Something You Found

I scanned the floor as I walked to and from work hoping to find a coin or some other interesting item. All I could see was cigarette butts and I probably looked like a tramp in search of such things. So I found nothing today. Instead here is a picture I found a few years ago.

My Dad died in 2004 and after he died I tried to learn a little more about him. My Dad was born in Hong Kong and came to this country in 1957. We always knew he was a sailor in the merchant navy and amongst his things I found some old wage slips. The one in the picture is dated 16th May 1957 and he got paid £28 for four months at sea. From his wage slips I could see that the ship he mainly worked on, and the one I feel brought him here, is the S.S. Castledore. This set me off on a search for a picture of this ship. There weren't many but I eventually found two sources of pictures. One was what is now the Hartlepool Maritime Museum which had records of when the ship was built (1956) by whom and some pictures of its construction and out at sea just after launch. The person I got in touch with was very helpful and sent me some big printouts of the ship and told me it will have been brand new when my dad worked on it. As nice as those pictures were I then found the picture you see here, which I really like. I found a record and a small image online on the National Library of Australia's website and they very kindly posted me a hi res scan of the slide.

The picture is by Australian photographer Frank Hurley who was the official photographer on Shakleton's Antarctic expedition. He left his collection to the National Library of Australia after he died in 1962.

So that photograph is something I found. And I guess I found a bit more about my Dad along the way. I really need to get it on the wall.