meeting up, we are going to Burgundy. We were driven to the ferry by Carole’s husband who told us his version of their … Continue reading →

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Screw -v- Paddle

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Gary

It didn’t take long for the trading classes to realise that the screw propeller was streets ahead of the paddle wheel when it came to the open seas. After Francis Pettit Smith created his Archimede’s Screw, and subsequent improvements, shipbuilders … Continue reading →

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Making ships

Posted on May 9, 2015 by Gary

It was very windy in Canary Wharf today. So windy, in fact, that I started to regret my decision to wear a hat. Mind you, it wasn’t windy when I left Farnham first thing this morning so I can be … Continue reading →

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The wonderful Wigrams

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Gary

I was back at work this week – always a pleasure – busy trying to unravel the Wigrams. And they needed a bit of unravelling. The Wigram Dynasty started with Sir Robert Wigram (1744-1830). He was clearly someone who wanted … Continue reading →

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Final Science Museum

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Gary

Today was my last day at the Science Museum for 2014. After yesterday, going to work was just what I needed. Being amongst people who had no idea what happened yesterday and immersing myself in musty old files was the … Continue reading →

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Old boilers

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Gary

There’s a neighbourhood in Paris called Belleville. It was from this small area that a marine engineer called Julien Belleville lived and worked. During the great Boiler Wars of the late 19th century, he managed to beat all comers to … Continue reading →

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Time and motion

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Gary

Work was very quiet this week. Nick at Work was off, gallivanting around the country somewhere and Emma not our Puppy was at the store at Blyth House. This meant there wasn’t the usual chit chat and Monty Python quotes. … Continue reading →

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From Orange

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Gary

Work this week was very similar to last week; only the names had changed. Rather than the shipbuilding firm of Dennys, I was researching and cleaning up the Doxford records. Like Denny’s, there’s a lot of name changing, growth and … Continue reading →

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The amazing Dennys

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Gary

The Denny family of Dumbarton was pretty amazing. Originally they were farmers but in 1779, William was born and everything changed. For reasons lost in the mists of time, William wanted to build ships. So he did. By 1814 he … Continue reading →

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Unsinkable Violet

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Gary

Today I was researching a number of ships (odd, I know), one of which was the Britannica. This was a third ship built for the White Star Line by Harland and Wolff. She was a sister ship to the Titanic. … Continue reading →

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