Registration number 204
Status National Historic Fleet
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Details

Function Cargo Vessel
Subfunction Barge
Location River Thames
Vessel type Spritsail Barge
Current use Commercial Activity
Available to hire Yes
Available for excursions No
Info required Yes

Construction

Builder Cann, John & Herbert, Harwich
Built in 1901
Hull material Wood
Rig Spritsail
Number of decks 1
Number of masts 1
Propulsion Sail
Number of engines 1
Primary engine type Diesel
Boiler type None
Boilermaker None

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam
22.00 feet (6.71m)
Depth
6.75 feet (2.06m)
Length: Overall
83.93 feet (25.60m)
Tonnage: Gross
68.00

History

GLADYS’s first owners were William Thomas Whitmore, Harwich (master mariner with 48 shares) and John Howard (master mariner with 16 shares) of Shoeburyness, but in 1902 she was sold to John Lesley Whitemore, Colne, Lancashire on 2 April 1902, although John Howard remained the master. On 15 August 1912, she was sold to Cranfield Brothers Ltd., with Charles Howard as the master. A diesel engine was fitted around 1950 and so she was re-registered. On 6 November 1972, she was sold to the grain importers Mardorf, Peach & Co Ltd, of Berkeley Square, London, who subsequently sold her on 4 February 1999 to her present owners.

Gladys has had a full restoration between 2018 - 2022

We are currently seeking further information on this National Historic Fleet vessel. If you have any details about this vessel past or present, please contact us.

Key dates

  • 1901

    Vessel built by Cann Brothers, Harwich for William T Whitmore

  • 1973

    Sold by Cranfield Brothers to Maldorf Peach Ltd

  • 1974

    Re-rigged for use as a company yacht based at St Katharine Docks, London

  • 1999

    Sold to new owners

  • 2022

    4 year restoration completed

Sources

Brouwer, Norman J, International Register of Historic Ships, Anthony Nelson, pp152, Edition 2, 1993 
Carr, Frank, Sailing Barges, 1971
Hugh Perks, Richard, Sprts'l: A Portrait of Sailing Barges and Sailormen, Conway Maritime Press, 1975
The Last Berth of the Sailorman, Society for Spritsail Barge Research, 1987
Wood, D G, Barges Sailing Today: Sailing Barge Information Pamplet No: 1, Society for Spritsail Barge Research, 1995
Walsh, Richard, Classic Boat:Thames barging, September 1998

Own this vessel?

If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk

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