Researching SV Glenlee 1896

[The Tall Ship]

Hello everyone,
I'm the Education Officer for The Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour, SV Glenlee (1896), currently a floating museum.
I would be very interested in hearing from anyone who has information or photographs of the ship during her long career:

The Glenlee was built at the Bay Yard in Port Glasgow and was one of a group of 10 steel sailing vessels built to a standard design for the Glasgow shipping firm of Archibald Sterling and Co. Ltd.
She is a three masted barque, with length 245 feet, beam 37.5 feet and depth 22.5 feet.

The Glenlee first took to the water as a bulk cargo carrier in 1896 and was renamed Islamount in 1897. She circumnavigated the globe four times and survived (though not without incident) passing through the fearsome storms of Cape Horn 15 times before being bought by the Spanish navy in 1922 and being turned into a sail training vessel, Galatea.
The ship was modified and served in that role until 1969. She then operated as a training school until 1981 when she was laid up in Seville Harbour and largely forgotten.

Regards,

Lisa Gaston
museum@thetallship.com

 

[Ron Dean]

Hello everyone,
I'm the Education Officer for The Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour, SV Glenlee (1896), currently a floating museum.
I would be very interested in hearing from anyone who has information or photographs of the ship during her long career:

The Glenlee was built at the Bay Yard in Port Glasgow and was one of a group of 10 steel sailing vessels built to a standard design for the Glasgow shipping firm of Archibald Sterling and Co. Ltd.
She is a three masted barque, with length 245 feet, beam 37.5 feet and depth 22.5 feet.

The Glenlee first took to the water as a bulk cargo carrier in 1896 and was renamed Islamount in 1897. She circumnavigated the globe four times and survived (though not without incident) passing through the fearsome storms of Cape Horn 15 times before being bought by the Spanish navy in 1922 and being turned into a sail training vessel, Galatea.
The ship was modified and served in that role until 1969. She then operated as a training school until 1981 when she was laid up in Seville Harbour and largely forgotten.

Regards,

Lisa Gaston
museum@thetallship.com

Hi Lisa,

I'm afraid I can't help with information on the Glenlee.
What maybe of related interest is the Glenholm (presumably built for Glen Lines) which was a full-rigged stump topgallant ship of 1,804 tons, built of steel, by A Rodgers & Co, of Port Glasgow in 1895 and was sunk in May 1915 by a German U-boat.
I found this information "The Book of the Sea" by Robin Knox-Johnston in which there is also a photograph (curtesy of the National Maritime Museum).
Was the Glenholm perhaps one of the ten vessels built for Archibald Sterling & Co. Ltd.?

Regards

Ron Dean.

 

[lenseman]

Hiya Lisa - Welcome to the forum(s).

I presume you are aware of this web address:

http://www.red-duster.co.uk/GLEN.htm

and:

http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/glen.htm

I wish you good luck with your research.

 

[The Tall Ship]

Thank you for your assistance and apologies for the late response.
I will indeed read through the recommended websites and hopefully uncover some interesting facts about Glenlee.

All the best,

Lisa

 

[pulhamdown]

Glenlee

Hi. I know this is a rather late addition to this thread, but I'm looking for information on the second owner of the Glenlee, Robert Ferguson from Dundee. His company was called the Islamount Sail Shipping Co, and he renamed the Glenlee the "Islamount". He bought the Glenlee in 1898, and sold it on again in 1905. Any info gratefully received.

Colin Ferguson

 

[The Tall Ship]

Dear Colin,

I'm afraid we don't have a great deal of information about Robert Ferguson, but I shall quote what is written in the book "Glenlee" by Colin Castle and Iain MacDonald:

"Ferguson's registered business address was at 135 Seagate (later Dock Street) Dundee. He was an experienced ahip manager with a dozen or so vessels to his credit, some of which were, or had been, traded as single ship companies. Among them were the barques Earnmount (1,860 nt) and Garrymount (1,248 nt) and the full riggers, Deanmount (1809 nt) Ardlemount (1,557 nt) and Taymount (1,614 nt). The names of these derived from rivers in the north east of Scotland all bearing the suffix 'mount'. Glenlee had been similarly constituted as the Islamount Sailing Ship Company, her name being chnaged to Islamount on 9th September 1899. Fifteen months earlier, Ferguson had been appointed owener-manager on 7th April 1898 and the Islamount Sailing Ship Company was incorporated on 20th May. A share capital of £8,500 was divided into 1,700 shares of which 1,080 were taken up. 260 of these were purchased by Anderson Rodger giving him a 15% stake in the vessel. The majority of those remaining went to local businessmen and merchants including William Low, a wholesale grocer from Dundee whose commercial enterprise continued to prosper north of the border until the late 20th Century when it was acquired by the supermarket giant, Tesco.

Glenlee completed one voyage for Ferguson before becoming Islamount and a further five thereafter."

We also have a copy of a photograph of Robert Ferguson.

Can I assume he was a relative of yours? We would be very interested in any other information you manage to uncover durnig your research.

Good luck, and if you think we can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at The Tall Ship at Riverside.

Lisa
0141 357 3699
museum@thetallship.com

 

[pulhamdown]

Hi Lisa. Thanks for that info. That's a really good start. I've been investigating a relative of mine, John Stewart, who operated a shipping company in London in the latter half of the 19th century, John Stewart & Co. I believe his company actually operated the Glenlee for some years after the first world war on behalf of the government. At his stage, I've no idea whether Robert Ferguson is a relative, but as I live near Dundee, I shall certainly try and find out a bit more. I'll be down to have a good look at the Glenlee some time later this year, as it's probably the closest I'll get to seeing a similar ship to my relative's first ship, the Blackwall.

Thanks

Colin Ferguson

 

[The Tall Ship]

Yes, our ship was controlled by John Stewart and Co towards the end of her cargo sailing life. I fact, we have recently unearthed the Chief Officer's Logbook from this period (1917-8). Excerpts are on display in the Chart Room. Do ask for me when you visit and if I'm available, I'd be happy to give you a tour.

All the best,

Lisa

 

[Tillernut]

This is what they are talking about.