Interviews

Three applications submitted, two for an MA by Research and one for a Taught MA, at three different universities.

Two interviews arranged so far, one for research and one for taught.

Hold ups

Hold-ups, no not the stockings.

One of my applications to an alternative university wants my interim transcript.

No problem I thought, nope I can't have it as it has my final result on and we haven't had results day yet.

Applications

Well surprised myself at the having been set on the Research Master's at my current university with my chosen supervisor I decided to apply elsewhere.

And so at the weekend I applied online for a taught masters at another local masters and plan to apply for another Research Master's at a university slightly further afield tonight.

Mmmm......

Proposal

 

Naval Headwear

Fig 1. Royal Museums Greenwich. (1829)

 

Introduction

Examining how British Royal Navy Headwear influenced the Navies of the former empire countries. Were these influences a desire to emulate the Royal Navy or an enforced uniform policy by a colonial empire.

How was The Royal Navy influenced, by the headwear of the countries it inhabited, as it opened dockyards around the world in different climates.

Justification

I have read the work of Amy Miller, though her work focuses mainly on the development of uniforms through the period of 1748- 1857, it does offer some insight into the headwear worn in this period also. Figures 1 and 2 show typical styles of early Nineteenth-century uniform headwear work by officers of the Royal Navy.

Fig 2 Royal Museums Greenwich. (Circa 1801)

Did the British Royal Navy affect the dress of other navies worldwide?

The reach of the Georgian Royal Navy was global and with it, the growth in the British colonies, as the colonies became the commonwealth, so their Navies became independent.

As the Royal Navy moved around the globe, they took their customs and uniforms with them. This influence can be seen in the navies of the former British Colonies and Commonwealth.

Fig 3 Thomas Hudson, National Portrait Gallery. (Circa 1751)

I plan to investigate the development of naval headwear from the first officer's uniforms of 1748, 110 years later for ratings in 1858, and how these uniforms influenced other Navies around the world and the Merchant Navy.

Rear-Admiral Sir Peter Warren can be seen in this painting (Figure 3) with his Tricorn tucked under his arm, as was often the practice, to save ruffling your wig, or powdering your tricorn.

John Byron can be seen (Figure 4) be seen wearing his Tricorn, his uniform did not meet the regulations, due to the full-length trousers.

Fig 4 National Portrait Gallery. (1778)

In the early days of a uniformed Royal Navy, officers still wore Tricorns and Bicorns, through to the beginning of the modern style officers' peaked cap in 1840.

It is important to understand how Royal Navy headwear has evolved and adapted over the years, and the influence it has had on other navies, especially commonwealth, and former colonies navies around the world, was this a gradual adoption by other navies, or was this enforced by colonialism? Do these navies still have similar headwear or have they adopted other styles now they are independent countries again. My primary research has shown that some countries, New Zealand, and Australia for example still wear similar headwear and rank insignia, and both still use the Royal in the name, Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal Australian Navy. Figure 5 shows an Officer's Bicorn, worn by Lieutenant Frederick Oliver Handfield during his time in Australia.

Fig 5 Australian War Memorial. (Circa 1860)

Did this influence in uniform/headwear go both ways, I have already identified that Royal Navy in the far East did wear Sun Helmets a type of Pith helmet worn around Asia, adopted by the British Officers before they were officially introduced as uniform in 1815.

Did the Royal Navy press-ganging of sailors from around the world, play a role in the development of uniform headwear, with the headwear they brought with them?

Fig. 6 Barlow, J, Manning the Navy. (1790).

The image above (figure 6) shows a press gang at work on the streets of London, the Royal Navy Officers in Tricorns, while the sailors wear similar hats to the civilian men they are press-ganging. Press Ganging took place around the world, whenever a ship needed more crew. This meant new crewmen would often arrive with an assortment of headwear.

I am mainly concentrating on the headwear worn by men, as Women have only officially been a part of the Royal Navy since the First World War, though their headwear has evolved a great deal in that time until 1996 when female junior rates started to wear the same headwear as their male counterparts, to date female senior rates and officers have retained their Tricorn caps. Figure 7 shows the first female captain of a Royal New Zealand Navy warship, her modern Tricorn is identical to the British Royal Navy one worn by female officers.

Fig. 7 Mike Millet (2017).

I have started by looking at contemporary art and illustrations to get a feel for the shapes and styles of headgear worn, I am aware that this is not a valid research technique but helps identify hat types and styles. Figure 8 is interesting as it shows several men of different ranks with various types of headwear, fitting to their station.

Fig. 8 George Cruickshank, The Point of Horror (1825)

I have started to make enquiries with museum collections to view their Naval headwear collections.

Timeline showing key points in uniform development.

Objectives

●     To examine how Royal Navy Headwear evolved and its influences on other services and countries Navies across the globe.

●     To establish the development of Naval headwear and its influence across the globe

●     To establish if there is a link between headwear of the Royal Navy and other navies around the world. Merchant Navy headwear often emulated that of its cousins in the Royal Navy, why? Was this because of close working links, A desire to emulate the Royal Navy or because companies such as the East India Company established and ruled large chunks for the British Empire?

●     How did local climates and conditions affect the designs and materials used in Naval headwear? Pith or Sun helmets in warmer climates

●     How did various roles and jobs in the Royal Navy influence the headwear worn, for example, boiler caps (Figure 9) worn by stokers?

Fig 9 Boiler Cap (Circa 1950)

●     Who made Naval headwear, Naval tailors (Figure 10), or someone else?

Fig 10. George Bickman the Younger. (1749)

Literature Review

I have not been able to find any specific research into Royal Navy headwear and its developments. I am currently investigating, and reading other books on Royal Navy Uniforms, and that of foreign navies.

 

I will also look at the work of Beverly Lemire.

 

One of the things I have found helpful with the older publications is that many have adverts for related shops, for example, Naval tailors. I have a collection of older Naval publications which I will search through for details of these long-forgotten naval businesses.

 

Dressed to Kill, Miller, Amy

In her book Dressed to Kill, Amy Miller gives a detailed account of naval uniforms in the 18th and 19th Centuries from the collections of the Royal Museums Greenwich, she explores the influence it had on the fashions of the day. The book looks at the social context that influenced uniforms of the era.

 

The Royal Navy 1790-1970, Wilkson-Latham, Robert

While this short book is a history of the Royal Navy, it has a focus on the Uniforms and dress of officers and sailors. It contains contemporary paintings, modern illustrations, and photographs of extant garments.

 

A History of Clothing and Textiles for Sailors in the British Royal Navy, 1660-1859, Daley, Jennifer.

I am waiting to be able to read this as the book is being published in Autumn, and as yet I have not been able to read her PhD publication as it is not available online.

 

Nelson’s Navy, Haythornthwaite, Philip

This book looks at the Navy during Nelson’s Career (1771-1805), it also covers the uniforms and clothing worn by men at sea. Including some clear illustrations of men in uniform, and sea-going clothing.

 

Nelson’s Sailors, Fremont-Barnes, Gregory

This book focuses on the men rather than the Officers of Nelsons Navy in a time when only officers had a prescribed uniform. This is a simple book with little information but again is a good starting point.

 

How to survive in the Georgian Navy - A Sailors Guide, Pappalardo, Bruno

While this book is not directly about uniforms it does give an insight into life at sea in the 18th Century.

 

 

Stripes and types of the Royal Navy, Blyth, Robert

Robert Blyth senior curator of World and Maritime History, Royal Museums Greenwich explores the uniforms including headwear of the Edwardian Royal Navy, this book mainly illustrations but does give an insight into how various items of uniforms were worn together, republished from an original publication published in 1909, by Gale & Polden Ltd.

 

 

Naval Uniforms Through the Ages, Powers, Henry

This book provided some useful images of sailors and officers between the 10th century and late 19th Century, though contains no information about these images or the garments in them.

 

Uniforms of the Navy, Carmen, W Y

This pamphlet published in 1942, has a brief illustrated history of the Royal Navy uniform.

 

British Naval Dress, Jarrett, Dudley

Published in 1960, this book covers the first two hundred years of Naval Uniform, briefly touching on the period before Naval Officers first received uniform regulations in 1748. Again, this book is beautifully illustrated.

 

The Hats that made Britain, Long, David

Whilst not a book about the Royal Navy or Military, this book does contain some information about Naval and seafarer’s hats.

 

A gallery of Military Headdress. Bates, Stuart and Suciu, Peter

An illustrated guide of headdresses, this guide shoes various headdresses from various eras around the world, it is mainly Army but does have some useful information on universal items such as metal helmets and pith helmets.

Uniforms of the World. Knotel. Richard, Knotel, Herbert and Sieg, Herbert

This older book, published in 1969, and translated in 1980, covers mainly the Armies of the world, though does have a section on the world’s navies from 1700 to 1939, with some interesting comparisons between uniforms.

 

Methodology

Using archives, online collections, and books, I plan to track the evolution and design differences between makers of Royal Navy Headwear from the 18th Century

I have identified the following sources of information.

·         Gieves and Hawkes Archive

·         Portsmouth History Centre

·         National Maritime Museum/ Royal Museums Greenwich.

·         Portsmouth Historic Dockyard Archive

·         The National Archives

·         Chatham Historic Dockyard Archive

·         The Box Museum, Plymouth

·         Devonport Naval Heritage Centre, Plymouth

·         Imperial War Museum

·         Scottish Maritime Museum

·         HQS Wellington, Honourable Company of Master Mariners.

·         Honourable Company of Master Mariners Library

·         Using the online collection of the National Maritime Museum/ Royal Museums Greenwich.

, I have been able to identify some of the makers of the headwear in their collection, and in turn, have been able to find the archives of some of these companies. These archives include personal records for their customers.

I am aware that the National Archives has many documents, including Monthly musters, logbooks, diaries, and other personal documents pertaining to the issues and purchase of Naval Uniforms, and I would hope that these many help me to establish who supplied and indeed made the all-important headwear from various eras.

I plan to visit these archives and have made contact with some of the curators of the collections to discuss the headwear in the collection.

I am investigating the Naval Museums of commonwealth countries and their online collections. To allow me to compare the headwear worn around the world.

·         The Torpedo Bay Naval Museum

·         Australian National Maritime Museum

·         Naval Museum of Halifax, Canada

·         Naval Marine Archive, Canada

·         Canadian War Museum

I am still investigating other collections that may be of use in research.

I will consider when certain styles of Royal Navy headwear were worn and by whom, and how these styles changed/evolved, I will also investigate how these styles are reflected in other Navies around the world.

My main focus will be on the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, from the introduction of uniforms.

References

●      Miller, A (Great Britain). (2007). Dressed to Kill: British naval uniform, masculinity and contemporary fashions, 1748-1857. Royal Museums Greenwich.

●      Pappalardo, B (London). (2019). How to Survive in the Georgian Navy: A Sailors Guide. Osprey Publishing.

●      Fremont-Barnes, G (Great Britain). (2005). Nelson’s Sailors. Osprey Publishing.

●      Haythornthwaite, P (Great Britain). (1993). Nelson’s Navy. Osprey Publishing.

●      Blyth, R (London). (2020). Stripes and Types of the Royal Navy. Royal Museums Greenwich.

●      Powers, H (Great Britain). (Unknown) Naval Uniforms Through the Ages. Amazon.

●      Wilkson-Latham, R (Great Britain). (1977). The Royal Navy 1790-1970. Osprey Publishing.

●      Long, D (Cheltenham). (2020). The Hats that made Britain. The History Press.

●      Jarrett, D (Great Britain), (1960). British Naval Dress. JM Dent and Sons Ltd.

●      Carman, W (London), (1942). Uniform of the Navy Past & Present. Forster Groom & Co

 

Image List

·         Fig 1 Royal Museums Greenwich. (1929). Royal Navy Uniform 1827-43. [Photograph] Royal Museums Greenwich.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-74372

·         Fig 2 Royal Museums Greenwich. (Circa 1801). Royal Navy Cocked Hat. [Photograph] Royal Museums Greenwich.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-71272

·         Fig 3 Thomas Hudson. (Circa 1751). Sir Peter Warren [Portrait] National Portrait Gallery.

https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/explore/an-officer-and-a-gentleman-naval-uniform-and-male-fashion-in-the-eighteenth-century

·         Fig 4 Artist Unknown. (1778). John Byron [Etching] National Portrait Gallery.

https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/explore/an-officer-and-a-gentleman-naval-uniform-and-male-fashion-in-the-eighteenth-century

·         Fig 5 Australian War Memorial. (Circa 1860). Victorian Colonial Volunteers Officer Bicorn [Photograph]. Australian War Memorial.

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C110205

·         Fig. 6 Barlow, J. (1790). Manning the Navy [Print]. Royal Museums Greenwich.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-108883

·         Fig. 7 Millet, M (2017). Lieutenant Commander Lorn Gray. [Photograph]. Stuff.co.nz

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/93414380/evolution-as-new-zealand-navy-appoints-its-first-female-commanding-officers

·         Fig. 8. Cruikshank, G (1825). The Point of Horror [Print] Royal Museums Greenwich.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-104328

·         Fig 9 J Compton & Sons (Circa 1950). Boiler Cap [Cap] Militaria Zone

https://www.militariazone.com/hats/original-1950s-royal-navy-cap-blue-drill-cotton-work-cap/itm36438#.Ypx59KjMKUk

·         Fig 10. George Bickman the Younger. (1749). The Merchant Tailors [Etching] British Museum.

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_G-12-111

·          

The Proposal

 That's it just over 2000 words, 10 images and the bibliography.

So now the wait for confirmation begins.

Next step Interview and then Student finance application