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Mystery as maritime photograph collection discovered
A BOTANIST at Kew Gardens might not be the most obvious custodian of Hull's maritime heritage.
But although he has never visited the city, James Morley has become just that, after stumbling across a unique collection of century-old photographs at an auction in London.
Mr Morley runs Kew Gardens' website, but is an amateur photograph collector and realised the historic significance of the 70 images after he paid 100 for them in a London auction.
So instead of splitting up the collection and selling individual photographs to recoup his investment, he has used his professional skills to set up a website to try to piece together information about the seafarers and the vessels which appear in the photographs.
Eventually, the collection may end up permanently back in Hull in some form of public ownership.
Mr Morley accepts the whereabouts of the photographs between them being produced and turning up at auction last month ''is a total mystery'' but he believes it may be possible to identify many of the crew members and gather more information about why the images were produced.
The photographs feature two vessels operated by the Hull Steam and Ice Company and are thought to date from the early 1900s.
According to Mr Morley, the technical photography used was typical of the era, apparently using a tripod mounted camera.
What makes the collection so unusual, however, is the style of the images, which feature the subjects in normal conditions at work.
The style is more reminiscent of modern photography than the carefully staged portrait shots which were the routine approach for cameramen before the First World War.
The black and white images have also been hand tinted, and while that is not unusual, the quality of the work is outstanding.
Mr Morley explained: "The hand colouring is some of the best I have seen. That is why they are so special."
It is believed the photographs feature two boats which were used to transport stock from the North Sea fishing vessels down the coast to Billingsgate fish market, where it would be sold.
The images also present some hidden clues about the lives of those who made a living from the seas. "It appears there is a woman on one picture," said Mr Morley. "It was superstitious to have a woman on board, but looking closely it appears to be a bloke in drag, so it may have been done for a bit of fun.
"I bought them out of personal fascination and from a sense that if I sold a dozen, I would probably make my money back."
Now he has realised the collection should stay together and when his website project, The Hull Trawler Challenge, is complete he may donate them to a suitable public institution.
"I have not really thought about what to do with them, but if I could cover my costs I would be happy to donate them to a good home."
Recovering his costs could include selling prints taken from the originals, but that is likely to be some months away because first Mr Morley wants to allow time for as much information as possible about the photographs to come in.
"I will see how much evidence we can gather, but already it looks like we will get somewhere," he said.
"Whether it will take six months, I don't really know."
Mr Morley has already located crew lists for the vessels in the era when he believes the photographs were taken. They include a long-serving skipper, so he almost certainly has one name to link to the faces which appear on the photographs.
The pictures can be viewed at www.whatsthatpicture.com/
hull-trawler-challenge.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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