Frederick Garling and a Tale of Two Ships Named 'Success'

The wonderful painting shown above is of the ship Success when she was an emigrant ship, and was created in 1849 by the noted marine artist Frederick Garling. Behind this wonderful work lies a fascinating tale of artistry and coincidence.

Frederick Garling, Jr. (see portrait below and to the right) was born in London 1806, the son of Frederick Garling, a solicitor. The Garling family arrived at Sydney in the ship Francis and Eliza in 1815. His father had the distinction of being the second solicitor admitted to the practice of law in Sydney.

From an early age Frederick's passion was painting. He showed such promise as a landscape artist that in the 20-year-old was chosen to accompany Captain James Stirling on an expedition to the Swan River on the west coast of Australia. Its purpose was to explore the region and assess its suitability as a site for a new British settlement. Garling was brought along to serve as the expedition's official artist.

Stirling had entered the british navy in August 1803, and made lieutenant in August 1809. In January 1826 he was given command of HMS Success, a brand spanking new 28-gun frigate. The following December he suggested that taking possession of the land on the west of Australia near the Swan River would provide England a trading advantage. The mission was approved and in January 1827, HMS Success sailed from Sydney for the Swan River. Among her passengers were the Colonial Botanist Charles Frazer and the surgeon, Frederick Clause. The expedition explored the area in detail and at one point Garling accompanied Stirling and Fraser as they climbed Mount Eliza, becoming the first Europeans to do so. Garling recorded it all with his wonderfully detailed landscapes.

In December 1828 Stirling was made Lieutenant-Governor of the new colony and formally founded the city of Perth. HMS Success returned to Western Australia under a different captain in 1829 and wrecked on Carnac Island. She was refloated, repaired, and returned to England.

Following his adventures in Western Australia, Garling returned to Sydney and was appointed to a position in the Customs Office, in which he performed ably while continuing to paint. He married Elizabeth Ward in 1829 and they had seven sons and four daughters. But he was even more prolific as a painter than he was as a father. It was said that during his lifetime he painted most of the ships that arrived at Sydney over a period of 40 years. He lived in a large two-story house on Market Lane in Sydney and, according to one old timer, "could always be seen in the early morning sitting near an open window engaged on his work."

In 1847, Frederick was promoted to acting landing surveyor at Sydney while in the meantime working steadily as a port artist. One of his chosen subjects happened to be a 9-year-old, full-rigged emigrant ship that arrived at Sydney from Plymouth by way of Hobart, Tasmania, on December 17, 1849. She had on board 182 government emigrants, the bulk of whom were the family members of convicts who had been transported to New South Wales for various crimes.

Perhaps a smile creased Garling's lips when he saw her. This new Success was not that unlike HMS Success that Garling knew so well from his exploits 22 years earlier. Similar in rig and size, the false gun ports of the emigrant ship mimicked the real ones sported by Stirling's frigate. What Garling likely did not know was that six years earlier, in 1843, the emigrant ship Success had sailed to the Swan River colony, as as HMS Success had done. Odds are he also did not know that the ship Success had grounded on a sandbar, suffering a fate similar to that which had befallen HMS Success. Nor is it likely he was aware that when the emigrant ship voyaged to Swan River, she was then owned by Frederick Mangles, Captain Stirling's brother-in-law!

With watercolor as his chosen medium, Garling produced a beautifully rendered, high detailed portrait of the emigrant ship Success. In the foreground, one of the ship's long boats can be seen ferrying passengers to the ship, which appears to be getting ready to make way. A well-known villa at Eliza Point (now Point Piper) is visible in the background. The work is entitled: "The barque SUCCESS off Point Piper." This is interesting because the ship is clearly rigged as a ship, not a barque (or bark), which makes me wonder Garling if titled this work, or whether it was assigned later. Is is possible that Garling, whose passion it was to paint sailing vessels, and who as a customs official, must have spent a significant amount of time in and around ships, did not know the difference between a ship and a bark?

At this point I shouls explain, for the benefit of the landlubber, the difference. A bark, or barque, typically has three masts, with the fore mast (the one at the front of the ship) and main mast (the middle mast) being rigged with square sails, and the rear most, or mizzen mast, rigged with fore-and-aft sails. A ship also has three masts but differs from the bark in that all three masts are rigged with square sails. The 'ship' will also typically have an additional fore-and-aft sail on the mizzen behind the square sails, called a 'spanker.' Here is a graphic showing what I mean. Example 1 is a ship rig, 2 is a barque or bark, and 3 is a barkentine.

To an untrained eye, the presence of a spanker on the mizzen might result in a ship rigged vessel being confused with a bark. In the Garling painting, the square sails are clearly visible on the mizzen of the Success, telling us that without doubt she is a ship, not a bark.

Interestingly enough, not long after the Victorian government sold the Success in 1890 and she became an exhibition ship, she was rigged as a bark to allow her to sail again. Years later, in 1911, she was re-rigged yet again, this time as a barkentine, which mounts square sails on the fore mast only. So at one time or another, the Success sported all three rigs. But I digress...

One person who greatly admired Garling's painting was his boss, Colonel John Gibbes, the Collector of Customs for New South Wales. Gibbes bought a number of Frederick's paintings, including his portrait of the Success and left it, along with three others, in his will to his daughter, Frances Minto Ludlam of Newry, New Zealand.

Because Garling had a habit of not signing his paintings, many of them sat for years in various libraries and museums, either unidentified or misidentified, eventually to be "discovered" once they were properly examined by experts. Today Garling's works are highly sought after and exhibitions of his art are very popular. A few years Christie's auction house offered one of Garling's ship paintings for 39,341.28 British pounds, or almost $64,000, although others have gone for quite a bit less.

Frederick Garling died in Sydney in 1873, leaving behind a wonderful legacy of marine art, and our only glimpse of what the Success looked like as a full rigged ship, before her conversion to a penal hulk. His wonderful painting of the Success is a permanent part of the National Maritime Collection at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, Australia.

Over the years, the marked similarities between the two ships named Success caused endless confusion, so much so that when the Success went on exhibition, the first history written about her mis-reported the ex penal hulk as being Stirling's warship. Penned by Joseph Harvie in 1895, the book, which was sold on board, asserted that "In the month of June 1829 the Success was chartered by the British Admiralty to sail to Australia." Harvie was castigated by some Australians for the mistake, implying that he was intentionally misleading, but he wasn't the only one to make the error. The Western Australian Year Book for 1902-4 contained an illustration of the the exhibition ship incorrectly labeled "H.M.S. Success," and a photograph of the Ship Success, rigged out for her voyage to England in 1895, was hung up in the Perth Public Library .

I for one don't believe Harvie's confusion was intentional. Rather, it highlights the pitfalls facing those who study history.

(Picture credits: Frederick Garling's painting of the Success is reproduced here courtesy of theAustralian National Maritime Museum, from the collection of the Museum's USA Gallery. The portrait of Frederick Garling is reproduced here courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales.)

Figures in Wax

One of the key attractions to the "convict ship" Success from her very first days of exhibition was the prominent use of wax figures to represent prisoners who had done time on board the ship, as well as others who were a part of the ship's history in some way. As I noted in an earlier blog, wax representations of members of the Kelly Gang of bushrangers, shown in the photo below, were included because of the immense popularity of Ned Kelly in Australia at the end of the 19th century, not because of any connection with the ship Success.

At the time that the Success first went on exhibition at Port Melbourne in early 1890, the art of wax modeling was immensely popular. And the most popular subject for the wax artisan? Criminals! Then, as now, the public had a morbid fascination with the criminals of the day, especially bushrangers, who were considered dashing, larger-than-life figures. So it was hardly surprising when someone from a local waxworks in Melbourne approached the new Success management with an offer to sell them a set of these figures. Judging from these images, the quality of the work was exceptionally high. Police photographs of these criminal subjects allowed the wax artist to render an exceptionally lifelike product.

Alexander Phillips, who bought the ship at auction from the Victorian government, purchased wax figures for a number of well-known Success convicts, as well as the Kelly Gang. Individual figures were placed in cells on the 'tween and lower decks. Groups of figures, such as that of the Kelly Gang and a scene depicting the murder of John Price, were placed in larger spaces located at the aft end of the ship on both decks. Over the years the figures changed, added, or had to be redone. In 1892 when the ship was on show in Sydney, there was a faction of citizenry opposed to the exhibit. One night a group of individuals skulked aboard and smashed most of the wax figures, causing considerable damage. Then, a few weeks later, the ship sank. (Whether the sinking was accidental or deliberate was never fully resolved.) After the ship was raised six months later, a new company was formed from the ashes of the old and one of the things that was done was to replace all of the original wax figures. They continued to be popular during the ship's half century of exhibition. It is worth noting that many of the early wax figures featured on the ship were immortalized by the renowned photographer, John Watt Beattie, who came aboard and was allowed access to these exhibits when the ship was on exhibition at Hobart, Tasmania, in 1894. Among others, he is responsible for the images on the right and immediately below.

The wax figures were always popular, in part because they served a valuable purpose. Instead of staring at an empty cell, the visitor got to see what looked like an actual person, dressed in prison garb. Being able to visualize the convicts in this way surely made for a more rewarding and meaningful experience. By the way, to support the weight of these full-size figures they were fitted with special iron 'feet,' like the one shown below.

There are many stories that have been told about the life-like nature of these figures. Some years ago the head from one of the wax figures sat at the end of the bar at the famous Roundhouse Bar at Put-in-Bay village on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. Periodically, one of the bartenders would place a cigarette between the wax lips, light it, and wait for the stunned reactions of the bar's patrons that were sure to follow. A lecturer on the ship told of how he would stand deathly still among the wax figures as a tour group came through, suddenly coming to life and scaring the bejesus out of group members.

While some of the wax figures were destroyed in the 1946 fire, there is no doubt that many of them ended up in private hands in the years prior when the ship was left unprotected and vulnerable to looting. Fortunately, though, a few of these fine pieces are available for public viewing. You can see several fine pieces on display at the Sandusky Maritime Museum in Sandusky, Ohio. They have a fine collection of these and other pieces, on permanent loan from the Rutherford B. Hayes Library in Fremont, Ohio. I will close this blog with a pic of one of the wax heads and other Success artifacts on display in Sandusky. It's well worth a visit.

Houdini vs. the Success

When the ship Success arrived in the U.S. for a long-running tour of exhibition as the "Convict Ship Success," she had the good fortune to be under the management of Dave Smith.

By the time Smith first laid eyes on the old ship at Douglas, Isle of Man, in the summer of 1911, the 32-year-old Hoosier was already a veteran salesman, card sharp, and raconteur. And he had some definite ideas about how to advertise and promote the ship when she entered U.S. waters a year later. His was a multi-pronged approach: run large display ads in all the local newspapers before the ship reached port, invite the press and prominent public officials to exclusive showings of the vessel before opening her to public view, and stage publicity stunts.

An early example of the latter was staged in 1913, not long after the Success arrived in the U.S. The old craft arrived in New York City on April 25th, docking at West 79th Street and Riverside Drive in the North River. While the Success was thrilling crowds in the Big Apple, Harry Houdini, who had become world famous as an escape artist and illusionist, was returning to New York from Bucharest aboard the steamer Kronprinz Wilhelm to open at Willliam Hammerstein’s popular Rooftop Theater for a second season of performances there. Sensing an opportunity, Hammerstein’s press agent suggested to Smith that he challenge Houdini to escape from one of the cells below deck. Smith wrote to Hammerstein, "If you allow me to manacle him [Houdini], lock him into one of the cells, I am ready to wager he will not escape." When Hammerstein suggested he and Houdini they communicate directly, Smith sent a cable to the famous escape artist extending the challenge. Like Smith every bit the showman, Houdini wired back, “Accept challenge any time mutually agreed upon to undergo test. Want no favors, but demand fair play.”

The stunt was scheduled for Wednesday, June 4, at 1:30 pm. With a large crowd watching from the dock, Houdini was placed in irons and locked in a cell on the lower deck, where he was further secured to a ringbolt attached to the hull. Within the space of an hour, Houdini released himself, dove through an upper porthole and swam to shore. The crowd roared – the stunt was a success.

Smith was famous for using press agents to help cook up creative - and sometimes outlandish - publicity stunts. One of his most famous was the "discovery" of a so-called Burmese "pigeon blood ruby" deep down in the hold of the ship when it was docked in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1923. Smith garnered enormous press as a result of the stunt, even after a journalist exposed the charade.

More tame publicity stunts involved various challenges in which the public was enticed to compete for money; for example, by getting married in Cell 13 on Friday the 13^th. Over the years the Success served as the setting for more than a few nuptuals!

Bushrangers and the Success

The ship Success continues to elicit a tremendous amount of interest around the world, as evidenced by the number of different websites that have shown interest in her story. One particularly fine website discusses the Success and her connection to a well known Australian outlaw. This site, called glenrowan1880, is owned and operated by Dave White. As many of you no doubt know, Ned was a famous Australian "bushranger" - a particular brand outlaw who roamed the hinterlands of Australia during the mid to late 19th century. A number of the more colorful among them attained the status of folk hero, their stories memorialized in poems, books, and on film. The names of a few of them become associated with the Success during her tenure as a penal hulk in the colony of Victoria and later as an exhibition ship. According to Wikipedia, these bushrangers were roughly analogous to British "highwaymen" and American "Old West outlaws," and their crimes often included robbing small-town banks or coach services. And some of them ended up incarcerated on board the various penal hulks, including the Success.

The bushranger perhaps most closely associated with the Success is Henry Johnson, alias Harry Power.

Power, an expert horseman and bush survivalist, is credited with tutoring the most celebrated bushranger in Australian, Ned Kelly. He served time on board the Success and was involved in one of the deadlier incidents involving the famous hulk, but his connection to the vessel does not end there. I will talk about Power and his close affiliation with the Success in more detail in a future blog, but for now let's return to the Ned Kelly story.

Sharon's excellent website provides a fascinating study of Ned and his kind. Part of what makes her site fun for me is the way she departs from the main path to explore aspects of the Kelly legend not usually discussed by Ned's biographers, such as the Success. Interestingly enough, Ned's connection with the Success (except for his association with Power) did not begin until the ship was put on exhibition in 1890 after being auctioned off to private interests. Part of her transformation into a show ship involved fitting her out as a waxworks. Lifelike representations of former Success convicts were accompanied by depictions the Kelly Gang and of the murder of John Price. What made the inclusion of the former of interest was that no member of Ned's gang had ever been incarcerated on the ship, which, by time Ned was out roaming the outlaw trail, was no longer being used to house prisoners. And as Hollingsworth correctly points out, the Exhibition Catalogue was quick to mention that the Kelly Gang figures were on display merely as examples of "modern Australian outlaws."

However, another Kelly related exhibit on display by the Success showmen created a bit more controversy. The Kelly Armour purported to be protective armor actually worn by Ned at the time of his arrest. However, this suit of armor is widely regarded as being a fake. Indeed, faked Kelly armor was not uncommon. Here is a photo of the armor on display on the Success:

I have attempted to determine where this armor came from, with little success. I have been even less successful in determining where it ended up. It was one of the many relics that disappeared from the ship during her fateful stay in Sandusky, Ohio (1943-45) when she was left unprotected. Thieves and vandals roamed at will over the sunken vessel, removing anything not bolted down. No doubt many of these items are sitting packed away in boxes, hiding in garages and basements, their "owners" too embarrassed to display them.

There are two other bushrangers who served time on board the hulk Success who are worthy of mention. They are Frank McCallum, alias Captain Melville, and Owen Suffolk. I will discuss each of these fascinating figures in future blog postings.

A Multinational Ship

One of the remarkable things about the ‘Success’ is that she was a genuinely “multinational’ ship. Built in present-day Myanmar (then British India, later Burma), she held British registry for 12 years, until sold to the government of the newly formed state of Victoria, Australia. She remained government property for 38 years, until sold at auction to private interests in 1890.

She was presumably registered in Australia until she departed those waters permanently in 1895, returning ‘home,’ as it were, to England. In the course of the next 16 years she rounded Great Britain three times. The issue of nationality did not arise until she sailed to the United States in 1912. In order to avoid paying local taxes and fees, David Smith, who managed the vessel during her tour of exhibition in America, argued to local authorities that she was a ‘foreign vessel’ and therefore not subject to local taxation. In support of his contention he produced a letter from the British Board of Trade stating that they classified her as a ‘British yacht.’ It was a rather tenuous argument, and yet Smith succeeded in getting a few U.S. attorneys to write letters supporting his contention, and for years managed to avoid those higher fees. As the years passed and her U.S. ownership became more clearly evident, it became harder for Smith and his successors to avoid the higher fees.

During her long, remarkable career, the ‘Success’ transported British goods, carried indentured servants from India to the West Indies and English, Irish and Scottish emigrants from England to Australia, and housed convicts from many countries. ‘Born’ in British India and launched into salt water, she met her end in fresh water half a world away.

The ‘Success’ was indeed a multinational ship.

Welcome to the Sailing Ship Success

I have created this blog to accompany my website dedicated to the life and legend of the sailing ship Success, one of the most remarkable ships ever to roam the waters of the earth. Along the way I hope to generate lively discussions and even debates about the ship and the times in which she lived.

As I write this I am peering out over the waters of Lake Erie toward the site where, over 64 years ago, the Success was consumed by fire. It was a bright, sunny 4th of July and the highway was clogged with tourists. Besides the usual holiday revelry there was a new spirit of hope in the air. WWII was over and our boys were home again - those that made it home. Anyone who happened to be close to the lake toward the east end of Port Clinton, Ohio on that afternoon was treated to an unexpected early fireworks display offshore. According to witnesses, a plume of thick black smoke rose amidships. Soon, fanned by a stiff afternoon lake breeze, the fire spread from stem to stern and soon engulfed the entire ship. Drawn to the blaze like moths to a flame, boats of all shapes and sized began circling the ship. The dry wood hissed and popped. The lone remaining mast toppled into the water. No part of the ship was left untouched by the raging inferno, which continued into the night. The next day there was nothing left but the ribs of the ship rising from the water like a skeleton. Tendrils of smoke rose from the dying embers. Pieces of charred wood floated all around. Many would drink ashore, to be gathered up later by trophy seekers. Divers visited the wreck often, taking anything they could. Water-soaked beams of teak, too heavy to float, or prison cell doors, were taken to make souvenirs. Hundred of tons of stone, some pieces squared off into blocks, covered the long, massive teak keel -- ballast that kept the old ship upright in the water. Many years later, protection would come by way of an Ohio law forbidding the ransacking of shipwrecks, but for some the shallowness of the water is too tempting. The muddy bottom reduces visibility to a few inches, so she is not all that popular with wreck divers or underwater photographers.

The Success is gone but remembered still.