Seamanship [School Ship Conway]

Published: 1886. 6th Edition. Not signed by author. MS Conway Educational Association. 1886 edition of the naval manual, presented as a prize to one of the most distinguished cadets in the history of HMS Conway and future Master Mariner and Mersey Mission Chairman Francis Conrad Hooper. Association copy of an instruction manual of the Mercantile Marine Service Association. Awarded as a prize to a cadet who would eventually lead the institution's alumni (The Conway Club) and leadership within the Port of Liverpool. PROVENANCE: Presentation Plate: F. C. Hooper dated 1893 and school badge to binding. Emblem: School Ship 'Conway'. DESCRIPTION: School Ship "Conway" prize binding bound in full blue calf leather with gilt badge to front and gilt ruled border. Gilt ruled five ridged spine with gilt decorated panels. Red leather title plate with gilt titles. Marbled endpapers and text block edges. Illustrated with eleven coloured plates and numerous black and white drawings, many fold out, throughout the text Language: English Book Condition: Very Good. Light wear to corners, edges and spine ends. Lightly rubbed leather with clean boards. Tightly bound with clean intact endpapers and strong hinges. Clean unmarked pages. A few loose plates. DJ Condition: No DJ. Pages viii, 291. Size: 21 cm by 14 cm. PROVENANCE BACKGROUND: Francis Conrad Hooper was a distinguished figure in British maritime history whose life was defined by leadership both at sea and within the community of the Port of Liverpool. His career began in the early 1890s as a cadet aboard the naval training ship HMS Conway. He proved to be an exceptional student, rising to the prestigious position of Chief Cadet Captain, or Head Boy, in the autumn of 1894. This early success set the stage for a professional maritime career in which he achieved the rank of Master Mariner, the highest qualification for a sea captain. In addition to his merchant service, he held a commission as a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve, indicating significant military responsibility. Beyond his time on the bridge of a ship, Hooper was a central pillar of the HMS Conway alumni network. He served as the President of the Conway Club from 1928 to 1929 and dedicated much of his later life to the Conway Benevolent Fund, where he acted as a trustee to support seafarers in financial distress. His most significant humanitarian contribution occurred between 1943 and 1951 when he served as Chairman of the Mersey Mission to Seamen. In this capacity, he oversaw the welfare and care of thousands of sailors during the height of the Second World War and the subsequent period of reconstruction. Following his death on July 15, 1951, his family and friends commissioned a memorial window to honour his dual legacy as a commander and a philanthropist. The School Ship Conway began in 1859 as a maritime training institution established by the Mercantile Marine Service Association to prepare boys for careers in the Royal and Merchant Navies. Its first home was the former HMS Conway, a 28-gun frigate launched in 1839 and stationed on the River Mersey. In 1875 the school transferred to a larger vessel, the ex-HMS Nile, a two-deck ship of the line built in the same year as her predecessor. Renamed Conway, she served for nearly eight decades as a floating classroom and training environment, moored variously at Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, and later in the Menai Strait. In April 1953, while being towed through the Strait for refit, the ship grounded on the Platters and sustained severe structural damage. Although initial salvage attempts offered some hope, subsequent storms broke the hull apart, and the remains were later destroyed by fire in 1956. The training establishment continued ashore at Plas Newydd on Anglesey, where it operated until its closure in 1974. Over more than a century of service, the Conway produced generations of seafarers and left a lasting legacy within British maritime education.