Description
No. 53 in Fanshawe's Pacific album, 1849 - 52. Captioned by the artist on the album page below the image, as title. This drawing is reproduced in Fanshawe's 1904 biography, f. p. 269. Fanshawe's 'Daphne' sailed from Valparaiso, Chile, at the end of February 1851 and by early May was in the Gulf of Fonseca, sailing from there on the 8th for Vancouver Island in company with the station flagship 'Asia'. 'Daphne' arrived on 26 June at Esqimalt Harbour, the 'Asia' coming in on the 27th but only staying briefly before sailing for Hawaii. This drawing shows two ships, one probably the 'Daphne', but the other not large enough to be the 'Asia', which was an 84-gun two decker, though possibly another accompanying. On 3 July, after staying briefly with the Governor of Vancouver Island, Mr Blanchard, at the adjacent Victoria settlement, Fanshawe sailed for Fort Rupert, Beaver Harbour, at the north end of Island, on a policing mission. Esquimalt Harbour is on the extreme southern tip of the Island, Victoria Harbour and Victoria (now the provincial capital) lying to its east. It was always a good anchorage and entrepot but there was no settlement until the Navy established hospital buildings there in 1855. The discovery of gold nearby in 1858, on the Fraser River, saw the start of what became the town of Esquimalt: in 1865 the Navy moved its Pacific squadron base from Valparaiso to Esquimalt Harbour and it remains the headquarters of the Canadian Pacific Fleet today. From an album of watercolours of Madeira, Brazil, the Falkland and Pacific Islands, Chile, Panama, Mexico, Vancouver, and California. It covers Fanshawe's commission in command of HMS 'Daphne' 1848-52, on the Pacific station based at Valparaiso, Chile, under Rear-Admiral Phipps Hornby in the 84-gun 'Asia'. The earliest dated drawing is of Madeira, 1 January 1849 on the way out, and the last of Cape Horn on the return, 28 May 1852. For further details, see collection online record.
Image Licence
CC BY-NC-ND
Image Credit
© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Location
Esquimalt Harbour, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
Country
Canada
Medium
Watercolour
Tags
Category
Landscapes & Seascapes
