Chart your course to explore Hartlepool’s maritime heritage in new exhibition

‘Charting the Course: Hartlepool’s Maritime Heritage’, which runs at the gallery from Saturday 12th April to Saturday 14th June, brings together ship portraits on loan from the Under Steam Collection, featuring a century of maritime history, alongside treasures from Hartlepool’s own collection.

Cared for by the Mercantile Marine Memorial Trust, the Under Steam collection contains 1,400 ship portraits of British merchant steamships from the 19th and 20th centuries – a time when the British Mercantile Fleet dominated world shipping, with over half of the world’s ships registered in Britain.

During this period the development of steamships revolutionised trade. Ships became bigger and faster, covering greater distances. New types of ships like passenger liners and refrigerated cargo vessels were developed, and great new shipping lines emerged.

On show in the exhibition will be paintings of ships owned by the Ropner Shipping Company of West Hartlepool. A number of these ships were also requisitioned during the First and Second World Wars and therefore contribute to a wider international history.

Also on display will be depictions of ships owned by other Hartlepool-based shipping firms, including Furness, Withy and Co.

SS Wensleydale, 1904, Herbert Henry Crane. (c) The Mercantile Marine Memorial Trust

Local shipbuilding will also be well represented in the exhibition, with paintings of ships built by William Gray and Company, including a painting of the paddle steamer Wingfield Castle. There will also be some paintings of fishing vessels that were registered in Hartlepool.

Complementing the paintings on loan from the Under Steam collection, will be items from Hartlepool Art Gallery’s and the Museum of Hartlepool’s own collections, including ship launching notices from the Robert Wood Collection and shipbuilding artefacts.

Councillor Pamela Hargreaves, Chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s Economic Growth and Regeneration Committee, said: “We are proud to work in partnership with the Mercantile Marine Memorial Trust on this exhibition, and to host 40 paintings from its collection in what is a first for Hartlepool and for the wider Tees Valley.

“It’s a fascinating opportunity to explore Hartlepool’s rich maritime heritage and it’s particularly timely as we develop plans for the restoration and reopening of the paddle steamer Wingfield Castle and the transformation of the Museum of Hartlepool in our Tides of Change project.”

SS Guardiana, undated, James Bell. (c) The Mercantile Marine Memorial Trust

Dr. Emma Roberts, Associate Dean for Global Engagement at Liverpool John Moores University and Board Member of the Mercantile Marine Memorial Trust, said: "We are delighted to bring highlights of the Under Steam art collection to Hartlepool.

“Many of these paintings of ships with connections to Hartlepool have never before been displayed in public, and it is entirely appropriate that they will now be seen by citizens of and visitors to Hartlepool and the County of Durham. These captivating images are a reminder of the rich maritime heritage of this region.”

Hartlepool Art Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and entry is FREE.

SS Halifax City, 1896, Charles Kensington. (c) The Mercantile Marine Memorial Trust