The history of R.W. Leyland and his shipping line but also a general history of late 19th century ships and shipping. Includes information on The Speke and Captain Tilston.Historical Hard cover book. Dust jacket. Black and white illustrationsAs above.speke, tilston, sailing ships

The ship Speke ran aground on the coast of Phillip Island on the 22nd of February 1906. The ship was painted by Artist Woolston L Barratt in 1891 and hung in the saloon of the Speke. It was given by Captain Tilston to John Cleeland, captain of the rocket rescue team and the painting used to hang in his home Wollomai house on Phillip Island. It was restored by Mal Campbell to fix smoke damage.The Speke was an all steel ship built in Wales in 1891, the second largest 3-masted full-rigged ship in the world. She was delivering wheat to Geelong and confused a bushfire in Cowes for navigation lights. Many local people salvaged goods from the resulting wreckage.Restored painting of the Speke mounted in the original gold frame.phillip island, art, speke, woolston barratt, woolamai house

First photograph probably taken in February, 1906. The other two photographs appeared in The Weekly times, March 3rd, 1906, on page 10Three Black & White photographs of the wreck of the Speke. February 1906. 278-01. Photograph of Captain Tilston, master of the Speke, 2nd mate, Mr A Cooke - hero of the wreck (seated) two apprentices and the 1st mate (standing) 278-02. 2 x Photographs of broadside view of the Speke on rocks. This photo was given to John Jansson by Swedish seaman Gus Johanson in 1960's. He got the photo from Allan C Green who was a photographer for a Melbourne Newspaper. The 2nd photo is an upgrade of the 1st photo. Updated 10/3/2022. 278-03. Photograph of some of the crew of the Speke on rocks near the wreck.wreck of the speke, crew of the speke, cpt tilston, mr a cooke, jack jenner