Lot 43: Charles Gregory (British, 1810-1896) The topsail cruising schooner Royal Blue Jacket running past the Eddystone lighthouse in a stiff breeze

The topsail cruising schooner Royal Blue Jacket running past the Eddystone lighthouse in a stiff breeze
signed 'C. Gregory' and dated 1854 (lower right)
oil on canvas
50.8 x 71cm (20 x 28in).

The topsail cruising schooner Royal Blue Jacket was built by White at Cowes in 1854. Registered at 105 tons and measuring 88 feet in length with a 19 foot beam. She was described by contemporaries as being of "patented diagonal build" and, judging from this portrait of her, was clearly a handsome vessel intended for pleasure rather than commerce. Owned by Ivens & Co. and berthed at Bristol, Lloyd's Registers of the period note her intended destination as Cowes although there is no record of her taking part in any annual regattas; perhaps, in the era before the steam yacht, she was used as accommodation for racing yachtsmen who preferred to sleep afloat rather than ashore although this is mere conjecture. Sold to de Gruchy, Renouff & Clement of Jersey in 1866, the year after their partnership was formed, she then began commercial sailings to Newfoundland under first, Captain John Le Brocq, and later Captain Le Marquand, a route she maintained until disappearing from record around 1880.