Oral history

Life and love at sea: Merchant Navy oral histories

Seafarers Michael Rudder and Dominic Brown spent years working in the Merchant Navy. A chance encounter and a missed departure led to a life at sea together
Industry

Remembering the Sea Empress oil spill

Cliff Benson reflects on how efforts to save oiled sea birds inspired a lifetime's dedication to wildlife protection
Life at sea

The pirate hunter's cup

What does a carved coconut shell have to do with one of the most deadly pirates in history?

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Life at sea

Insight into the lives of sailors and seafarers throughout history

Thames barges and London docks – an oral history

Gordon 'Willie' Williamson worked aboard Thames barges throughout the 1960s, and witnessed the final years of central London as a busy cargo hub

'By the Stars influence'

Former Caird Fellow Dr. Jack Avery explores the seventeenth-century maritime journals held at the Caird Library and Archive, and in particular the one written by the amateur poet and astrologer Jeremy Roch

Printed ephemera: the golden age of ocean travel

Explore printed ephemera at the Caird Library and Archive, a collection that brings to life the golden age of ocean travel.

Life and love at sea: Merchant Navy oral histories

Seafarers Michael Rudder and Dominic Brown spent years working in the Merchant Navy. A chance encounter and a missed departure led to a life at sea together

Whitby, whaling and press gangs: the real history of Sylvia's Lovers

How a reading of a Victorian novel led to research into contemporary maritime themes and an exploration of our collections.

Nina Baker: one of the first women navigation officers in the Merchant Navy

Learn about Dr Nina Baker’s struggle to become one of the first women navigation officers in the British Merchant Navy

Pirates: fact or fiction?

From buried treasure to walking the plank, how much of what we think we know about pirates is really true?

Who were Anne Bonny and Mary Read?

What do we really know about the notorious pirate duo, and how have later accounts shaped our perception of female pirates?

Parishes-on-sea: Royal Navy chaplains

In this blog we look at the role and experiences of Royal Navy chaplains and what their accounts can tell us about shipboard life.
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Ships and boats

Groundbreaking designs, doomed voyages and technology that crossed oceans

Remembering the Sea Empress oil spill

Cliff Benson reflects on how efforts to save oiled sea birds inspired a lifetime's dedication to wildlife protection

Cutty Sark’s new binnacle: charting a course for heritage crafts

A navigational case shines a light on traditional skills – and prompts intriguing questions into the tea clipper’s history

HMS Captain: Britain's forgotten maritime disaster

The historian leading the search for HMS Captain questions why the sinking of 'one of the finest ships in the world' is not better known today.

A playful painting with a pressing problem: help preserve 'The Paddle Steamer "Rob Roy" Aground’

Learn more about this comic scene with a surprising back story – and discover how your support helps care for the national collection.

The bombing of Rainbow Warrior: 40 years on

Forty years ago, the attack on the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior and the death of photographer Fernando Pereira caused international outrage.

A whistle for a life: surviving the Titanic tragedy

Meet steward Cecil and passenger Lillian, two young people whose fates intertwined during the sinking of the Titanic

How Cutty Sark came to Greenwich

The historic tea clipper is one of the most famous sights along the River Thames. But why was Greenwich chosen as Cutty Sark's final home?

Cordage: its origins, construction, properties and uses in ships

Learn more about cordage, also known as rope, including the different fibres used to make cordage and the types of rope most commonly used in sailing ships

The ship that never was

The story of a never-commissioned Second World War vessel
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What’s on

Find maritime history events in Greenwich.

Talks and tours | Maritime history

Shipkeeping Wednesdays
Join us on the second Wednesday of the month as we bring the art and heritage of ship care to life with shipkeeping talks and activities
Second Wednesday of every month - see page for details | 11am-3pm | Drop-in
Free for Cutty Sark ticket holders
Cutty Sark
Talks and tours | Maritime History and Culture Seminars

The piratical seizure of the brig Cyprus
Join us for a free online talk by researcher Timothy Stone
Tuesday 24 February 2026 | 5.15-6.30pm
Free
Online
War and conflict

Naval history and maritime conflicts

Unfit for service: healthcare and welfare in Nelson's Navy

Hidden in the seemingly mundane bureaucratic letters of the Royal Navy lie some fascinating insights into the role of the British state in providing healthcare and welfare to ill and injured seamen.

How did Nelson's Navy care for injured and aged sailors?

The Royal Navy developed some of Britain’s earliest welfare schemes in order to look after disabled and aged seamen.

Pirate flags decoded

Learn more about pirate flags, including where they came from, how they were used, and the designs of some famous Jolly Rogers

Turner's 'The Battle of Trafalgar': a maligned masterpiece?

J.M.W. Turner's vast naval scene is a treasure of the Royal Museums Greenwich collection, but why was it so controversial when it was unveiled in 1824?

The Instrument of Surrender

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.

The pirate hunter's cup

What does a carved coconut shell have to do with one of the most deadly pirates in history?

Cataloguing the Charles Hare manuscript collection

From handwritten manuscripts and letters to photographs and sketches, discover how this intriguing collection has been catalogued by the Library and Archive team

The Price of Victory: N.A.M. Rodger reflects on a landmark naval history

N.A.M Rodger, author of The Price of Victory and recipient of the National Maritime Museum's Caird Medal, reflects on the "happy accident" that led to an extraordinary work of naval history

A stitch in time: the secrets of textile conservation

A 19th century uniform with a dramatic history is on display at the National Maritime Museum. Come behind the scenes to discover the care that went into its conservation
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Exploration and encounters

The voyages, histories and legacies of maritime exploration

Why is this book hairy?

Take a closer look at the hairy diary of a sailor involved in one of the search expeditions to find Sir John Franklin and his crew.

The Challenger Expedition

The 19th century voyage that transformed our understanding of the ocean

A universal map in a dead language

This blog takes a look at an almost five-hundred-year-old geographical text in the Caird Library and Archive.

Voyages in ‘search and discoverie of strange coasts, the chiefe subject of this my labour’

Explore the works and legacy of Richard Hakluyt, an Elizabethan compiler and editor of travel writing, at the Caird Library and Archive.

Putting names to faces in the Challenger Expedition archives

Dr Rebecca Martin investigates the photograph albums from the Challenger Expedition, trying to recover the identities of the people the ship encountered on its global voyage

Telling the story of the Challenger Expedition, 1872–76

Daisy Chamberlain curated a recent display of Library and Archive materials relating to the Challenger Expedition (1872–76). Here she explores the hidden stories, scientific research and record of sailors' lives held within these materials.

Armchair Empires: Thomas Pennant’s ‘Outlines of the Globe’

Explore a fascinating collection in the Caird Library and Archive which was written by a “traveller” who didn’t do any travelling.

A bird’s eye view of Georgian London: John Rocque's maps

In this blog we look at cartographer John Rocque's An Exact Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, ‘the outstanding plan of the capital in the eighteenth century’

HMS Challenger: a trailblazer for modern ocean science

150 years ago, HMS Challenger departed England on a quest to explore the world’s oceans. Its impact is still felt today
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Watch

Discover the true story of Charles Hare, the 19th-century midshipman who used a French officer's uniform to pull off a daring prison break. Watch the full series on YouTube.

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Trade and empire

The maritime connections that shaped the modern world

Henry Clifford, artist and engineer

Despite art being his first love, Henry Clifford went on to play a key role in the pioneering transatlantic cable-laying expeditions of the nineteenth century.

The story behind... The Keeper of All The Secrets

Artist Jacqueline Bishop speaks to historian Stella Dadzie about the influences behind her ceramic artwork, now on display in the Queen’s House

The loss of the SS Freshfield

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.

The Syren and Shipping Illustrated

The Syren and Shipping Illustrated was a weekly journal for the merchant shipping industry, published 1887-1967.

Opium and Empires workshop

A recent visit to the Caird Library by students from the School of Oriental and African Studies shows that making collections accessible is a two-way street.

How coffee has shaped Britain's maritime history

This blog looks at how a seemingly insignificant bean provided the stimulus to advancements in naval intelligence, technology, trade and science

Lascars and British merchant shipping

For our latest Caird Library and Archive display case we highlight the lives of lascars serving on board British ships, as well as their often precarious situation in Britain.

A closer look at the Thames lightermen and watermen

In this blog we look at the larger-than-life characters who carried people and goods on London’s river in centuries gone by.

Knotted histories: addressing Britain's colonial legacy through crochet

Meet Sarah Hawke, the artist behind a new crochet kanga on display at the National Maritime Museum
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Enslavement and resistance

The history of transatlantic slavery, and the resistance that brought an end to a cruel and violent system

The Afterlives of Slaving Vessels

Learn more about the afterlives of slaving vessels with Caird Research Fellow Dr Richard Anderson

Spot the pirate: power, perception and perspective

A new painting by Maïa Walcott seeks to reframe notions of piracy

Reframing Black history: Joseph Ijoyemi and the Atlantic Worlds gallery

From resilience to resistance, two new paintings in the Atlantic Worlds gallery at the National Maritime Museum celebrate the history of pre-colonial Africa

Unfolding the past: Elgin Cleckley and the Atlantic Worlds gallery

Through colour and cardboard, a contemporary artwork at the National Maritime Museum shifts perspectives on the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans

Dr Thomas Trotter

A brief look at the varied career of the Scottish physician, author, and campaigner, whose personal papers were recently catalogued.

Marcus Garvey's letters to a flag officer of the Royal Navy

Letters by the Pan-African civil rights leader and founder of the Black Star Line to retired naval officer Vice-Admiral Sir William Henderson have been unearthed in the Caird Library's archives

Greenwich walking tours: enslavement and abolition

Uncover Greenwich and Deptford's connections with the transatlantic slave trade in this self-guided walking tour

Seeing Ourselves podcast

How does it feel to see 'yourself’ represented – or misrepresented – in museum spaces?

The transatlantic slave trade in Greenwich

Place, legacy and memory – explore the history of transatlantic slavery in London and Greenwich
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Experience maritime history in Greenwich

Visit historic ship Cutty Sark, discover intriguing exhibitions at the National Maritime Museum, and find books about maritime history in our online shop

Cutty Sark
Step aboard the historic sailing ship, the fastest of its time
Gallery guide to the National Maritime Museum
Travel the world in the National Maritime Museum's free galleries, exploring everywhere from the icy Arctic to the islands of the Pacific
Pirates
The blockbuster Pirates exhibition at the National Maritime Museum ran until 4 January 2026
Shop
Buried Treasure: A Pirate Miscellany
£12.99 £8.00
Published to coincide with a major new exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, Buried Treasure lifts the lid or ‘blows the gaff’ on pirate lore and sayings, setting the record straight on the lives and ways of pirates, and revealing the meanings behind and uses of common maritime sayings...
Buy now
Shop
Spotlight Series J.M.W. The Battle of Trafalgar: Commemoration and Controversy
£12.00 £6.00
Published to coincide with the 250th anniversary of Turner’s birth, J.M.W. Turner’s ‘The Battle of Trafalgar’: Commemoration and Controversy explores the history of the artist’s largest painting and his only royal commission...
Buy now
Shop
A is for Atlas
£35.00 £20.00
This beautifully illustrated hardback publication is full of unique and intriguing maps and globes, both Earthly and celestial, from the collection of Royal Museums Greenwich...
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Help preserve our past

Royal Museums Greenwich is a charity, and we rely on your support to care for our collections and help everyone appreciate the history of the sea. Donate today and help shape the Museum's future.
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