The National Maritime Museum Cornwall holds an archive of boat plans, documents and photographs relating to the maritime history of Cornwall and the development and use of boats. Some of the archives are small – barely a single photograph – others are very large. Below is a small sample of the main archives at fonds level with a brief description. You can view the archives by making an appointment with our curator via email to: enquiries@nmmc.co.uk.
Copies of documents or photographs for personal research can be supplied, subject to a small fee and normal copyright law.
| Fonds ID | Fonds | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 0132 | Indenture | Indenture (Conveyance) between Abraham Denis and Frauris Symons 03/08/1765 Handwritten ink on parchment |
| 0134 | Harrison R H | A passport for Ralph Henry Harrison of Bristol issued 25th of June 1895 |
| 0135 | Falmouth Harbour/Docks | Collection of documents relating to Falmouth Docks |
| 0136 | Wanderer | Log books by Frank Dye for the voyages of Wayfarer No.48 |
| 0137 | Act of Parliament | ‘An Act for the Encouragement and Improvement of the Pilchard-fishery carried on within the Bay of Saint Ives, in the County of Cornwall.’ Original document printed by Charles Eyre and William Strathan London 1776 |
| 0138 | Royal Mounts Bay Regatta | Royal Mounts Bay Regatta Official Souvenir Programme 15/07/1933 |
| 0144 | Shipping Federation | Parchment Registration Certificate issued to William Tuck, boatswain, of Falmouth from the Plymouth office of the Shipping Federation on the 20 April 1895. The document entitled the holder to employment at the recognised port wages, in any vacancies in any ship or with any shipmaster or owner affiliated with the Shipping Federation Ltd. |
| 0146 | National 12 | A collection of letters from C Leslie Lewis, who played a key role in the development of the National 12 yacht. The letters include some from the Yacht Racing Association, Morgan Giles Boat Builders and several letters from Uffa Fox, a boat designer and sailing enthusiast. The letters all talk about the costs, measurements, weights, classes and materials needed for the National 12 as well as how it could be adopted into the Yacht Racing Association. |
| 0147 | The Times | Copy of the Times of 07/11/1805 reporting on the Battle of Trafalgar 21/10/1805. Issue No 6572 price sixpence |
| 0148 | News Chronicle | News Chronicle of 28/05/1941 on the sinking of the Bismark headlined ‘Bismark: The First Full Story’ ‘Air and Sea Chase Lasted Four Days, Covered 1,750 Miles’ |
| 0149 | Muller F C | Indenture of Frederick Charles Muller as an Apprentice Pattern Maker dated 18/09/1911 |
| 0150 | Danish Vice Consul | Document appointing Stafford Frank Hough as Danish Vice-Consul Falmouth 12/03/1935. |
| 0151 | George III Regis Acts | These two Acts are unbound, having once belonged in a book however each Act is still held together in one piece |
| 0153 | Map of Northern Atlantic and West Greenland Radio Beacons 1962 | Map showing the Northern Atlantic and West Greenland Radio Beacons both Marine and Aircraft. With frequency, station number and identification signals. Published at the Admiralty 01/01/1962 under the superintendence of Rear-Admiral E. G. Irving, O.B.E., Hydrographer. |
| 0154 | Runnats W H | Disbursements of the Barquentine ‘Lake Patos’ of Liverpool 1884-86, William Henry Runnats of Bodmin master |
| 0155 | Visitors book 1944 | Visitors book – HMMB Eos Sir Stephen & Tricia, Visitors Book 1944 |
| 0158 | Robertshaw G S | This archive includes three scrapbooks, which once belonged to Geoffery Robertshaw. Written inside the front cover of each is: ‘Part of collection by Geoffery Sykes Robertshaw 1908-1983 who sailed on “Olivebank”, twice, “Ponape” & “Winterhude”, 1932-1939.’ |
| 0160 | Greenslade G | Memories of sailing out of Portreath by Captain Gordon Greenslade; Master of several coastal craft. This is a photocopy of the manuscript. Now transferred to the Bartlett Maritime Research Centre files |
| 0161 | Bath R R | |
| 0162 | Rees H M | Indenture of Horace Murrell Rees to Richard Stevens Burt of Falmouth 16/11/1916 |
| 0163 | NMMC boat plans | Draft plans drawn for the museum by Lucy Blue ,Stuart Leather of Eton 10 BAE 0127, Outrigger BAE 0089 & Sealskin Kayak BAE 0094 Also CD of images of these three craft |
| 0165 | Hooper | As a young man, William Tregonning Hooper was apprenticed to work for a steamship company; beginning a lifelong maritime career in which he would eventually rise to the rank of Captain. In 1934, as a young man, he travelled home to England from Australia aboard the barque Favell, under Captain Sten Lille. This archive relates to Hooper and his career, and spans several decades, comprising of items such as his original apprentice’s indenture, correspondence, diary, various newspaper clippings and photographs |
| 0166 | Packet letter cover | Cover of Packet letter dated 1840 |
| 0167 | Cruise Ships | A box containing information on Liners and cruises from a variety of different compaines including; Holland America, Cunard, Royal Mail, Fred Olsen and Norwegian America. There are brochures detailing information on the ports of call, availiable activities as well as the boats themselves. It also contains several deck and accommodation plans with details on the deck layouts, passenger amenities and room sizes and locations. 1952 – 1974 |
| 0168 | Redruth & Clearwater Railway | A photocopy of Redruth & Clearwater Railway Selected interview notes with Tom Lavin (1957/59) |
| 0171 | Tristan Da Cunha | A collection of Tristan da Cunha ephemera |
| 0172 | Falmouth Harbour 1853 | Tracing from part of L9801. Falmouth Harbour surveyed by Commander George Williams, Surveyor. 1853. The scale is marked 10 cables or 1 sea mile. The map shows position of Bar, Bar Point, Pendennis, Swanpool Pt, Penare, Summer House, Pilots Look Out, Church, Rectory, Custom House Quay, Green Bank Quay, Creek of Penryn, Patey Slip, Little Falmouth, Flushing, Kiln Quay House, Trefusis, Trefusis Pt, Tom Brown |
| 0173 | Teignmouth Yacht and Boat building Co | Daily work book 1897 Teignmouth Yacht and Boatbuilding Co. Complete daily record for 1897 labour and material |
| 0174 | Anderson H | Scrapbook of Newspaper Cuttings from 1907 |
| 0176 | Trevorrow H P | Henry Polmear Trevorrow, indenture 1874 and a discharge certificate 1888 . |
| 0177 | Prideaux J | Material relating to John Prideaux including indenture 1892 as apprentice to C Burt shipbuilder and award of the Imperial Service Medal in 1938 |
| 0178 | Fell WP | Photograph of 3rd Engineer WP Fell of the SS Hororata and details of the loss of this ship in WW2 |
| 0180 | Roberts Captain | Photograph of Capt Roberts on St Mawes Ferry 1919, Copper tone. |
| 0181 | Warrington Smyth N | Includes Typed list Falmouth Boat Construction Building records 1947 – 1970 ,Log of ‘Cariad’ 1930 Helford River to Coruna Spain and return. Short History of S.O.E Naval Base at Helford River 1940 -1944 |
| 0183 | Cleveland M R | An original Mechanics Magazine from 1831 and 3 image scans of B/W prints. |
| 0184 | Oates P L | Check content may be more suitable in the library |
| 0185 | Walmsley J | Stan Handley RNVR & Sylvia Handley. CD containing various items about them, including her account of being sunk by Condors enroute to Africa |
| 0186 | Suevic | Typed records of the Steamship SUEVIC from 17th March 1907 and two photographs of her wreck on the Lizard |
| 0187 | Barton Douglas Archive | A collection of twelve black and white photographs showing St Mawes One Design boats (SMODS) in and around Falmouth and St Mawes and other photographs from the 1930s showing Cutty Sark, Waterwitch, Falmouth Docks, and a former World War 1 minesweeper |
| 0189 | The Coastguard around 1914 | This single item archive is a photograph which shows a group of 22 men and a dog. The men are dressed in the Coastguard uniform of 1914 and are all armed. |
| 0190 | Raider MV 2890 | Misc documents to be researched |
| 0191 | Tadd S | 3 documents of Samuel Tadd a Master Mariner from Polruan. Tadd commanded the 33 ton Sloop ‘Sally’ in 1839 and 104 ton schooner ‘Bedwelty’ in 1852. The documents are typewritten (probably transcripts), apart from the photocopy of the front page of the diary |
| 0192 | Castle Mail Packets | Two copies of a service schedule leaving from London June 23rd 1893 to East Africa and return journey |
| 0193 | BRNC | Draft itinerary of the Presentation of ‘The Queen’s Colour’ to The Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth By Her Majesty The Queen 18/07/1958 |
| 0194 | Stephens E | US Army letters song sheets Christmas cards collected by Miss E Stephens American Red Cross Club Volunteer Okehampton 1943/4 |
| 0197 | Lorentzen | Handwritten document with an image of the boat ‘Alethia’ An Incident at Dartmouth in 1942. An account of action on the River Dart by Dr Lorentzen ex-Ldg Wren Kneebone |
| 0198 | Davies C J | Typewritten manuscript by C J Davies. Descriptive narrative of American and British privateers during the American War of Independence. American privateers – includes Elizabeth, Zodiaque, Freedom, Tyrannicide, Civil Usage, Charming Sally, Boston, Massachusetts, Thorn. British ships – includes HMS Foudroyant, Fancy, Weymouth, Truro, Lark, Hawke, Grantham, Pheonix, Swallow, Friendship. Information taken from Sherborne Mercury, The National Archives, Lloyds List. Appendix of list of Privateers 1777-1782. List of Falmouth Packets lost between 1775 – 1783. |
| 0199 | Minisail ‘Sprite’ archive | Collection consists of typed instructions to build a Minisail ‘Sprite’ kit, list of parts and materials, a plan and sheet of photographs. The Minisail was designed by Ian Proctor. |
| 0201 | E S Hocken | 4 copies of b/w photographs. 2 of the E S Hocken wood barquentine of 296 tons. Built at Fowey 1879. 2 of Fowey Harbour. |
| 0202 | Richard Chellew | Two photocopies of silhouettes of Richard and Elizabeth Chellew of St. Ives. Richard Chellew 24.07.1796-11.05.1862, of Point, was a Customs & Excise Agent. Son of John Chellew (St. Ives). Married Elizabeth Hicks (St. Ives). Shows him with a telescope and top hat. Elizabeth Chellew (nee Hicks), 1790-1864, was the wife of Richard Chellew. The silhouettes were drwan by Samuel Metford |