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Maritime Museum Reveals Hidden Histories of Women at Sea

On the 14th September, a new autumn exhibition will be opening at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, exploring the hidden histories of women at sea.

Mermaids: Women at Sea will tell the compelling stories of women who have challenged establishment and made their mark in a male dominated world.

This exhibition features extraordinary women such as Mary Lang, who joined a crew on the last of the merchant sailing ships, known as windjammers, to journey from South Australia to Cornwall in the 1930s, as well as Dame Ellen MacArthur, a trailblazer for women in competitive sailing, assuring herself a place in sporting history as the fastest woman ever to circumnavigate the globe in 2005.

The Museum will also be revealing from its stores the Endsleigh, a boat that belonged to the Flying Duchess, also known as Dame Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford. This very special boat was named after her country estate on the River Tamar, and is part of the Museum’s National Small Boat Collection.

Supported by the Hyptia Trust, thanks to first-hand accounts, film, photography, artefacts, this exhibition will bring these stories to life.

Senior Curator at the Maritime Museum, Tehmina Goskar, says: “Mermaids represents a key moment for the Maritime Museum as it develops its interpretation and presentation of maritime heritage in non-traditional areas of the field by publicly addressing the hidden histories of women sailors, not because they are women but because their stories are just as fascinating and stimulating as those of men and therefore worthy of preserving and presenting to our visitors.

There have always been superstitions about women and the sea, from the myths of mermaids luring unsuspecting men to a watery death to the ill fortune a woman aboard a ship was meant to have brought to a voyage and its male crew. One of Cornwall’s most famous legends is of course the Mermaid of Zennor, and visitors to the exhibition will be able to see and touch a 3D print of the famous mermaid carving in St Senara Church in Zennor—the first time the Maritime Museum has used this technology to present an exhibit to the public.

We hope this replica of the 15th-century mermaid carving will capture the imagination of our visitors. Guests will also enjoy the legend being recited as part of a special film commissioned by the Maritime Museum from new local Cornish Community Interest Company, Storylines.

I am particularly pleased that the Hypatia Trust, based in Penzance, a charity which exists to promote the study of women, has chosen to generously support Mermaids. I hope that all visitors to this exhibition will leave knowing that the sea belongs to women as well as men and so does its history.”

A lecture called Enterprising Women, will be supporting the exhibition on Wednesday 23rd September at 6:30pm. Sharing stories of feisty, strong willed women who defied the popular image of the genteel 19th century lady, is Dr Helen Doe. Many played key roles in shipping management, running businesses as sailmakers, shipbuilders and managing the day to day running of the ships themselves in an era when gender roles were becoming increasingly polarised. Tickets cost £7 and can be booked on 01326 214546.

Mermaids: Women at Sea opens on September 14 and runs until February 21 at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth. 

 

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Falmouth, Cornwall

Famous boats, access to the water and the chance to go under the sea means this attraction has something for everyone. VIKING INVASION AT NATIONAL MARITIME ...

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