SS KILTOBRANKS

Artist G Edwards (Australian)

Date1908-1924

Object number00039039

NameOil painting

MediumOil on canvas, timber frame

DimensionsOverall: 580 x 900 mm
Sight: 440 x 730 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Cairo Walker

Terms

DescriptionBroadside view of the steamer KILTOBRANKS, a wooden vessel of 272 tons built in 1908. It was owned by B M Corrigan & Co until 1917. KILTOBRANKS was wrecked off Shellharbour in February 1924 after loading a full cargo of blue metal.HistoryB M Corrigan & Co operated a small fleet of ships and a ship chandlery in Sydney from the late 1870s to 1920. Corrigan’s also acted as agents for other ships and for the Tweed River Steam Ship Company. The ships served the north coast of NSW in the timber and sugar trades, especially CSR sugar. Bartholomew Corrigan was first registered as a ship-owner jointly with William Reidy in 1877. After the death of Corrigan in 1910, the company became a limited company in 1914. Its shipping interests had diminished by 1920, but the chandlery on the corner of Market and Sussex Sts, continued in business. Between 1877 and 1920 the Corrigan’s owned or part-owned 29 ships, and acted as agents for others.SignificanceThis painting shows a typical Australian coastal steamer from the early 1900s. These ships were the backbone of Australian coastal shipping and cargo movement in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.