Chair, Captain's
Description
A captain's chair salvaged from the wreck of the Gairloch. The upper portion is a wooden swivel chair with five spindles and the chair has four black cast iron legs supported by upper and lower stretchers. The chair has a drop out seat which is covered in brown leather.
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Object detail
Classification
Credit line
This
captain's
chair
was
salvaged
from
the
wreck
of
the
Gairloch
on
the
Taranaki
coast
near
Weld
Road,
Oakura,
in
1903
by
a
17-year-old
farmhand
Fred
Cowling.
There
was
an
official
salvage
following
the
wreck
of
the
coastal
steamer
on
5
January
1903
and
then
the
wreck
was
sold
to
to
Mr
A.
Bayly
for
£20
and
the
residual
cargo
was
sold
to
Mr
H.
Mills
for
five
shillings.
The
wreck
was
beginning
to
break
up
by
mid-April
1903
and
Fred
was
allowed
to
take
a
bullock
cart
down
to
the
wreck
to
take
away
anything
he
wanted.
Fred
and
his
family
retained
a
special
link
with
the
wreck
and
for
many
years
made
an
annual
visit
to
it.
This
tradition
was
maintained
by
his
daughter,
Dorice
Cowling-Holmes
and
her
family
until
at
least
2003.
Accession number
PA2008.066
Collection type
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