Photo Album of Edward C. Newman, Royal Navy, with crew and travel photographs of China, Japan, Hawaii, Persia, Ceylon, Panama and the South Sea Islands
by
Edward C. Newman
DETAILS: 1919-1934. Contemporary cloth photo album, bound with string. 40pp (including pastedowns). Illustrated with 156 original vintage mounted gelatin silver prints. Oblong folio (large coffee table sized book - 10" x 12").
CONDITION: Very Good (see table below for details). Rubbing and a little edgewear to boards and spine. A little wear to corners of pages, some sunning to pages and to photos.
First leaf almost detached from binding but still present. Two pictures missing from mounts. Photos themselves still look impressive. *Photo(s) given of actual book.
CONTENTS: A unique record of the naval service of Edward C. Newman, containing a wealth of original vintage photographs of the men he served with, and the numerous places in visited between 1919 and 1934, including China. Each photo has handwritten captions, including names of places visited and names (or nicknames) of crew photographed.
Newman's records starts in the Baltic in 1919, with his ship, HMS Vindictive, run aground on a shoal near Reval. The ship was in the Baltic carrying out support activities for the White Russians. The pictures show Vindictive, a heavy cruiser, it its converted role as an aircraft carrier, with three planes clearly visible on the deck. Two other photos show the efforts of two light cruisers to tow the Vindictive off the shoal. There is a laid-in typed sheet noting the names of the crew that perished in the attack on Kronstadt on August 17-18 1919 during this voyage.
The next 4 photos show the Royal Navy attempting to rescue survivors of the SS Hong Moh, a steamship which hit the White Rocks on Lamock Island, near Swatow (Shantou) on the southern coast of China. The ship was wrecked on 3rd March 1921, with the loss of 1,000 lives. There are two photos of the SS Hong Moh nearly submerged, together with a photo of some of the survivors on the deck of the HMS Carlisle (Newman's ship at the time). Two of the photos show lifeboats in action during the rescue. There is a laid-in note from polar explorer Captain Edward Evans - who took part in the rescue himself - stating that Newman was a member of the life boat crew that helped in the rescue effort. These photos are historically important and may represent the only visual record of the disaster and subsequent rescue of survivors as it is unlikely that anyone other than sailors would have got close enough to take photographs. Newman showed great presence of mind to put his camera into action as events unfolded. For a biography of Evans click here and for a short history of the SS Hong Moh disaster click here.
Further photos from this period show the Carlisle in dry dock at Hong Kong, a torpedo being test fired from one of the CarLisle's tubes, and a fascinating crew picture of submariners perched on top of the submarine L15. There is also a crew photo with Captain Edward Evans (1881-1957), mentioned above, who was Captain Scott's second-in-command on his ill-fated Antarctic expedition, and the hero of the Battle of Dover Strait in World War One. There is another photo of Evans on the front pastedown.
There are several other photos of China interest, including the Royal Navy graveyard at Wei-Hai-Wei, and an interesting picture of a woman's feet (one bound, the other unbound), and Marshall Foch inspecting the troops in Shanghai, as well as a couple of pictures from Japan (including a seaplane at Yokohama, and the maiden voyage of the SS Golden State).
Years later (around 1925) the album takes up the story aboard the HMS Crocus which includes photos taken in Basra (Iraq) with the crew ashore on Christmas Day 1926, plus further shots of the Persian Gulf including troops on donkeys touring Henjam Island. There are also shots of Ceylon (including the lighthouse on Chatham Street in Colombo), and shots in Bombay (including the gates of Victoria Gardens). A lot of the photos of this period are of fellow sailors and officers posing on deck and in more formal group pictures of sports teams. There is a laid-in typed sheet containing a log of the ship's travels from March 1925 to February 1927 in the Persian Gulf.
The album continues with Newman aboard the HMS Diomede in New Zealand, including an excellent picture of the entire ship's company on deck. There is brief mention of Trinidad on the way to the Panama Canal, including a shot of the Diomede going through a lock on the Canal, and an old picture of the Los Angeles City Hall from the same period (1928-9).
The work closes with photos of the Pacific and South Seas, including pictures of an iguana and a sea lion in the Galapagos Islands (and an unfortunate shot of the crew about to drop a depth charge in the same area), the crew lined up on parade in Honolulu during a stop in Hawaii, native police on Suva, the traditional crew celebration of crossing the equator ("King Neptune's Court"), shots of Tonga (including local women, and a war memorial), Tahiti (including the Captain Cook memorial and Point Venus lighthouse), and Fiji.
The final leaf (actually the rear pastedown) advances another 5 years to 1934 and shows four pictures of the crew of HMS Milford on parade on Armistice Day in the Belgian Congo.
This really is a quite remarkable collection of photos, giving some idea of the globe trotting endeavours of Royal Navy crewmen in the interwar period. There is some fading to the photos, some affected a little more than others, but all are still clear and the quality of the prints can be seen in our photos of them. There are two mounts lacking pictures - one titled "Crossed the Meridian, 1928" and the other a Christmas card from aboard the Diomede in New Zealand, otherwise all photos are present and accounted for.
As a personal record of navy life and travels, and as an eye witness view of some notable Royal Navy history including the SS Hong Moh disaster, this is a truly unique and desirable collector's item.
SHIPPING: Worldwide by Registered Air Mail with tracking number and insurance.
PAYMENT: PayPal is accepted. Contact us if you will pay by other means.
PLEASE ASK: If you have questions regarding the item, contact us before making an offer. We prefer that you ask questions before you buy.
PAYMENT: PayPal is accepted. Contact us if you will pay by other means.
PLEASE ASK: If you have questions regarding the item, contact us before making an offer. We prefer that you ask questions before you buy.
Good communication will make the transaction smoother for all involved.
GUARANTEE: The buyer has right to return the item if it is not as described.
This beautiful antique artefact is from
ADILNOR COLLECTION, SWEDEN
