Museum blog

In this blog we explore how our ancestors obtained ice in an age before widespread domestic refrigeration.

Death was never far away for crew members on a merchant vessel in the 1860s. In 1865 one in twelve vessels reported the death of at least one member of its complement. More surprising perhaps is that births also occurred, but less often with only 1% of vessels reporting them. This study examines just over 4,000 merchant vessels’ records of births and deaths in 1865.

This month we take a look at an item from the Historical Records Collection of the Caird Library and Archive: the Instrument of Surrender of the Japanese forces at Hong Kong.

There are many unique and memorable things about clipper ship Cutty Sark. Her name is just one.

In July 1988, the National Maritime Museum purchased the papers of William Schaw Lindsay. Comprising an extensive collection of journals, diaries, newspaper cuttings and correspondence, it covers the period throughout his life and relates mostly to matters nautical. The Caird Library is grateful for this guest-authored piece, written by Lindsay’s great-great-grandson, William Stewart Lindsay, who is researching his illustrious forebear.

This blog looks at an illustrated log recently added to the collection of papers from the naval career of Admiral Sir Watkin Owen Pell. It reveals how a prize crew was shipwrecked and captured on the enemy’s coast during the Napoleonic Wars.

Our archives hold a small collection of papers related to David Lawson, master of a cargo steamer that disappeared in 1905 after leaving the coast of America to return to Europe. They offer clues on what became of SS Freshfield on its journey home.