I is for Island

For the latest in the Special Collections A-Z, we look at I for islands. Special Collections holds a wide range of material relating to islands from the far flung to the very near to home. For this blog we will travel to a small selection represented in the collections to give a flavour of the range of material that can be explored. 

HMS Hecla and Fury in their “winter island” as they are frozen in for the winter [MS45 A0183/2 p359]

For the more distant islands you can view the journals of William Mogg in which he describes his journeys as part of Captain William Edward Parry’s second and third Arctic expeditions, on board HMS Hecla and HMS Fury, 1821-5, including being frozen in at ‘Winter Island’ for nine months when the ice closed in. And there is a further Mogg journal when he was on aboard HMS Beagle exploring the coastline and islands of South America. Such items as Prince Louis of Battenberg’s album of his circumnavigation of the world on board HMS Inconstant provide us with glimpses of life in Japan, New Zealand or the Fiji Islands in the 1880s, as well as visits to St Helena and Gibraltar.

Fiji Islands from the album of Prince Louis of Battenberg [MS62/MB2/A20]

St Helena from the album of Prince Louis of Battenberg [MS62/MB2/A20]

A new acquisition to the Special Collections dating from 1896 is an eleven-volume travelogue of the Hon. Louis Samuel Montagu, later second Baron Swaythling, of his world tour (MS461) which includes not just his observations on his travels and the people and places he saw but some wonderful photographs from Japan. And for the 20th century we have photograph albums of Lord and Lady Mountbatten, as well as tour diaries of Lord Mountbatten, relating to visits to islands from the Mediterranean, the South Seas and the Far East, as well as Australia and New Zealand (MS62).

Images of Madeira from a photograph album of a tour taken by Lady Mountbatten, 1931 [MS62/MB2/L6 page 5]

For nearer to home, quite a variety of material has found its way to the Special Collections relating to the Isle of Wight. This includes items collected by the University’s predecessor the Hartley Institution in the late nineteenth century such as a pardon from James I to Thomas Urrey of Thorley, Isle of Wight, 8 June 1604 (MS6/1).

Pardon from James I to Thomas Urrey, 1604 [MS6/1]

Other items include descriptions of walks around the island such Sarah Jane Gilham’s “journal of seven weeks peregrinations at the most beautiful place on earth, namely the Isle of Wight”, 1850 (MS6/8), or Thomas Flood’s description of his walking tour of the island in 1845 (MS450).

The island was the inspiration for poetry by James B.Fell (MS14) as well as the long manuscript poem “Elizabeth the fair prisoner of Carisbrook”, mid-nineteenth century (MS5/32).

Within the papers of the Gordon family, who resided at Northcourt on the island, are a series of watercolours by Lady Julia Gordon that feature the house and garden (MS80). Special Collections also holds a collection of watercolours by the Revd John Lewis Petit (MS283). Those for the Isle of Wight range from Alum Bay to Yaverland and includes seascapes and landscapes as well as churches, which are the focus of many of his paintings.

Alum Bay: View from cliff top looking across to The Needles by J.L.Petit [MS283/55]

The working papers of the academic Lindsay Boynton includes considerable material on both Sir Richard Worsley and Appuldurcombe House (MS301). Special Collections also holds the editorial notes for the Victoria County History for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (MS29) providing an interesting counterpoint to the range of published histories of the island held as part of the Cope Collection.

For politics on the island in the 19^th and 20^th centuries you can find a range of material in the papers of the first Duke of Wellington and the Broadlands Archives including extensive files for Earl Mountbatten of Burma as the Governor of the Isle of Wight.

Letter sent by internee at the Aliens’ Detention Camp, Douglas, Isle of Man, to Rabbi Dr Victor Schonfeld, 19 June 1917 [MS192 AJ413/7 f3]

Another island of the UK coast for which we hold quite a number of items is the Isle of Man. This ranges from material on the harbour defence in the 19^th century in the Wellington Archive to material in quite a number of the Jewish archive collections relating to the use of the island in the 20^th century for internment. This latter material includes not just reports on an inspection of the internment camps in the Second World War which can be found in archive of Solomon Schonfeld, but correspondence of internees in both World Wars.

Sketch of Mooragh internment camp, Ramsay, Isle of Man, by K.Rothschild, c.1940 [MS297/A890/2/1]

Sketch of Ramsay, Isle of Man, by Manfred Steinhardt, 1940 [MS297/A890/2/1]

To complement the more recent material relating to islands in the Mediterranean found in the papers of Lord and Lady Mountbatten, there is 19th-century papers in both the archive of the first Duke of Wellington and those of third Viscount Palmerston relating to the Ionian Islands, the seven islands that include Corfu, Paxos and Cefalonia. This covers the period from the Treaty of Paris in 1815 when the islands were placed under British protectorship, to 1864 when they were officially reunified with Greece.

First page of synopsis for “Refugee island” a proposed TV play by Norman Crisp [MS199/101/1]

And we travel even further with a fictional island although potentially situated in the South Seas. Taken from the archive of the writer Norman Crisp (MS199), this is a synopsis and script for a proposed TV play “Refuge Island”. Written in the response to the threat of the H-bomb, the play follows the story of an individual, who may or may not be a confidence trickster, and his scheme to create a “refuge island”.

To find more islands, or to find out more about any of the items mentioned, do explore the Epexio Archive Catalogue which contains details of the archival collections that we hold.

And do join us next week when we will have reached J for Jewish archives.

William Mogg and Arctic exploration

As Britain and Europe experiences a period of extreme cold and snow, we delve into the journal of William Mogg describing his experience of Arctic exploration in the early 1820s.

Iceberg adhering to icy reef [MS 45 AO183/2 p.349]

William Mogg (1796-1875) of Woolston in Southampton. He joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer in 1811 and served in the continental blockade of the Napoleonic war. He was part of a number of survey expeditions in the brig Investigator in 1817 and from 1827 voyaged on the Beagle alongside Charles Darwin. Mogg  also served as a clerk during Captain William Edward Parry’s second and third Arctic expeditions, on board HMS Hecla and HMS Fury, 1821-5. The journal – part of a set of 6 volumes (MS 45) held in the Special Collections – covering these journeys provides a fascinating insight into these expeditions.

Captain Parry was to be a key figure in the discovery of the North West Passage and the three voyages that he made between 1819 and 1825 produced invaluable research. During his first expedition, he voyaged through the Parry Channel and three quarters of the way across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

HMS Hecla and Fury sailed from Deptford in April 1821 for the second expedition, the goal this time being to find a passage near the northwest end of Hudson Bay. Having sailed through Hudson Strait and investigating Foxe Basin, they found themselves frozen in at ‘Winter Island’ for nine months when the ice closed in. During Parry’s third expedition in 1824-5, ice in Baffin Bay disrupted progress and the expedition was forced to winter in Prince Regent Inlet.

HM Ships Hecla and Fury in winter quarters [MS 45 AO183/2 p.359]

Mogg describes how “the ice began to form in a compact manner around the ship … strongly indicated … that our present position should become our winter quarters”. [MS 45 AO183/2 p.62] Crews were put to work cutting a channel to enable the ship to sail further up the bay. “Our first weeks imprisoned in our first icy quarters was fully occupied, clearing and preparing for the winter, every arrangement was made, which could contribute to our general health and comfort by our worthy Commander (Parry).” [MS 45 AO183/2 p.63]

Conditions were testing. While there was provision of a warming stove as way of heating, the crew had to undergo a reduction of rations to ensure that there were sufficient supplies.

Despite the hardships endured, Mogg’s journal reflects the indomitable spirit of those on the expedition, recording delight at the encounters with the groups of inhabitants of those inhospitable regions of the world, whom Mogg called Esquimaux, of the wildlife he observed, including bears, foxes, wolves and whales, and of the adventures of the crew.

Snow village of the Esquimaux [MS 45 AO183/2 p.141]

Of the measures introduced to relieve boredom of life on board – theatrical performances and evening schools – Mogg wrote of the production of R.S.Sheridan’s play The Rivals: “the first performance came off this evening and evidently gave general satisfaction if we may judge by the constant plaudits from the stentorian voices of the audience”. [MS 45 AO183/2 p.72]

List of cast for The Rivals as performed by crew for the Theatre Royal, Winter Island [MS 45 AO183/2 p.70]

There also was a pleasure to be derived from culinary treats. He noted that on Christmas Day 1821, the crews enjoyed a dinner of roast beef, which had been killed and frozen upward of 12 months previously, “garnished with mustard and cress, of a pale colour from being grown between decks in the dark, … with sundry pies and puddings of preserved meats and cranberries, not to be despised in any climate”. [MS 45 AO183/2 p.82]

Explorations by the crew on the ice in temperatures of “59° below the point of freezing” brought with them the risk of frost bite. “It is not an uncommon circumstance that in the operation of applying the hand to the frozen cheek, or nose, it also becomes frozen while doing so, but in order to prevent serious casualties of this nature Captain Parry issued general instructions that no person should quit the ships alone, or un-armed, in order that the companion might detect the burns in each other’s face.” [MS 45 AO183/2 p.90]

So as we venture out into the snow and chilling temperatures, let us give a thought to Captain Parry, Mogg and the intrepid crew of these Arctic ventures.

The travels of William Mogg, RN (1796-1875)

This week the public outcomes for students undertaking their second year History Group Projects will go live. They will include exhibitions, articles, presentations, websites and documentaries, with a number of projects drawing on material from Special Collections. Group 7’s project draws on the journals of William Mogg…

Christopher Columbus, Francis Drake, Marco Polo, James Cook, Robert Falcon Scott… These men all have one thing in common. They are famous explorers who made ground-breaking discoveries through their travels across the world. However, what most people don’t know is that we have our very own local traveller from here in Southampton: William Mogg. This figure, forgotten by history, was actually part of some of the most significant and famous voyages of exploration during the nineteenth century.

Photo of William Mogg wearing the medal presented to him ‘for Arctic discoveries, 1818-1855’ [MS 45 A0188]

Born in 1796 in Woolston, Southampton, Mogg joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer in 1811, serving in the continental blockade of the Napoleonic war. From 1821-5 he joined Captain Lyon and Sir William Parry on their Arctic expeditions on HMS Hecla and Fury, which Mogg describes in his second journal. He also travelled around South America from 1827-33 on HMS Beagle, an expedition on which Charles Darwin was also present on.

Although Mogg is not an established figure in the history of exploration, he played an important role aboard ship and his account of everyday life has proven very significant in enhancing our views of 19th century culture and attitudes.  He served as a clerk on Parry’s expeditions where he recorded meteorological material. His journals also include annotated copies of Robert Fitzroy’s Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty’s Ships Adventure and the Beagle, which describes the Beagle’s circumnavigation of the globe.

Throughout Mogg’s six journals he describes his travels to the Arctic, South America, Wales, the West of England, Switzerland and Italy, and within these he also includes a number of drawings, postcards and photographs which he collected during his travels. In his journals, Mogg recorded some incredible stories of his interactions with different native populations such as Arctic Esquimaux, Feugians, and the Patagonians. He immersed himself in the various cultures that he encountered, and has many tales to share of the people he met along the way. He talks of hunting trips he went on, games played with the natives, the languages he learned and even tattoos he was given! Mogg does not only provide interesting and humorous anecdotes, but grants us an insight into another time; a world very different to ours today.

The journals also provide a rare glimpse into the personal thoughts of a man who experienced more in four decades, than most people would in an entire lifetime. His attitudes to different cultures, places and people are fascinating, and his journals are a truly valuable piece of history that should be treasured by Southampton. William Mogg’s journals reveal just how important every member of a crew can be. Although history only notes the leaders of such voyages, Mogg shows that these men would never have been able to achieve the things they did, were it not for the crew which helped them along the way.

A group of second year history students are currently studying journals 2 and 3 from the University’s Special Collections and have created a website to present their fascinating research, aiming to shed light on the life and work of William Mogg, and bring his sadly unknown journeys to life.

Please visit http://www.moggexplored.fallows.org/ to find out more about one of Southampton’s lost historic figures.

Article by Hollie Geraghty

References

Southampton University Special Collections, <http://www.southampton.ac.uk/archives/cataloguedatabases/webguidemss45.page>,[Accessed 03/05/16].

Mogg, William, The Papers of William Mogg, 1811-c.1870, Journal 1, 2,3,6, Special Collections Division, Hartley Library, University of Southampton.