Atlantis Online
March 28, 2024, 07:32:18 pm
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Ice Age blast 'ravaged America'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6676461.stm
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

FAMILY ARCHIVE SHEDS LIGHT ON HISTORY OF SS GREAT BRITAIN

Pages: [1]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: FAMILY ARCHIVE SHEDS LIGHT ON HISTORY OF SS GREAT BRITAIN  (Read 329 times)
0 Members and 116 Guests are viewing this topic.
Melissa MacQuarrie
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 101



« on: November 23, 2007, 10:05:26 pm »

FAMILY ARCHIVE SHEDS LIGHT ON HISTORY OF SS GREAT BRITAIN
By 24 Hour Museum Staff 22/11/2007
 


 
 A rare poster dating to July 1865 advertising the trip from Liverpool to Melbourne - a journey of 60 days. Courtesy ss Great Briatin
 
A chance conversation on board Brunel’s historic ss Great Britain in Bristol has led to the discovery of some of the most exciting documents yet found linked to the ship’s history.
 
The collection, which goes back to the 1840s, includes sketches and photographs, as well as letters and diary notes, documenting the lives of successive generations of the Coles family.

Staff at the historic ship first became aware of their existence when John and Ruth Coles celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on board the ship and mentioned the family connection to the ship to steward Bob Evans.

Bob mentioned the link to the professional curators at ss Great Britain, who decided to investigate further. The result was a major discovery for the Trust, which never previously had contact with the Coles or even knew of the existence of their family collection.
 
Report Spam   Logged

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Melissa MacQuarrie
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 101



« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2007, 10:06:22 pm »



The archive includes several long letters from Samuel Halstaff Coles to his wife, Eliza. Courtesy ss Great Britain
Report Spam   Logged
Melissa MacQuarrie
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 101



« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2007, 10:07:06 pm »

“This is a unique and thrilling find,” said ss Great Britain Trust Curator, Christian Redford. “We have never come across a single collection of papers which tell us so much about a passenger’s life or motives for travelling.”

The author of the earliest of the documents was Samuel Halstaff Coles, who first travelled on the ss Great Britain between Melbourne and Liverpool in 1865.

Samuel visited his family in England during the summer of 1865, along with his Australian-born son Halstaff. He left the rest of his young family in Melbourne, and the archive includes several long letters to his wife, Eliza, giving news about relatives and friends. The letters frequently reproach Eliza – who was looking after three younger children – for not replying quickly enough.
Report Spam   Logged
Melissa MacQuarrie
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 101



« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2007, 10:07:57 pm »



A family photo shows John Coles as a baby with Mr Coles the passenger (far left). Courtesy ss Great Britain
Report Spam   Logged
Melissa MacQuarrie
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 101



« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2007, 10:08:32 pm »

“They show us how mobile people became once Brunel’s ideas changed the way ships were built, making sea travel relatively fast and reliable,” added Christian. “It is hard to imagine in these days of 24-hour flights to Australia, but the ss Great Britain’s typical 60-day journey was half the travel time of most sailing ships.”

Samuel Halstaff Coles made four voyages between England and Australia in 10 years, and eventually returned to England, settling in Nottingham.

Among the curatorial gems in the collection are an 1865 poster advertising passages on board the ss Great Britain, and a 1922 photograph showing Samuel Halstaff Coles along with three generations of his descendants. The youngest sitter in the photograph is Samuel’s great-grandson John.
Report Spam   Logged
Melissa MacQuarrie
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 101



« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2007, 10:09:30 pm »



Courtesy ss Great Britain
Report Spam   Logged
Melissa MacQuarrie
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 101



« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2007, 10:10:13 pm »

A popular and respected lay preacher in the Plymouth Brethren, a non-Conformist sect, Samuel preached regular sermons on board the ss Great Britain – all carefully recorded in notes. They give a fascinating insight into the way many Victorian travellers understood emigration, as an experience that could be morally as well as physically testing.

Elsewhere he tells of passengers dancing Scottish reels on deck to the sound of bagpipes, and the burial at sea of a dead child. He also wrote about the ship’s captain, John Gray, describing him as ‘an admirable commander…he carried sunshine through the ship’.

Having been given permission to copy the documents by John and Ruth Coles, the ss Great Britain Trust plans to make digitised documents, like the Coles’s family papers, available to researchers as part of the ‘Brunel Institute’, a new archive and study centre for Bristol, scheduled to open in late 2009 or early 2010.
Report Spam   Logged
Melissa MacQuarrie
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 101



« Reply #7 on: November 23, 2007, 10:11:27 pm »



Samuel Coles preached regular sermons - both on land on on board ship. Courtesy ss Great Britain
Report Spam   Logged
Melissa MacQuarrie
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 101



« Reply #8 on: November 23, 2007, 10:12:41 pm »

“Having visited the ss Great Britain on several occasions since the hulk was brought back from the Falkland Islands, I have been most impressed by the huge restoration works carried out,” said Mr Coles. “I am very pleased the Trust has been able to use our family papers to help portray life on board the ship.”

If your ancestors were involved in the build of the ss Great Britain, or were passengers on board, please call Brunel’s ss Great Britain on 0117 926 0680.
 
 
Brunel's ss Great Britain, Bristol
  Great Western Dock, Gas Ferry Road, Bristol, BS1 6TY, England
T: 0117 926 0680
Open: The ship is open every day except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 10am to 6.00pm, April - October (Last entry 5.00pm) 10am to 4.30pm, November - March (Last entry 3.30pm)

 
 
Related Articles 
Archaeologists Reveal Brunel Factory Site At SS Great Britain
 
SS Great Britain Unveils Phase 2 Of Development Scheme With £30m Project
 
SS Great Britain On 2007 Conservation Awards Shortlist
 
News In Brief - Week Ending May 13 2007
 
MGM 2007 - Witness Living History With Our Top 10 Re-enactments
 
Museums And Heritage Sites Scoop Top Awards At Visit Britain 'Tourism Oscars'

http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART52113.html
Report Spam   Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy