15 Mar 2019
Preparing to Relocate the Uniform Collection
Collections Storage Officer Alex Strachan and Textile Conservator Nora Meller give an insight into the work carried out with volunteers to prepare stored collections ready for relocation to the Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre
01 Mar 2019
Animals at Sea
There is a long history of animals and seafarers coming together at sea. Seamen often kept cats and dogs as pets or ship's mascots, but more exotic companions such as parrots, bears and monkeys also joined the crew. Horses, mules and even elephants were transported across the sea to be used in battle, while cattle, pigs, goats and chickens on board provided a source of fresh milk, eggs and meat
11 Feb 2019
From sailors to sovereigns: the correspondence of a Greenwich Hospital treasurer
The Caird Library and Archive has hundreds of manuscripts and printed works related to Greenwich Hospital, but only one substantial collection of papers of a naval officer from his time as Treasurer of the Hospital.
26 Jan 2019
How astrophotography has changed lives
The Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition has changed its entrants'; lives in many ways: from the medical school drop-out who gained the confidence of his parents, to the parent who built his own observatory after becoming fascinated by his son's astronomy homework.
22 Jan 2019
The incidence of death on merchant vessels in 1865
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.
08 Jan 2019
Captain Bell and the River Plate
This month we take a look into Archive and Library item MSS/75/130/2 concerning Captain Frederick Secker Bell (1897-1973). Bell was educated at the Royal Naval Colleges at Dartmouth, Osborne, Isle of Wight and the Royal Navy Staff College at Greenwich. He served on board the battleship HMS Canada at the battle of Jutland in 1916, received his Captaincy in December 1938 and took command of HMS Exeter a month prior to the declaration of war on September 3 1939.
04 Jan 2019
Fashioning Statements
Diaries written by English prisoners of war captured during the Napoleonic Wars frequently mention their clothing. Whilst the importance of appropriate clothing to the comfort and care of prisoners is obvious, prisoners frequently used clothing for their benefit in other, more creative, ways.