HISTORY ON THE WAVES
Steam engines were in their infancy when, in 1837, the founding fathers of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), Brodie McGhie Willcox and Arthur Anderson, named their new enterprise.
From left: A souvenir brochure produced for Canberra’s maiden voyage.Baradine At Sea, painted by Frank Mason as an original design for a poster advertising P&O’s branch service to Australia via the Cape (c. 1922). An advertisement from 1933 shows the romance and glamour of travel by sea
Design of the great ships had evolved from rudimentary wooden paddle steamers to luxurious floating hotels, attracting passengers from royals to politicians to colonial rulers and pilgrims.
From left: Indoor pool on Viceroy of India, the first of its kind on a P&O liner, in Pompeian style. Viceroy’s interiors were given an aristocratic association demonstrated in the pale classicism of the Robert Adam-inspired First Class Reading and Writing Room. Commodore Dunkley on the bridge of Canberra, c. 1964
Life on board was a heady mix of fortitude and frivolity. ‘Having a drink or two’ was a pleasure for passengers from every era. On the early vessels, activities were limited by the lack of space but passengers joined informal groups to play cards or have a sing-song. Noël Coward captured the rhythm and humour of sea life on a voyage in 1930: ‘No one on board can quite relax, Poor Mr Frith gets drunk, And Mrs Frobisher, bathed in tears, Sits, surrounded by souvenirs…’
P&O: Across The Oceans, Across The Years, by Ruth Artmonsky and Susie Cox, is published by Antique Collectors’ Club, priced £35.
From left: A souvenir brochure produced for Canberra’s maiden voyage.Baradine At Sea, painted by Frank Mason as an original design for a poster advertising P&O’s branch service to Australia via the Cape (c. 1922). An advertisement from 1933 shows the romance and glamour of travel by sea Design of the great ships had evolved from rudimentary wooden paddle steamers to luxurious floating hotels, attracting passengers from royals to politicians to colonial rulers and pilgrims.
From left: Indoor pool on Viceroy of India, the first of its kind on a P&O liner, in Pompeian style. Viceroy’s interiors were given an aristocratic association demonstrated in the pale classicism of the Robert Adam-inspired First Class Reading and Writing Room. Commodore Dunkley on the bridge of Canberra, c. 1964Life on board was a heady mix of fortitude and frivolity. ‘Having a drink or two’ was a pleasure for passengers from every era. On the early vessels, activities were limited by the lack of space but passengers joined informal groups to play cards or have a sing-song. Noël Coward captured the rhythm and humour of sea life on a voyage in 1930: ‘No one on board can quite relax, Poor Mr Frith gets drunk, And Mrs Frobisher, bathed in tears, Sits, surrounded by souvenirs…’
P&O: Across The Oceans, Across The Years, by Ruth Artmonsky and Susie Cox, is published by Antique Collectors’ Club, priced £35.