“Turbinia” at speed – but who’s on the conning tower?

Turbinia

Turbinia

This iconic image of Turbinia conveys an impression of speed like no other. The rearing stem, the massive bow wave and the foaming ‘rooster’s tail’ wake all play their part, but perhaps the most unusual element for a maritime photograph is the figure braced against a bar on the conning tower. It is as if a wing walker from the age of flight has intruded on the scene. The man leans forward to resist the near gale while with his left hand he pulls on a cord that operates Turbinia’s steam whistle. He looks towards the camera but his face is buffeted by the wind and his hair streams back off his forehead.

So who is the man on the conning tower?

John Maxtone Graham in his book, ‘Queen Mary 2 – The Greatest Ocean Liner of Our Time’, captions the image, ‘Sir Charles Parsons on the flying bridge of his little Turbinia, the world’s first turbine-driven vessel’ (1). On the other hand Ken Smith in his 1996 book, ‘Turbinia – The Story of Charles Parsons and his Ocean Greyhound’ writes of the same image, ‘Turbinia works up to over 30 knots on one of her runs. Her captain and lookout, Christopher Leyland, stands atop the conning tower’ (2).

Rollo Appleyard’s 1933 biography of Parsons makes it clear that Parsons was usually at the engine-room controls, in the engine-room cab. ‘On board the Turbinia, Parsons generally took charge of the controls in the engine-room assisted by two engineers’ (3). In another passage he refers to the difficulties faced by the stokers caused by the forced draught fan being driven by the central turbine shaft. The faster the engine rotated the more work the stokers had to do to keep up. Appleyard says that the stokers ‘sometimes wondered whether Mr Parsons at the controls had them too much at his mercy, and whether his great conception had included a fan to impart liveliness to their movements’

Parsons with one of his assistant engineers

Parsons in his customary position by the engine room controls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the same section we are also told that: ‘Steering and conning-tower operations were undertaken by Mr. Barnard, who was at that time a manager.’ Much of the trials work with Turbinia took place in the River Tyne because the North Sea was not usually calm enough for her speed trials. In the river there was almost a straight mile alongside Northumberland Dock. When there was no traffic Turbinia would utilise this section of the river, accelerating quickly before cutting her speed just as rapidly at the end of the run. She was breaking the speed limit but the River Tyne Commissioners took a benevolent view of Parsons’ experiments. Robert Barnard was a marine engineer and naval architect. He was a key figure in the success of Turbinia and the further development of the marine steam turbine. Barnard assisted in the designs of the “Turbinia” and oversaw her construction. He supervised the construction of the “Viper”, the “King Edward,” and also the “Cobra” (4).  Although not spelt out by Appleyard, there is an implication that Robert Barnard took command of Turbinia during these runs in the river.

Turbinia running trials in the River Tyne

Turbinia running trials in the River Tyne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For official speed runs Turbinia needed to go beyond Tynemouth Piers into the North Sea. She would carry out pairs of runs in opposite directions on the official Hartley measured mile, to the north of the Tyne. Her mean speed could then be calculated. On those occasions C. (Christopher) J. Leyland was usually aboard and took command of the vessel.

Plate from one of the four posts defining the Hartley Mile, the measured mile used for Turbinia's speed trials TWCMS : E3100

Plate from one of the four posts defining the Hartley Mile, the measured mile used for Turbinia's speed trials TWCMS : E3100

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christopher Leyland had been for some years in the Royal Navy before inheriting a large estate in Wales. He moved to Haggerston Castle in Northumberland and was both a friend and financial backer of Parsons. He was a director of the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company (5). We know from Leyland’s own account that, in addition to being the captain of Turbinia, he also steered and acted as lookout. Leyland switched between roles as circumstances required, but on at least one important occasion we can be certain that he was positioned on the conning tower, acting as captain and lookout.

At the Spithead Review of 1897 Leyland had responded to a request from Prince Henry of Prussiato show a turn of speed. As Turbinia worked up to full power a vedette – a small naval boat – tried to head her off. Turbinia just managed to steer a course astern of the vedette, while the vedette’s crew dashed into her bows and her Lieutenant unbuckled his sword, expecting to have to swim. To quoteLeyland, “he evidently spoke to me, and I said something to him, but as we were passing at nearly 45 knots, it may have been just as well that out impromptu remarks did not carry”. ForLeyland to have been able to respond under such circumstances he could not have been down below in the wheelhouse, he must have been positioned on the conning tower (6).

The two probable candidates for the man on the conning tower are Christopher Leyland and Robert Barnard. It seems highly unlikely that it could have been Charles Parsons. Leaving aside our knowledge of Parsons’ role as chief engineer of Turbinia we also know that as an adult he always wore glasses and would have struggled to see anything after a few moments exposed to the salt spray. The man on the conning tower in the photograph does not look like Parsons and is not wearing glasses.

A portrait of Parsons that appeared in a 1905 collection of short biographies

A portrait of Parsons that appeared in a 1905 collection of short biographies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photograph was taken by Alfred J West of Southsea, a marine photographer and pioneer cinematographer.  In his unpublished autobiography ‘Sea Salts and Celluloid’ (1936) he recalled how he successfully photographed Turbinia at the 1897 Spithead Review and was subsequently invited by Parsons to come to Newcastle to photograph and film her on the Tyne (7).

Turbinia at speed in the North Sea by Alfred J West

Turbinia at speed in the North Sea by Alfred J West

West’s iconic image is not of Turbinia at Spithead, nor of her on the Tyne, but almost certainly of her in the North Sea, just off the mouth of theTyne. There are no landmarks in shot to anchor the image to the North East but there is a pretty good clue in the background. If you look on the horizon, midway between bow and conning tower and just above the safety rail, there appears to be a Tyne paddle tug, with her foresail set, towing two fishing boats. This would have been a familiar sight off the North East coast in the 1890s, as the adoption of steam-powered fishing boats was just starting, and tugs frequently towed herring boats out to the fishing grounds.

The open sea location for the image would seem to make Leylandthe favourite for the man on the conning tower. We know he took command for the official sea trials on the Hartley Mile. To capture the best photograph Turbinia would have to be steered at full speed very close to the photographer’s launch. Under those circumstances I doubt that the duties of captain and of lookout would have been entrusted to anybody other than Leyland.

Christopher Leyland pictured in the same 1905 publication of short biographies

Christopher Leyland pictured in the same 1905 publication of short biographies

Images of Leyland exist and they can be compared with the Turbinia at speed image, although it is not easy. One can’t draw too many conclusions about the appearance of a man whose face is being buffeted by a 40 mph wind! Leyland’s waxed moustache is a striking feature of his formal portraits but one imagines, even if he bothered to wax his moustache on trials days, the effect wouldn’t have survived the wind and spray. However, the basic geometry of the man’s face appears to match that of Leyland.

 

Cropped version of Turbinia at Speed

Cropped version of Turbinia at Speed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unlike Leyland, the alternative candidate, Robert Barnard, did not live to reminisce about Turbinia in his old age. Barnard was drowned when the torpedo boat destroyer Cobra broke in half and sank in heavy weather in the North Sea on September 18th 1901 while on passage from the Tyne toPortsmouth. In total 67 men were drowned with only 12 being saved. Barnard was the manager of the Parsons’s Turbine Company Ltd., and the senior man of the 24 Parsons employees aboard, of whom only 2 were rescued (8). He was 35 years old and left a widow, Mary, a daughter of 12, also Mary, and a son of 8, William (9).

Drawing of Robert Barnard from a photograph by G West of Southsea

Drawing of Robert Barnard from a photograph by G West of Southsea

The Newcastle Evening Chronicle of Friday 20th September covered the tragedy and published a print of Barnard taken from a photo by G. West and Son, of Southsea, Alfred J West’s company. There is a distinct possibility that Barnard’s portrait photograph was taken when West visited the Tyne to photograph and film Turbinia and therefore it may be contemporary with the famous image of Turbinia at speed. And here perhaps we have a real stroke of luck in our search for the identity of the man on the conning tower. In the Chronicle print Robert Barnard is sporting a full beard! In contrast the left hand side of conning tower man’s jaw is clearly clean shaven.

Cropped image of Turbinia at speed

Cropped image of Turbinia at speed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The man on the conning tower is almost certainly Christopher Leyland. It is not Charles Parsons because he typically stationed himself at the engine room controls. It could be Robert Barnard because he took charge of the conning tower and steering when Turbinia was being worked up in the Tyne. However, the open sea location for the photograph and the clean shaven jaw of conning tower man make it unlikely that it was Robert Barnard. In West’s iconic photograph of Turbinia at speed, conning tower man is Christopher J Leyland.

REFERENCES

1.         Maxtone-Graham, John, Queen Mary 2 – The Greatest Ocean Liner of Our Time, P106, Bulfinch Press,New York, 2004.

2.         Smith, Ken, Turbinia – The Story of Charles Parsons and his Ocean Greyhound, P4,TyneBridgePublishing,Newcastle, 1996

3.         Appleyard, Rollo, Charles Parsons – His Life and Work, P105 Constable & Co.,London1933

4.         Transactions of theNorth East CoastInstitution of Engineers and Shipbuilders, Vol. XVIII (1901-2), P359

5.         A Dictionary of Edwardian Biography – Northumberland, Edinburgh 1985. A reprint of the biographical part of “Northumberland at the Opening of the Twentieth Century”, first published in 1905

6.        Leyland, Christopher, Heaton Works Journal, Vol. 2 No. 1 (June 1935), P25-32, “Turbinia” Jottings

7.         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_John_West

8.         Newcastle Evening Chronicle, September 20th, 1901

9.         1901 Census Return, Northumberland

Migration

Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums has recently teamed up with researchers at Northumbria University to encourage new thinking and comment around important subjects, such as Britishness, migration, and culture in an industrial region.

Each week, for four weeks, we’ll be blogging about a museum object and posing a question for you to respond to.  Please help us get the discussion going by adding your comments below, whatever comes to mind.  Later in the summer, your comments may be fed into a live debate where we hope you’ll have the opportunity to join academics and curators discussing the most popular topic.

So, the theme for this week is “migration”, I’ve chosen to represent this with a 2010 Northumbria University prospectus written in Chinese.

There have been a growing number of groups warning the government that changes to student visas will drive international students away from British education. Universities in particular are asking the Home Office to not include foreign students, who bring in £8 billion to the economy each year, in net immigration counts.

The government rejects claims that a crackdown on immigration would harm universities and cost the economy billions. Immigration Minister Damian Green argues that the policy does not stop ‘genuine’ students coming to the UK, and states that the government is “determined to prevent the abuse of student visas”.

However in 2012 The Economist stated that “In the past two years the Tories have made it much harder for students, foreign workers and family members to enter and settle in the country. Britain is not only losing the war for global talent, it is scarcely competing.”

Do you think limiting international student visas is a good idea?

How will this affect the North East?

Guest blog post: Newcastle University Fine Art Degree Show 2013, Hatton Gallery

The following blog post is by Isla Haddow who is studying a BA in Fine Art at De Montfort University, Leicester, and has completed a work placement with Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.

Newcastle University Fine Art Degree Show 2013, Hatton Gallery.

It’s that time of the year again – another group of students reaching the end of their Art Degree journey, ready to enter the art world.

This year’s show is home to 58 students.

The thing I always find pleasant each year at this show is the contrast between the old architecture of the Art school; tiled floors, hallways full of figurative statues, acting as a backdrop, in contrast to the contemporary and conceptual nature of the students’ work. That contrast creates a charming representation of how many art schools still are today.

This year’s show, full of diversity and ambition, represents today’s students and their creativity capabilities at their peak. With a unique combination of risk taking, processes and subject matter, the art works reflect what is key to Fine Art practice: risk-taking and experimentation.

“Logic will take you from A to B, imagination will take you everywhere.”

Albert Einstein

The show is a creative space for students to display their work where the public are free to wander, interact, and challenge their own perceptions of Art. The exhibition also further reflects Newcastle’s Art School as an institution – this year students have done a good job at this.

Work which particularly stood out to me was that of Lilly Williams. Her drawings bring together fragments of dreams, imaginations, and mystical charismata like that of folk tales, and Surrealism. She says that her practice ‘starts with a telling of a tale’ however her drawings are ‘not the whole story’ – the work steams from the truth within these tales and takes a visual and partly written form.

Go to http://www.nclfineart2013.com/williams.html for more information on Lily’s work.

Lilly Williams: Untitled | Watercolour on Paper | 28cm x 28cm

Lilly Williams: Untitled | Watercolour on Paper | 28cm x 28cm

Another student whose work appealed to me was Dan Linden. In the exhibition catalogue he states ‘there are often spaces within spaces…reflections that hint new spaces without fully depicting them’. Linden’s paintings are dreamlike, through their form – interiors and landscapes float in a soft, ambiguous space. However as he stated, his works simultaneously hold a sense of peril – broken spaces, faint uncertain forms, and a hint of the concept of time passage. Go to http://danlinden.com/index.php/paintings for more information on his practice.

Dan Linden: ‘Vienna Woods’ | Oil on linen | 160cm x 160

Dan Linden: ‘Vienna Woods’ | Oil on linen | 160cm x 160

For more information and a full list of students profiles in the show go to: http://www.nclfineart2013.com/

 

‘Culture in an Industrial Region’

Well there have been many changes to my role since I last wrote a blog post for the Shipley Art Gallery; I now have a job as Keeper of Art and work on projects across the three art galleries at TWAM- the Laing, Shipley and Hatton. It’s a really interesting role and much of my time is spent working on exhibitions, programming and general support all round!

But of course an important part of any keeper’s job is the collections! Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums has recently teamed up with researchers at Northumbria University to encourage new thinking and comment around important subjects. I have been asked, along with colleagues, to write a blog post about an item from the collections as part of a weekly programme to stimulate debate about issues that are important to us all, such as Britishness, migration and culture in an industrial region.

Each week, for four weeks, we’ll be blogging about a museum object and posing a question for you to respond to.  Please help us get the discussion going by adding your comments below, whatever comes to mind.  Staff from the university and from TWAM will then lead a live debate on the most hotly contested issues so watch this space!

So, the theme for my post is “Culture in an Industrial Region”. I have chosen a group of objects we had photographed this week to provoke some discussion:-

 

Selection of Venetian-style glass produced by Sowerby's Ellison Works, late 19th century. Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead

From the 17th century, glassmaking was an important industry on the Tyne. It did have it’s ups and downs; much like our economy today…. But in the 19th century a number of companies were established on the south side of the river and amongst those was Sowerbys.

In 1852 Sowerby’s Ellison Glass Works opened in Gateshead. John Sowerby is said to have arranged for 50 skilled glassmakers and their families to move from Birmingham to Gateshead, travelling on a specially chartered train!

Sowerby’s also recognised the skills of Italian craftsmen, and of course those well-known glassblowers in Venice. During the second half of the 19th century they employed a number of Italian glassblowers at the Gateshead factory, and this exquisite group of glassware is a good example of their work.

By 1865 the firm employed over 450 people and was considered to be the largest pressed-glass factory in the country. It forms an important part of our industrial heritage.

Production at Sowerby’s continued until 1972, with glass exported throughout the world including the USA and China. The glass items produced by the factory are recognizable as widely available, attractive domestic ware available to the wider public. As the Pottery Gazette wrote, commenting on Sowerby’s exhibits at an exhibition in South Kensington all the way back in 1884; ‘fancy glass should have been in the art gallery, but being of such a cheap and popular character, we suppose they were inadmissable; still, in taste and artistic treatment they rank as art goods… We may call it art for the million!’.

So, ‘art for the million’ was produced in large quantities on Tyneside in the 19th and 20th century, partly thanks to the skills of glassworkers from elsewhere in the UK and from Italy.

What do you think about this? Do you think diversity in our communities is a natural result of industrialisation? What effect does this have on our region today?

Also, should art be available to all? Is this important to the pride of people living in an industrial region? Or do you think art should be made in small quantities and expensively sold?

Looking forward to hearing your views!

 

Divine Bodies exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery – getting ready

In the Divine Bodies exhibition, Pippa and Steve get the screen ready to project Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Pietà, which features the artist herself and renowned actor Robert Downey Jr.  This is one of the contemporary artworks on show with old master paintings in the exhibition.

Some really special historical paintings by Zurbarán and Van Dyck have been lent from the National Gallery, London. However, the core of the exhibition is from the museum service’s collection of fine old master paintings. It includes lovely pictures by European masters such as Wtewael, Janssens and Procaccini.

Pippa & Procaccini

Pippa, Divine Bodies exhibition curator, displays Procaccini’s Drunkeness of Noah (from the Hatton collection).  Mark and Garry have the heavy work.

There are many striking combinations of old master pictures and more recent art in the exhibition. Contemporary and modern works include sculpture by Ron Mueck, and paintings and photographic art by Cindy Sherman, Marlene Dumas, Tom Hunter, David LaChapelle and John Currin.

filming DB

Photographers for the Art Fund have come to record some of the installation of the exhibition. Pippa is the National Gallery Curatorial Trainee supported by the Art Fund. She has been working with Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums for 15 months, and has undertaken a lot of valuable research on the old master collections, as well as developing this fantastic exhibition.

Some mini films are being made featuring aspects of the exhibition, so look out for these on the website in the coming weeks. The first focuses on the work the museum conservators have been doing on old masters in the collection ready for the exhibition.

The exhibition is on show from 8 June – 29 September 2013 at the Laing Art Gallery. Read more here – http://bit.ly/16s1bhR