Cunard Campania circa 1893

Ancientdoctoralmariner said:

I have this picture of the Cunarder Campania painted by Peter Greenwood, the Liverpudlian marine artist, in 1893. My father (long since deceased) told me it was given to an ancestor of his by Cunard in grateful thanks for a rescue carried out by the ship this ancester was captain of. Unfortunately that is all the details I have, except the surname of the ancester was Rowles. Can anybody shed any more light on this? Thanks

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Many thanks for sharing this painting. I researched the Campania extensively for my book “Shipwrecks of the Cunard Line” but I don’t recall seeing it before. So I am intrigued to learn more about it and assist in any way. So far I have not been able to find any record of Captain Rowles being involved in any rescue involving a Cunard vessel. However, it does seem a high probability that your ancestor was Captain Thomas Rowles of the Jane Bacon. This was a Liverpool registered iron-screw steamer operating coastal trade to UK ports. The Jane Bacon was involved in a collision with the Lara in the Bristol channel on 25-jan-1882, then another collision with the Lord Marmion off Swansea. A third collision on 23-dec-1887 off Crosby with the Lombardy resulted in the loss of the Jane Bacon.

Ancientdoctoralmariner said:

I have this picture of the Cunarder Campania painted by Peter Greenwood, the Liverpudlian marine artist, in 1893. My father (long since deceased) told me it was given to an ancestor of his by Cunard in grateful thanks for a rescue carried out by the ship this ancester was captain of. Unfortunately that is all the details I have, except the surname of the ancester was Rowles. Can anybody shed any more light on this? Thanks View attachment 697157

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Beautiful painting. Much like the”Mary” my wife sailed on. If you check into the geneology sites with his name, you may have some luck