Ships gallery

[brian daley]

A moving poem and a stark painting to accompany it,good post Brian, thank you,
BrianD

[wsteve55]

The Henglers
As many of you Yo! Regulars will know, the Hippodrome theatre was once known as, Henglers Circus . My mother’s maiden name was Hengler and her family was Walton based.
I did not discover the Circus /theatrical connection until the middle of the 1950’s when I was watching the programme ,This Is Your Life, on the BBC. That was back in the days when Eamonn Andrews was the host. His subject that night was the ,then ,oldest working British actor,A.E. Matthews.
It was just another programme for me until Eamonn told the viewers that “Matty” ,as he was fondly known, had started out his life in show business working as a stable boy at Henglers Circus ,which was now The London Palladium. I near fell off my chair because the name was very uncommon ,apart from my close relatives ,there were no other Henglers in Liverpool.
The provenance of the name seemed to be “forgotten” ,so that night I asked my mother if there was a connection to the circus family. She was very vague in her answer, she said “ Could be son,I don’t really know.”
The next time I saw the name was in an Edwardian photograph of an old London tramcar, the advert that was on the side of the tram was for Henglers Circus. So,the mystery started to intrigue me , this was in the age before the internet and my researches were limited to asking mums siblings what they knew “not very much” was the answer. My Uncle Bill had the same streak of curiosity, he had looked for more Henglers in Phone books when he was in other towns. His job as a lorry driver took him all over the country, and he drew blanks wherever he went. One day he had to deliver a grand piano to the Shakespeare theatre , it was for the Hengler Brothers ,a duetting act. When he delivered the intrument ,he sought out the Brothers Hengler to ascertain if they were related. It turned out they were from Poland and they had picked the name Hengler from an old circus advert, they thought it was easier for advertising than their real names which was very hard for non Poles to pronounce; another dead end.
When they started to knock down the Hippodrome in the 70’s ,the original façade was exposed for the first time in near 50 years, there was a roundel upon which was the legend “Henglers Circus”
An enterprising reporter from the Liverpool Echo sought out my Uncle Bill and did a little feature ,it gave the history of Henglers Circus ,the family came from Denmark during the building of Liverpool in the 19th century. The docks ,railways and canals were all being constructed and a vast army of workmen were employed on the building. Tented cities sprang up to give shelter to the navvies and tradesman. And what they needed was, entertainment ,music halls and drinking establishment proliferated and Charles Frederick Hengler decided to come to Liverpool to make his fortune. There were something like 500,000 men employed in the building of our town , and they came from all over the world. The California Gold Rush was what some contemporary reporter reporters likened the building rush too.
The Henglers purchased some land on the site now occupied by the Grafton ,Locarno right down to the what became the Hippodrome. They built a permanent circus and had a huge menagerie too. They proved to be massively successful ,so much so, that Charles sent the elder of his two sons down to London to do the same there. The reporter from the Echo took a photo of my uncle standing in front of the newly exposed facade and the link was established, we were descended from a famous circus family.
A local brewery built a pub nearby and called it Henglers Circus and invited my uncle to open it.
But the question remained, how did our family go from riches to rags?.
45 years ago I found a book, by Stan Hugill, in a second hand bookshop. It was about Sailor towns of the world, it told of the lowlife side of the worlds major ports during the heyday of Sail. It listed the towns from A to Z and ,when I came to Liverpool I got the shock of my life. He rated Henglers Circus as the lowest of the low. Old Charles was dead and his youngest son found that there was more money to be made out of prostitution and the selling of drunken sailors to crimps who then supplied the stiffs to the shanghai merchants ,of which Liverpool had more than a few. To ensure that he got his quota of stiffs ,he introduced the “rational gas” ,two pennorth would get you drunk as you sucked it out of the goat bladder, two pennorth more would knock you out for the count and you would very likely wake up on a coffin ship that was bound for Davy Jones’s locker as part of an insurance scam by crooked ship owners and evil ship masters. Things became so bad that the City fathers closed the circus and it was turned back in to a place of proper entertainment. Was this why my Grandma never spoke of Henglers Circus? I dined out on the tale for more than a few years,if you are going to have a skeleton in your cupboard it’s best if they are “interesting”.
My young cousin Robbie started to do a family tree through the internet, he got right back to the 1850’s when he hit a block. The man who was the founder of our family was picked up in Jersey ,he was an Alien with very little English, his name was so unpronounceable that he was given an easier name, one from a circus poster…….Hengler.
That was the real reason, we were not Henglers at all !!!. I ‘d love to find out where my great, great Grandfather came from,
BrianD

Hi Brian,
Hengler's circus was then in it's 3rd home,after previously being at Newington,and Dale st.(where Municipal buildings is now!) Here are a couple of sites which might be of use!

http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/new.htm
http://www.liverpoolrevival.org.uk/moody2.htm

[brian daley]

HI Steve, thanks for that link, it makes the story even murkier. Hoe did Henglers Circus go from being a den of iniquity to being a place fit for Christian revivalism? Perhaps someone out there knows the real story;I'd love to hear it,
BrianD

[brian daley]

Shanghai
When Britains merchant fleet was at its greatest there was a dearth of experienced crewmen, the royal Navy was still”impressing “ merchant men and fishermen to fill the fighting ships. A trade grew up in all the major ports, a trade that was so odious that seamen went in fear of it, a step up from slavery, it went by many names ,but it all meant the same…Shanghaiing!
This was a trade in bodies,live ones , men who could be used to fill the shorthanded ships.
The shanghai merchants were known as Crimps ,they were boarding house masters, running cheap doss houses where Jack ashore would get his head down. A little extra in his bedtime drink ensured that his sleeping form could be sold to the skipper of a “blood boat” who would’nt otherwise get a crew.
The Crimp could also be a shipping master who would work in league with the boarding house masters in getting suitable candidates for the hell ships.
Not all shipping masters were bent, but sufficient were to keep this hungry trade in flesh flourishing.
The crimps demanded that all men shipped must pass through their hands , a sailor coming to sign on of his own free will,was not to be considered ,because the crimp would lose out on his commission.
If the shipping master did not work hand in glove with the crimps ,he would be warned that,when he wanted a crew,he would be unable to find one. In some places ,such as the American West coast,the shipping master would supply a crew at 5 dollars a head.
Another member of the shanghaiing fraternity was the Runner. This was a despicable character who used every trick in the book to get the crews of incoming vessels to desert the present berth and to sign on a blood boat. One of the stratagems used was to board the ship as she was heading to her berth, the runner and his bucko mates would help the lads square away the sails and make the ship ready for loading or unloading. They would piece off the cock of the walk( the leading hand) with enough coin to get the lads lashed ,and as soon as they were out of it he would transfer their sleeping forms to the boarding house owned by the crimp. The runners were hard men who used their fists ,boots and black jacks,to make sure that Jack ashore gave no trouble.
It was in such ways that many ships gained their crews. When times were really hard ,it was not unknown for a crimp to soak the body of some poor stiff with rum and pass the corpse off as another dead drunk crew man.
The whole chain of people involved in crimping, from the boarding house master ,right down to the boatmen who ferried the comatose crew men out to the hellships, gained their money from the sailors advance note. This was usually two months pay, times that by the crew of square rigger and you have a considerable haul. No wonder there were so many sea shanties about poor ,unwary sailors, Jack ashore was lucky if he ever made it home with his pay off,
BrianD

[Ken Berry]

Hi Again Captain Kong, Bill Dailey, Pablo42, Oddsocks, and the ones I can;t remember the names of.Well I have just spent the last 5 hours readinf all the emaisl and enlarging the ship photos and I feel a lot beter for it. I believe an Eric Newby was one of the seven survivors after the Sagamors was sunk in 1917 and he wrote a book about it. Does anyone have any idea if it is true,Have tried umpteen Book sites no luck to date. Have tried to find the Alfred Edward Berry or family about his exploits as a Mineswweeper Trawler Skipper and Chief Skipper WW1. He was from Hull and was single and came out of the navy. Was not on the 1918 listings.Any one from Hull, help would be appreciated as his papers are all clearly readable. In fact fasinating he was a courageous man. Stilll trying to find my G/Dad as he was on minesweepers as well. Have a few shots of Liverpool tugs will start staying with the site more now as I have my Complete new knee now.Done most of my rellie researches. Funny you mentioning about Mauii Captain Kong.Dived on a American Submarine of Laihana,I had 2 japanese to look after and a whale and a calf came alongside us from astern
The 2 kids 21-24 married started to hyper they were going through their oxy like it was going out of fashion. The Mum Whales Eye had intellegence in it and I maintain it was thinking whats those two nuts doing blowing all their air away underwater,I do that on the surface, So she went up with the calf and broached and came down again. This time she was within 15ftand singing away at the calf to stay right next to her. And that eye had intelligencedon't know what it was but she was saying something different. We found a big fan of black Coral forming on one of the for'ard torpedo tube.She is locked at all her hatches as navy divers are trained their. That banyon tree. Beautiful. Have you seen the US Navy's newest Aircraft Carrier bigger than any of the other 8 or is it 9.Good to be back hope your Op went OK. They had a couple of goes at me to see if i was still Ticking. Bset Regards to One and All. Ken Berry

[captain kong]

Hi Ken.
That was a good experience swimming alongside the whales, I havent done that. I am going back to Lahaina on Maui in March so I may have a go if I get the chance. There certainly are a lot of whales there leaping about just off the beach, Fascinating.
That Banyan tree is certainly fascinating, I believe it is the biggest in the world.
Hope you are better after your ops. I have to see the Sugeon in two weeks for a check up, otherwise I am OK from the two I had after the argument with the Elephant Seal in the Antarctic. I have one op pending on the goolie so I put that one on the back burner for a while.
Cheers
Brian..

[Ken Berry]

Hi Captain Kong,
its just over 20years ago when I dived and it was the dive shop opposite the Banyon Tree,Think it was American dive. The Sub.is 90ft down,the say we went down the water was that clear we could almost see San Diego. The Dive Master will say he will drop the hook on the Hand Rail round the Conning Tower any bets on for missing it. I was the prize prat that day. Cost me a couple of cases of Budweiser,but well worth it as we didn't drink it till we got ashore. Ended up nicely by 4pm when the wife arrived to pick me up. The Dive Master was quite a guy,he explained about the whale and the two Japanese kids would have made me Emperor for the day.Then he told her to take me to the gold shop further down the main drag where the well known Whale guy had his shop. Just had a look at it as I remembered he engraves his name on the back. Wylands One is about and an inch and 11/4 across the flukes of just a whales tail. And the other is of a Hump Back about 3 1/2 inches long actually perfect in every detail. So the dive cost a fortune in the end.But I tell you what Captain every time the one who will be obeyed wears either one. Every time some one will comment about them. So take some spare cash. Those Islands are as close to Paradise as one can get on Earth. If you can do the 5 Island flight that starts about 6-3oam till about 7pm.Well worth it.It finishes as the approach of the Torpedo Bombers did on the "Day of Infamy". Hell its gone 11pm and I can hear the growls coming from the main bedroom. Good night One and All Best Regards Ken B

[brian daley]

Saint Columba
The triple screw Clyde passenger vessel Saint Columba was built in 1912 by Wm.Denny & Bros. Of Dumbarton as Queen Alexandra (11) for Turbine Steamers Ltd.. In 1935she was acquired by David MacBrayne Ltd., renamed and extensively remodelled ,in particular by the addition of the third funnel and her second mast. During World War Two she was requisitioned as an accommodation vessel for Boom Defence personnel in Greenock and she was eventually broken up in Port Glasgow in 1958, This study was by a little known artist called J.C. McConnochie ,no other details.
BrianD

[captain kong]

Here is a photo of the old Queen Elizabeth arriving at Pier 90 New York, in the 50s .

the big gasometer ahead of the `United States` has now gone.

[gregs dad]

[IMG][/IMG]
R M S Carinthia at the Pierhead in 1961,scanned off a Kodachrome slide, taken with a 200mm lens. A frequent visitor to Liverpool,she changed names a few times before being broken up in India 2006 R M S Carinthia 1956-68
S S Fair Land 1968-71
S S Fair Sea 1971-88
S S Fair Princess 1988-2000
S S China Sea Discovery 2000-05

[captain kong]

Hi Gregs Dad
I was on the Carinthia in 1961 as a Quartermaster.[ the guy who steered the ship] Wev had a murder on her that year.
Cheers
Brian.

[gregs dad]

[IMG][/IMG]
R M S Doric from an old postcard.
My Grandad died on this while she was in the Huskisson dock. He was operating a winch when his coat was caught up and he was dragged in. No health and safety in those days

[captain kong]

This is a painting of the SS Contractor, one of TJ Harrosons
of Liverpool, built in 1930.
She was sunk by the Germans on 7th August 1943.
dont know the painter but the picture is superb,
it captures the old ship wallowing in a heavy sea,

[GeorgePorgie]

Do you have memories if them too!

I do,Brian

Been back tracking my jobs for a reason....was on the Tynlwald when the Summerland went up in 73...was on quayside watching this giantic ball of flames that lasted for some time into the night,terrible tradgedy of lives lost and at the hands of a gang youths setting fire to a kiosk adjacent to the summerland complex.

Most of the fleet of the IOM boats ferried the coffins to their destinations home,I remember,even though the coffins were sealed you could still smell the burnt flesh as you passed the cargo hold on mid deck.

[brian daley]

The Asturias
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Companys passenger liner Asturias was built by Harland & Wolff Ltd of Belfast in 1925 for the service to the east coast of South America and was also used occasionally for cruises. She is shown here at anchor off a tropical port, wearing the Merchant Jack at the stem, the R.M.S,P. Co. house-flag at the main mast and the Red Ensign at the peak , while disembarking passengers into tenders, the foremost of which is also wearing the prominent R.M.S.P.Co. house-flag.
The study was by J. Guthrie and there are no details available, save for the fact that he had a working knowledge of ships,
BrianD