Tim,

I am going to be in Calgary Sunday Mar 15 (business mtg at CP Rail Monday Morning).

I called Vera (Becklake) last night and mentioned that I would like to stop by and see her to show her the start of our family web site (that my daughter Dana has started working on) on the shipThe Orient.

I also asked her to pass on the address and phone number for Peter Frymann (in England).

As mentioned to you in an earlier email Tim, Peter is the relative in England that was the keeper of the Prudence Strible Hill (Captain George Strible Hill’s wife) journal, that Gordon and Vera picked up, from Peter, and brought back to Canada.

The web site will include pictures of the quilt that Prudence hand made while on the Orient.

Fortunatley, the quilt is now in the hands of Betty (nee Robinson) and Garth down in Denver, Colorado. Betty took the quilt away from Kay Robinson (102 years this June) now in a nursing home in Salmon Arm, knowing the significance of its family history of this quilt, in order to make certian that it was not thrown away (or given away by mistake by a care worker). Vera says she has a small photo of the quilt, as well.

I will also be asking Peter if he can trace a path back to who he received the “Prudence” Journal from to see if we can link it back to Prudence.

We will also (through Betty) attempt to trace the trail of the Quilt and determine who (in England, or possibly New York, where Prudence died), she got the quilt from. An interesting bit of detective work, to say the least, Tim.

I will have a copy of the (Prudence) Journal, along with all the background info, with me on Sunday, so if you would like to review this, I will be pleased to brief you on it, at Vera’s.

I will be there around 1:00 p.m. ( I know that Vera has a St. Patrick’s day dinner at 5:30 so I will only be there until about 3:00 pm)

Hope to see you there.

Regards

Hugh Parkinson (to Tim Becklake and Dana Parkinson)

Tags: 102 years old, betty, blanket, british columbia, calgary, colorado, dana parkinson, denver, england, frymann, garth, gordon becklake, hugh parkinson, kay robinson, new york, peter, quilt, robinson, salmon arm, the orient, tim becklake, vera becklake

Tim,

I thought that, after our family get-together last year at Vera’s and our conversation regarding the family journal “Round the Horn – 1867″, written by Prudence Strible Hill (wife of Captain George Strible Hill) that you might be interested in the fact that our daughter Dana (living now in Manzanillo Mexico) has started to develop a web site on the journal.

You can view the first part of the journal (the first 1/2 is now complete) at www.roundthehorn1867.com

We will be adding features (that we have researched back in 1996 and 1997, since Gordon and Vera brought the journal back from England in the mid 90′s) to the account, as time goes on, including:

Specifications and a complete published description of the the Ship “The Orient”, just after it was launched.

Where it was built and the name of the shipyard; A picture of the builder;

A picture of the owner of the ship at the time Captain Strible Hill was running the ship;

A picture of the flag that the Orient flew.

A picture of a sister ship to the Orient (we are still trying to get a picture of the “Orient”);

An account of various sailings of the Orient under Captain Strible Hill to England from New york including sailing dates;

Total sailing times and cargo aboard, and comparisons of sailing times against other three-masted packet ships of that period;

We have an advertisment (from the 1800s) that details the features of guano (bird excretment) that the Orient loaded in Peru on the final voyage (back around the Horn eastbound) to Holland, where the journal ends;

A published account of where and when the Orient was destroyed and sank in the Gulf of Mexico and references to the fact that several (tug boat) deckhands died trying, unsucessfully, to get a line on the ship to save it from going aground.

A copy of a newspaper (from California) that details the exact date that Prudence refers to in her journal on the day that they arrived in San Fransisco (from New York) and the exact date of departure from San Fransisco for Peru. This (ship arrivals and departures section of the newspaper) article legitimizes the journal.

We also have an article that (in handwritten form) shows a reference to Captain Strible Hill as a member of a an exclusive Mariners’ Club in New York and refers also to his club registration number.

We have the date of death of both the Captain and Prudence along with the location of the cemetery (for the Captain) in New York.

I am attempting to get a hold of a picture of the quilt that Prudence (we have seen picture years ago , before Gordon died) made during the voyage. She refers to working on the quilt several times, in the journal. We understand from Vera (called her last night-she had the flu, unfortunately) that Kay Robinson (in a rest home in Salmon Arm) has this quilt and we are hoping to get a picture of the quilt from someone in the Robinson family that can possibly recall having seen the quilt. This (the quilt) will become a living piece of the historical account.

Vera (tonight, and feeling much better) has given me a phone number for Betty Robinson in Denver, Colorado, so I have left a message and I am hoping to hear back from her to see if she could possibly arrange to get a picture from Kay and of course ensure that the quilt is kept in the family and not given away to someone that does not appreciate the significance of this piece of history.

Perhaps you could pass this journal web site connection to Pat and Paul. I will gladly answer any questions you and the other family members might have, Tim.

Regards

Hugh Parkinson to Dana Parkinson and Tim Becklake

Tags: betty robinson, california, cemetery, colima, colorado, dana parkinson, denver, england, family, flag, george, gordon becklake, kay robinson, manzanillo, mariners' club, mexico, new york, pat becklake, paul becklake, peru, san francisco, sister ship, stribble, stribble hill, the orient, tim becklake, vera becklake