Exhibition recalls when Britain ruled the waves
Historic paintings capture country's maritime enterprise
Britain’s merchant shipping is the subject of Charting the Course: Hartlepool’s Maritime Heritage, opening this weekend (Saturday, April 12) at Hartlepool Art Gallery.
Maritime pictures from the Under Steam Collection, cared for by the Mercantile Marine Memorial Trust, are on display alongside artefacts from Hartlepool’s own collection.
Behind every ship ever launched lies a story – countless stories if you include those of all who set sail in them as passengers or crew – and some of them come to the fore in the exhibition.
The Under Steam Collection, cared for by the Trust, contains 1,400 portraits of British merchant steamships from the 19th and 20th centuries when more than half the world’s ships were registered in this country.
It was a period of advancement when ships became bigger and faster and the development of steam vessels revolutionised trade. Big new shipping lines emerged along with passenger liners and refrigerated cargo vessels.
Among ships portrayed will be some owned by the Ropner Shipping Company whose founder, Robert (formerly Emil) Ropner, emigrated to Britain from Prussia as a penniless young man, speaking no English.
He did well for himself, being knighted by Edward VII in 1902 and two years later being created Baronet of Preston Hall, Stockton-on-Tees (his former home is now Preston Park Museum).
He had acquired a shipyard in Stockton in 1888 and from 1900 to 1910 was the town’s MP. In 1902 he was President of the UK Chamber of Shipping. His company is credited with the invention of the trunk deck cargo steamer, the first, SS Trunkby, being built at the Stockton yard in 1896.
A number of Ropner-built ships were requisitioned during the First and Second World Wars.
Also on display are depictions of ships owned by other Hartlepool-based shipping firms, including Furness, Withy and Co.
Local shipbuilding is well represented with paintings of ships built by William Gray and Company.
They include a portrait of the paddle steamer Wingfield Castle which has had an extraordinarily colourful career.
Built in 1934 to serve as a ferry on the River Humber, it was bought in 1974 by the Brighton Marina Company but then sold on and ended up in London’s King George V dock where it became the subject of a legal dispute.
On one occasion during this period it was used in the 1980 film The Elephant Man disguised as an 1800s cross channel ferry. Concrete was then poured into its bilges to seal leaks and prevent it sinking.
Whitbread purchased the vessel in 1982 to be a floating pub in Swansea but it proved too wide to pass through lock gates into the marina. Four years later it was brought back to Hartlepool to be restored.
The exhibition also includes paintings of fishing vessels that were registered in Hartlepool.
Complementing the paintings on loan from the Under Steam Collection will be items from Hartlepool Art Gallery and the Museum of Hartlepool collections, including ship launching notices from the Robert Wood Collection and shipbuilding artefacts.
Councillor Pamela Hargreaves, chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s economic growth and regeneration committee, said: “We are proud to work in partnership with the Mercantile Marine Memorial Trust on this exhibition, and to host 40 paintings from its collection in what is a first for Hartlepool and for the wider Tees Valley.
“It’s a fascinating opportunity to explore Hartlepool’s rich maritime heritage and it’s particularly timely as we develop plans for the restoration and reopening of the paddle steamer Wingfield Castle and the transformation of the Museum of Hartlepool in our Tides of Change project.”
Dr. Emma Roberts, associate dean for global engagement at Liverpool John Moores University and Mercantile Marine Memorial Trust board member, said: "We are delighted to bring highlights of the Under Steam art collection to Hartlepool.
“Many of these paintings of ships with connections to Hartlepool have never before been displayed in public, and it is entirely appropriate that they will now be seen by citizens of and visitors to Hartlepool and the County of Durham.
“These captivating images are a reminder of the rich maritime heritage of this region.”
Charting the Course: Hartlepool’s Maritime Heritage runs until June 14 at Hartlepool Art Gallery which is open (and free to enter) from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm.