ProvenanceThe figurehead for the ‘Hannah Nicholson’ was carved for the three masted wooden barque of 252 tons, built at Whitehaven, England in 1858 by L. Kennedy & Company. The barque’s first owner was merchant William Nicholson. It is presumed that the figurehead depicts one of his female relatives.
Hannah Nicholson sailed from Whitehaven on 1 April 1858 bound for Melbourne under the command of Captain W Rooke, and carrying its owner, William Nicholson. It spent the rest of its career in Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and working the sugar trade with Mauritius. In 1873, while under the command of Captain Leask, the vessel picked up a cargo of sugar in Port Louis, Mauritius. The captain went mad and was confined to his cabin, the crew finding him dead on arrival. From 1873 Hannah Nicholson was registered at Port Adelaide, owned by J Bickers. Operating from Port Adelaide, Bickers established his BB Line or Bickers Brothers Line. Initially the vessels serviced remoter areas along the Australian coastline, transporting, among other things, coal for local use from Newcastle, New South Wales. When steam colliers began to take control of the coal trade, Bickers' vessels switched to the trade between China, Japan, Mauritius, and South Africa. On outward runs flour was typically the main cargo, with tea on the return voyage from the East, and sugar from Mauritius. Hannah Nicholson's register closed in 1926 and it was used as a hulk in Timaru, on New Zealand's South Island.
The figurehead was installed in the grounds of Captain Bicker's ‘Camilla House’, South Esplanade, in Semaphore. It was donated to the Port Adelaide Nautical museum collection in 1939, following the death of the proprietor, Mrs. Abernethy.
Established in 1872, the Port Adelaide Nautical Museum is the oldest maritime collection in Australia and represents the Port Adelaide community, businesses and seafarers - some returning home from abroad and others passing through. Formerly located in the museum of the Port Adelaide Institute, established 1851, it was a part of the 19th century movement for self-education that led to the establishment of public libraries, schools and museums. The collection is now held by the South Australian Maritime Museum.SignificanceFigureheads, carved wooden sculptures which ornamented the bow of a sailing ship, embodied the 'soul' of the vessel and were believed to offer the crew protection and safe passage on the seas. They were also used to identify a ship, reflecting its function or paying tribute to a person connected with the vessel. The South Australian Maritime Museum has a collection of seventeen ship’s figureheads - the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. The figureheads were sourced and acquired by Vernon Smith, the Honorary Curator of the Port Adelaide Nautical Museum (from which the current museum evolved) over a period of fifty years. He thoroughly documented his search and as result, most of the figureheads are well provenanced with a recorded chain of ownership. The plight of the figurehead after the wreck demonstrates how these objects were coveted and acquired by those outside the maritime trade. Female figureheads were believed to stave off storms at sea. During the latter part of the 19th century, there was an increasingly common trend for figureheads to represent the wives or daughters of the ship's owner.DescriptionThe white painted figurehead from the Hannah Nicholson depicts a female clad in modest Victorian dress. She has a locket around her neck, clutches a book to her chest with her left hand and holds a posy in her right. A tiara rests on her head.Creator (person)Creator (organisation)AcknowledgementDate of Creation1858Date of UsageAccession NumberHT 2012.0659On DisplaySouth Australian Maritime Museum
