"Portrait of the Ship Duff"

Engraving, 52cm x 38cm, 2 copies - one coloured. Wm. Wilson, fecit. J. Saunders, sculp[?]. Full caption reads, "This Portrait of the Ship Duff, Capt. James Wilson, is respectfully dedicated to the Directors and members of the Missionary Society by their faithful servant William Wilson". London, Publ...

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Order number: CWM/LMS/Home/South Seas Pictures/16
Date(s) of creation: 1797
Level: Item
Format: Archive           

Order number: CWM/LMS/Home/South Seas Pictures/16
Summary: Engraving, 52cm x 38cm, 2 copies - one coloured. Wm. Wilson, fecit. J. Saunders, sculp[?]. Full caption reads, "This Portrait of the Ship Duff, Capt. James Wilson, is respectfully dedicated to the Directors and members of the Missionary Society by their faithful servant William Wilson". London, Published March 20th 1797, for the Missionary Society, by T. Chapman, No. 131 Fleet Street. Includes a list of the missionaries on board the Duff during its first voyage, with the names of their wives, and their places of origin. Names are as folows: Henry Bicknell, David Bowell, Benjamin Broomhall, John Buchannan, John Cock, Samuel Clode, William Cooper, Revd James Fleet Cover, Mary Cover, William Pascoe Crook, Revd John Eyre, Elizabeth Eyre, John Allan Gillam, Samuel Harper, John Harris, Rowland Hassall, Elizabeth Hassall & two children, William Henry, Sarah Henry, Peter Hodges, Mary Hodges, Revd John Jefferson, Seth Kelso, Revd John Lewis, Edward Maine, Isaac Nobbs, Henry Nott, Francis Oakes, James Puckey, William Puckey, William Shelley, William Smith, James Wilkinson, George Veason. The Duff displays the mission-flag described in a contemporary account, "three doves argent, on a purple field, bearing olive branches in their bills". N.B. A letter received from Dr T. Haweis, which makes reference to the original portrait of the Duff, is related in The Evangelical Magazine for November 1796, pp.472-473, as follows: "I have the pleasure to tell you that as I came down the ship, Captain William Wilson, the Captain's nephew, and now his first mate, who, among his other qualifications, draws in a most superior stile, put into my hands a beautiful drawing of the Duff, under sail, in two views, a side, and a stern view, and wished me to present it to the Directors, and, if they please, to have it engraved for the benefit of the Society. It is adorned with emblematical trophies, and the names of the Missionaries are underneath. - The Directors will, no doubt, every one of them, wish to be possessed of it, and every friend to the Institution will look at it a thousand times with pleasure, and send up many a fervent prayer for the success of the voyage. Adieu. Southampton, Sept. 28, 1796. T.H." [T. Haweis]
Extent: 2 copies
Admin history: The first voyage of the Duff lasted from 10 August 1796 to 11 July 1798, during which she took the first missionaries to Tahiti. A full account of the voyage can be read in 'The History of the London Missionary Society, 1795-1895', by Richard Lovett, Vol. 1, pp. 129-
Access status: Open
Language: English
Physical description: Both copies are in poor condition. Coloured copy has suffered from water damage and mount is disintegrating. Non-coloured version has been trimmed and side borders are missing.
Format: Archive