Hull Trawler Challenge

Update – two weeks on

Friday, March 13th, 2009 | updates | No Comments

It’s been two weeks since the site was launched and I’ve been bowled over by the response.

Firstly, the project has had some great press coverage. There was a piece last Monday in the Yorkshire Post, and then on Wednesday evening a two-minute feature on BBC TV’s Look North programme, which is also available online. There have also been posts on blogs and specialist interest sites, and articles promised in the Weekly News, BBC Who Do You Think You Are? magazine, and Family Tree Magazine.

Through this I have also made some fabulous contacts with people who have amazing knowledge and tales to tell, and we’re hoping that some of this could be revealed in a book featuring the photographs – just have to find a publisher!

The website has had over a thousand visits, and the photos on Flickr have been averaging a combined total of about a thousand views per day!

So a huge thanks to everyone who has contributed so far, and keep an eye on the site as the story unfolds.

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Location identified – picture of ship moored at Custom House, near Billingsgate, London

Thursday, March 5th, 2009 | Identified | No Comments

Thanks to some keen detective work (and noticing that I had scanned the picture back to front!) Flickr user heppslt has identified that the ship in the following picture is moored outside Custom House, close to Billingsgate Market, London. In the distance you can see the Monument, St Paul’s, and London Bridge.

I wonder if anyone can help identify the ship itself? Is it one of the Hull fleet?

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Mission ship identified – LO51 Queen Alexandra

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 | updates | 3 Comments

Thanks to some great detective work on Flickr, one of the images is now identified as being of the mission ship Queen Alexandra, and three further shots, including one of some crew men being treated for illness or injury, may well have been taken on board…

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Mystery #4 – Can we name any of the crew of the SS New Zealand?

Monday, March 2nd, 2009 | updates | No Comments

Given that we now have crew lists and have narrowed down the date range to 1908-14, can we start to work out who these people are?

Here’s a list of all the crew names recorded for that period:
Anderson, W (2nd Hand.)
Bastow, JW (AB.)
Binnington, A (AB.)
Bott, S (Bswn.)
Boughen, HE (AB.)
Burton, R (Owner.)
Croft, J (AB.)
Dickinson, J (2nd Hand.)
Fuller, EJ (Skipper.)
Fuller, S (Skipper./2nd Hand.)
Garside, J (AB.)
Green, T (AB.)
Grieb, F (AB.)
Hamling, C (2nd Hand.)
Hastie, T (Bswn.)
Holness, W (AB./Sailor.)
James, E (AB.)
Jefferson, H (Bswn./AB./Sailor.)
Jervis, Thomas (Skipper.)
Kemp, GW (Bswn.)
Kingston, G (Bswn.)
Miller, Harry Emil (Skipper./2nd Hand.)
Myles, J (AB.)
Shaw, G (AB.)
Vivian, J (Owner.)
Wise, Walter (AB.)
Worrell, WG (2nd Hand.)

That’s a total of about 25 candidates, for crew photos that show about nine to 12 people.

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Mystery #3 – women on board, or men in drag?!

Monday, March 2nd, 2009 | updates | 2 Comments

There are two photographs in the collection which at first glance would appear to show a man and his wife. But there’s something odd about them.

I was then told that it was superstitious to have women on deck, and on closer inspection you just get the feeling that it’s another crew member wrapped up in blankets as a dress and scarf. Then there’s the third guy, who in both shots appears to have quite a cheeky grin.

So, do we think these are both of a man dressed as a woman as some sort of practical joke?

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