Accession Number

2019.012.001.009

Description

A steam ship, the S.S. Joan on the ways at a shipyard. In the foreground is a wooden building with a tall smokestack; two men stand out front with a wheelbarrow; to the left is a pile of lumber; In the midground, a white steamship, the S.S. Joan, is pulled up on the ways; in the background, is a coastal landscape. Mounted on beige mat board.

Narrative

These rare photographs depict various large vessels in and out of the water at the Victoria Marine Railway in Esquimalt, BC, circa 1895.

Some of the 14 photographs in this accession depict ships owned in whole or in part by R. Dunsmuir & Sons. These include the collier SS Wellington (2X) and the passenger steamers SS Joan (1X) and SS Isabel (1X).

Also depicted is a tallship which might be Glory of the Seas, a famous tea-clipper made in Boston MA that was routinely chartered by R. Dunsmuir & Sons to ship coal from Departure Bay to their dock situated near the corner of Steuart and Harrison Streets in San Francisco. The Master of Glory of the Seas was Joshua Freeman. His son Eugene designed the San Leandro (Oakland), CA residence of Alexander Dunsmuir.

The owner of The Victorian Marine Railway was James Douglas Fitzherbert Bullen. In 1903, he testified at the Hopper vs. Dunsmuir trial in which Edna Hopper sought to have Alexander Dunsmuir’s Will set aside. He said that he’d been dealing with Alexander on ship maintenance and construction since 1879 or 1880. He saw Alex in bed in San Francisco once and Alex helped him to get a contract to repair Glory of The Seas. He said that Alex was the dominant businessman compared with James, and that he was “very difficult” to get acquainted with and had “an arbitrary disposition” and exercised “dictatorial” powers.  

Bullen stated that he had worked at Albion Iron Works in 1880 before the Dunsmuirs bought it out in about 1883. Bullen said he was Manager of Albion Iron Works in 1892 when they built the ship “Joan” for the Dunsmuirs and that he dealt “entirely” with Alexander. Alexander was the only person from the firm to inspect the boat as it was being built, and did so 3 or 4 times over a 6-12 month period. ^1. It should be noted that Mr. Bullen was a pallbearer at Hon. Robert Dunsmuir’s funeral. ²

These photographs provide an excellent visual record of vessels owned and used by R. Dunsmuir & Sons and can be used to present the story of Dunsmuir marine-based business activity.

 

1. British Columbia Archives GR-2731 Hopper vs. Dunsmuir case file 12/92 Transcript from Victoria (Hon. Justice Drake) Victoria, December 3, 1903.
2. Victoria Daily Colonist, April 17, 1889.

History of Use

Unknown

Date

circa 1895

Dimensions

25 x 27.8 cm

Subject/Image

Victoria Marine Railway; S.S. Joan

Medium

Photographic

Support

Paper, Photographic paper; Cardstock

Country of Origin

Canada