Dr Helen Doe

Jane Slade of Polruan
(Truran Books £9.99)

Jane Slade of Polruan is an account of a family of shipbuilders in a small Cornish village over a hundred years. At the heart of the enterprise was Jane Slade, who took control of the family business on her husband's death. She was the only woman shipbuilder in Cornwall and her legacy lived on through successive generations of shipbuilders, repairers and mariners, and in the ship named after her. Jane’s story inspired Daphne du Maurier’s first novel The Loving Spirit.

In this book the facts behind the fiction are related. The book is of considerable interest to both Daphne du Maurier fans, maritime historians and local historians. There is an index of the ships that the Slades built and the many local people who had shares in them. There is a detailed comparison of the fictional characters and their real counterparts. A previously unpublished letter by Daphne du Maurier is reproduced in full and gives a fascinating insight into the way she wove fact into fiction. The book is illustrated with contemporary prints and photographs; in addition there are new photographs taken by Christian du Maurier Browning, Daphne's son, which capture the magical spirit of the Fowey estuary.

Buy this book from Truran Books.

An Introduction to the Maritime History of Cornwall
(Tor Mark Press £3.99)

This is a brief introduction to a very large subject. To the casual observer Cornwall’s maritime history might be seen as consisting only of fishing, smuggling and wrecking, but for hundreds of years Cornwall was a very active maritime community trading across the world. This industry has defined the location and shape of many Cornish coastal towns. It is a world that has almost totally disappeared, except for the occasional sail loft, shipbuilding yard or master mariner’s house.

Buy this book from Bookends of Fowey.

Enterprising Women and Shipping in the Nineteenth Century
Boydell & Brewer, September 2009

Far from the genteel notion of nineteenth century businesswomen as milliners and dressmakers, this study shows that women could and did manage male businesses and manage men. Women invested in the expanding shipping industry throughout the late eighteenth and the nineteenth century and ran non-feminine businesses such as shipbuilding.

From Coastal Sail to Global Shipping: A History of the Steamship Mutual Underwriting Association
SIMSL, October 2009

Established in 1909, Steamship Mutual is one of the world’s top insurance clubs for P & I cover (Protection and Indemnity). P & I clubs are owned by the members who come together to mutually insure each others ships. They are non-profit-making and the day-to-day management is handled by a management company, in this case, Steamship Insurance Management Ltd. Steamship Mutual’s story is a fascinating one, taking it from a small group of coastal sailing ships in 1909 to today’s world of supertankers, cruise ships and ever larger container ships. The members represent all parts of the globe and shipowners of all nationalities work together to pool their risks (see website).