Society for Nautical Research

The Society for Nautical Research is a British society that conducts research and sponsors projects related to maritime history worldwide.

Founded in 1910, the Society initially encouraged research into seafaring, ship-building, the language and customs of the sea, and other items of nautical interest.^[1]

The Chairman of the Society is Dr David Davies MA DPhil FRHistS FSNR. Past chairmen include Alan Villiers,^[2] Professor Michael Lloyd,^[3] Professor Richard Harding ^[4] and the immediate past chairman, Admiral Sir Kenneth Eaton.^[5][6]

Past projects

HMS Victory preservation

 

The Society led a public appeal in 1922 to save HMS Victory and continue to support the ship today.

In 1922 the Society initiated a public appeal in the United Kingdom to raise funds to save Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship HMS Victory. Launched in 1765, the ship was in very poor condition by 1922.^[7] Sir James Caird, and the Save The Victory Fund raised sufficient funds to secure HMS Victory in dry dock in Portsmouth and provide a permanent endowment for the ship.^[8] The Society established The Victory Technical Committee to research preservation measures for the Victory and to conserved its artifacts in the new Victory Museum.^[9]

In 1972, the Victory Museum expanded to become the Portsmouth Royal Naval Museum, under Admiralty administration. It later became the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth.^[10]  

The Society still supports HMS Victory by funding research into areas such as paint samples and wood marks.^[11] Since 1922 the Society has provided over £1 million to the ship's upkeep.^[12]

The National Maritime Museum

In 1913 the Society helped reorganise and rationalise the collection of the Royal Naval Museum in the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.^[13]  During World War I, the collection was dispersed for safekeeping.

In 1924 the Society catalogued and inventoried the collections. In 1925 during a meeting of the Society's Council, the concept of a National Maritime Museum was raised for the first time. The task of setting up a permanent home for the Admiralty's collection of ship models was given to a new Trust.^[14]

In 1927 the Admiralty made an official announcement:

It having become necessary for a body of trustees to be appointed to take charge of the interests and property of the National Naval and Nautical Museum which is eventually to be accommodated in the Queen's House at Greenwich, The First Lord of the Admiralty has obtained consent of the following, Earl Stanhope DSO, Civil Lord of the Admiralty, Admiral Sir George P.W. Hope, Chairman of the Council of the Society for Nautical Research, Sir Lionel Earle KCB KCVO, Secretary of the Office of Works, Mr Roger C. Anderson, FS A, Member of the Council of the Society for Nautical Research, Prof Geoffrey Callender, FSA, Royal Naval College Greenwich.^[15]

The Trust, which was largely staffed by officials of the Society, eventually created a home for the items, prints and drawings, including the Macpherson Collection, in the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich.

The Macpherson Collection endowment fund

In 1927 The Society launched an appeal to raise £120,00 in order to save 11,000 maritime prints, drawings and paintings collected by yachtsman and collector Arthur Macpherson from being sold abroad.^[16]  Caird stepped in again and purchased the entire collection.^[17]

This enabled the funds raised by public subscription to be used to establish the Macpherson Collection Endowment Fund, which purchases art, prints and drawings for the nation, which are held in the National Maritime Museum.^[18] The Macpherson Collection Endowment Fund is administered by the Society.^[19]

In September 2021, the fund helped the National Maritime Museum acquire a painting by Tilly Kettle that depicts Sir Samuel Cornish, 1st Baronet, Richard Kempenfelt and Thomas Parry on HMS Norfolk.^[20] The painting went on permanent display in the Queen's House gallery in Autumn 2022.^[20]

Research and awards

The Society supports new research by providing grants to students undertaking nautical research and seminars and conferences on maritime themes.^[21] It also provides financial support to the annual conference for new researchers in maritime history.^[22]  

The Society presents three medals:

• The annual Anderson Medal book award, named after founder and naval scholar Dr R. C. Anderson,^[23]
• The occasionally awarded Anderson Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Maritime History.^[24]
• and the Victory Medal, awarded to those who have displayed notable dedication in the conservation of a historic vessel.^[25]

Since 2017 the Society has also organised its own conferences in partnership with other institutions. A recent example includes an event held in Bristol in 2019 with SS Great Britain and the Brunel Institute.

The Mariner's Mirror

The Mariner's Mirror is the Society's peer-reviewed quarterly journal. First published in 1911, the journal publishes original papers, articles, notes and book reviews on a wide range of topics relating to humankind's relationship with the sea, including archaeology, shipbuilding and design, historic vessels, naval tactics, administration and logistics, merchant seafaring, shiphandling and seamanship and other subjects of nautical interest.^[26]

The Mariner's Mirror is ranked as an ERIH Plus journal by the European Reference Index for the Humanities and is published quarterly in collaboration with Taylor & Francis.^[27]

The Editor is Dr Martin Bellamy.^[28][29]

Fellowships

In 2016 the society instituted Fellowships (FSNR) to recognise members' contribution to its work. As of 1 November 2018 there were 43 Fellows of the Society.^[30]

Other Activities

In 2020 the Society launched a podcast covering all themes and periods of maritime history.^[31]

Publications

• Mariner's Mirror (1911-date), quarterly ISSN 0025-3359
• Newsletter: Topmasts

Notes

1. The Times, 3 Dec 1910; The Times 21 June 1912.
2. The Times 5 March 1982
3. The Times 9 April 1986
4. "Professor Richard Harding is the new Vice President of the Society for Nautical Research".
5. "February 2012 | The Royal Family".
6. Phillips, Larie (2022). "Admiral Kenneth Eaton (1934-2022)". The Mariner's Mirror. The Society for Nautical Research. 108 (4): 388–389. doi:10.1080/00253359.2022.2117454. S2CID 253161528.
7. The Times, 3 March 1922
8. The Times, 4 July 1928
9. The Times, 2 Feb 1925
10. The National Museum of the Royal Navy: A century of British naval heritage, Scuttlebutt, Spring 2012
11. "HMS Victory to be repainted in Trafalgar Colours". Historic Dockyard. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
12. "Nautical Research Support for HMS Victory Topped 1 Million". Historic Dockyard. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
13. The Times, 23 March 1914
14. European Collections of Scientific Instruments, 1550-1750, Giorgio Strano, Stephen Johnston, Mara Miniati, Alison D. Morrison-Low, BRILL, 2009, 9047426177, p. 170
15. "National Naval Museum", The Times, 9 June 1927.
16. Of Ships and Stars: Maritime Heritage and the Founding of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, Kevin Littlewood, Beverley Butler, Bloomsbury Publishing, 1998, 0485121468, p. 78
17. Sextants at Greenwich: A Catalogue of the Mariner's Quadrants, Mariner's Astrolabes, Cross-staffs, Backstaffs, Octants, Sextants, Quintants, Reflecting Circles and Artificial Horizons in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, W.F.J. Mörzer Bruyns, Richard Dunn, OUP Oxford, 2009, 0199532540, p. 72
18. "History of the National Maritime Museum". National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
19. "Macpherson Collection Endowment Fund". Charity Commission. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
20. Gazard, Catherine (2022). "Tilly Kettle's Portrait of Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Cornish, Captain Richard Kempenfelt and Thomas Parry". The Mariner's Mirror. The Society for Nautical Research. 108 (4): 462–468. doi:10.1080/00253359.2022.2117460. S2CID 253161540.
21. "Funding". Centre for Maritime Historical Studies, University of Exeter. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
22. "New Researchers in Maritime History Conference".
23. English/British Naval History to 1815: A Guide to the Literature Issue 15 of Bibliographies and indexes in military studies, Eugene L. Rasor, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004, 0313305471, p. 385.
24. "SNR Announces Professor John Hattendorf as First Recipient of Anderson Lifetime Achievement Award".
25. The Northern Echo, 25 March 2013
26. Society For Nautical Research." The Times, 3 Dec. 1910
27. European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences
28. Fischer, L. R.; Starkey, D. J. (2012). ""Editors' Note"". International Journal of Maritime History. 24 (1): xi–xii. doi:10.1177/084387141202400101. S2CID 220199253.
29. Bellamy, Martin (2022). "Editorial". The Mariner's Mirror. Society for Nautical Research. 108 (4): 387. doi:10.1080/00253359.2022.2117453. S2CID 253161552.
30. "Fellows".
31. "The Mariner's Mirror Podcast on acast".

External links

• Official website