IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0064 RCE
Held at: National Maritime Museum
Title: Rice, William Mcpherson, Master Shipwright (c 1799-1853)
Date(s): 1815-1850
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 1 box, 4 vols
Name of creator(s): Rice | William Mcpherson | c 1799-1853 | Master Shipwright
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Rice entered the School of Naval Architecture in 1813. He held appointments in various dockyards between 1819 and 1822, when he became draughtsman to Sir Robert Seppings (1767-1840). In 1824 he sailed to South America to assist in repairing the SPARTIATE. From 1825 to 1844 he was Foreman of Portsmouth Dockyard. In 1837 he went to Lough Swilly to refloat the TERROR, Captain George Back (1796-1878), which had returned from the Arctic badly damaged by the ice. He was promoted to Assistant Master Shipwright in 1844 and in 1852 was appointed Master Shipwright at Pembroke Dockyard but held office for less than a year.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of William Mcpherson Rice, comprising a 'Journal kept in passing through the different offices of HM Dockyard, Deptford, 1820', papers relating to the excavation of an ancient vessel found in the River Rother in Kent, in 1822; a log and a diary of Rice's voyage to South America and papers on the TERROR. There are also service papers, some correspondence, including several letters from Admiral Sir Thomas Byam Martin (1773-1854), and a sketchbook. Three older documents, presumably collected by Rice, also form part of the collection, as do the service papers of Charles Brown, Master, RN, 1815-1850.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Please contact the Archive for further information.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Please contact the Archive for further information.
Finding aids:
Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
The papers were presented in 1953 by Mrs Cantlie, a descendant of Rice.
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note: Edited by Sarah Drewery, Sep 2011.
Date(s) of descriptions: 2010-08-26