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AskJules: Naval headgear
Posted on December 17, 2013 5 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] Ken Smith was curious about naval headgear in Kydd’s day: ‘I was thinking about marines in the fighting tops. What kind of hat did they wear? Did it get in the way of […]
Jack Tar
Posted on December 14, 2013 7 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] One of the most familiar icons of British maritime history is Jack Tar, the sailor. We don’t know for sure where the moniker ‘Jack Tar’ come from. The word ‘tar’ as a familiar […]
Seafaring Cats
Posted on December 4, 2013 4 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] When it became apparent that the mighty 140-gun first rate Spanish ship-of-the-line Santisima Trinidad would not survive the raging storm that followed the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 every effort was made to […]
Navies: three books, three centuries
Posted on November 27, 2013 Leave a Comment
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] An enticing selection of review copies of books arrived in my postbag recently, all from Seaforth. Each very different but together spanning three centuries, celebrating people and ships of the world’s navies, predominantly […]
The Sea Painters: Turner
Posted on November 22, 2013 2 Comments
Joseph Mallord William Turner, the greatest of the English Romantics and colourists, (1775-1851) was born in London, a stone’s throw from the River Thames. His father (like Tom Kydd’s) was a wig-maker. Although he painted many subjects, water would hold a fascination for Turner for the whole of his life. His seascapes range from peaceful […]
Cauls, Mary Carleton and the Chatham Chest!
Posted on November 20, 2013 4 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] In our household I’m the hoarder; not only physical artefacts from the past, numerous tins of assorted screws & wires, books & journals – but countless snippets and esoteric facts from the Golden […]
Sim’s Treasures
Posted on November 17, 2013 5 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] Over the decade or so that I’ve been a writer I’ve been privileged to meet many collectors, modellers, academics and historians who share my love of the Age of Fighting Sail. They’ve all […]
Ask BigJules: Double Helping!
Posted on November 14, 2013 6 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] The first question comes from David Slinn who wants to know the origin of the term ‘tarpaulin officers’ : There weren’t many in the Georgian navy who made the hard journey from before […]
BookPicks for Christmas
Posted on November 12, 2013 3 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] Books make great Christmas gifts and I’ve chosen twelve to recommend for Santa’s sack. Some classics, some discoveries – and all have a maritime connection of some kind… Broadsides By James Davey and […]
‘The Best Job in the World’: A Guide Aboard Victory
Posted on November 3, 2013 25 Comments
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box] HMS VICTORY is among the most famous ships in history; the only surviving warship that fought in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic wars. She served as […]
Julian Stockwin 