MAKE A MEME
View Large Image
| View Original: | Richard_B._Spencer_-_The_Clipper_Harriet_McGregor.jpg (400x242) | |||
| Download: | Original | Medium | Small | Thumb |
| Courtesy of: | commons.wikimedia.org | More Like This | ||
| Keywords: Richard B. Spencer - The Clipper Harriet McGregor.jpg oil canvas cm 46 4 76 2 object history credit line signed 'R B Spencer' lower left and inscribed and dated 'Harriet McGregor A S Leslie Commander 1878' centre One of the most famous of the so-called colonial clippers the Harriet McGregor was designed and built by John McGregor at Hobart Tasmania in 1871 Rigged as a barque and registered at a mere 331 tons she measured 134 feet in length with a 27½ foot beam and was owned jointly by her builder and his brother Originally intended for the inter-Colonial trade her owners decided to put her onto the London run before she was even launched and she proved an instant success Stoutly constructed from blue gum laid on iron frames London's shipowners declared her a splendid piece of marine architecture when she arrived in the Thames after her maiden voyage and her master Captain Richard Copping wrote to tell her owners in glowing terms how well she had handled on her first passage <br/> Apart from her acknowledged speed which particularly after her round-the-world dash with another Tasmanian barque the Berean brought her considerable acclaim she was also noteworthy for the remarkable regularity of her passage times over almost two decades Year after year she followed an annual pattern of sailings beginning each Christmas Day when she left Hobart bound for London loaded with wool and sperm oil Returning to Hobart with general cargo she would then run across to Mauritius with coal pick up her regular cargo of sugar and be back in Hobart in good time to get away again on the Christmas tide to London In the fifteen years 1871-85 that she folowed this routine Harriet McGregor sailed a total of 535 529 miles to schedules which were not only the envy of many steamship lines but were also uncannily consistent for any wind-driven ship Sold to Danish owners in 1896 they began running her to South America but her new career was cut short when she caught fire and burnt in Rio de Janeiro harbour soon afterwards <ref>http //www christies com/lotfinder/LotDetailsPrintable aspx intObjectID 1777034 Christie's</ref> reflist accession number 2000 05 11 PD-old-auto-1923 1890 Richard Barnett Spencer 19th-century sailing ships in paintings Harriet McGregor ship 1870 | ||||
