A half-length gilt figurehead of Sunbeam [Constance Alberta Brassey] from the team yacht Sunbeam.
Gold-painted half-length figurehead of Thomas Brassey's steam yacht 'Sunbeam',1874, representing a female angel, looking upwards and forwards with hands crossed on the breast. It is based on Brassey’ s daughter Constance Alberta, whose nickname was 'Sunbeam'. Born on 18 February 1868 she died of scarlet fever, aged four, on 24 January 1873 and the 531-ton luxury yacht, launched the following year, commemorates her in both its name and with the figurehead.
Brassey (1836–1918), son of Thomas senior the railway contractor, was a Liberal politican with a particular interest in naval matters. He was Civil Lord of the Admiralty in 1880–84 and governor of Victoria, Australia, 1895–1900. Knighted in 1881, he became a baron in 1886, the year he inaugurated the celebrated 'Brassey's Naval Annual', and Earl Brassey in 1911. His wife Annie (1839–87) was a passionate traveller and a writer on travelling, whose best-selling 'Voyage of the Sunbeam' (1878) records their 11-month family voyage round the world in 1876–77. As HM Yacht 'Liberty', 'Sunbeam' was later used as a hospital ship in the First World War.
Brassey (1836–1918), son of Thomas senior the railway contractor, was a Liberal politican with a particular interest in naval matters. He was Civil Lord of the Admiralty in 1880–84 and governor of Victoria, Australia, 1895–1900. Knighted in 1881, he became a baron in 1886, the year he inaugurated the celebrated 'Brassey's Naval Annual', and Earl Brassey in 1911. His wife Annie (1839–87) was a passionate traveller and a writer on travelling, whose best-selling 'Voyage of the Sunbeam' (1878) records their 11-month family voyage round the world in 1876–77. As HM Yacht 'Liberty', 'Sunbeam' was later used as a hospital ship in the First World War.
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Object Details
ID: | FHD0106 |
---|---|
Collection: | Figureheads |
Type: | Figurehead |
Display location: | Display - Neptune Court |
Vessels: | Sunbeam (1874) |
Date made: | 1874 |
People: | Brassey, Constance Alberta |
Credit: | National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London |
Measurements: | Overall: 1651 mm x 635 mm x 635 mm |
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