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Port view of the JOHN BROGDEN off North Shields. Signed bottom right.

The iron screw steamer JOHN BROGDEN was built by Charles Mitchell at Newcastle for Alex Brogden & Co., Swansea in 1866. Registered at 719 tons gross (547 net), she measured 199½ feet in length with a 27½ foot beam and was powered by a compound inverted 2-cylinder 95hp engine by J.& W. Dudgeon of London. Sold in 1874 to J. Brogden & Son, Swansea & in 1879 to J.J. Wallace, Swansea. Although Lloyd's Registers note her home port as Swansea, she was originally intended for the coastal trade operating out of Newcastle even though her destination was soon changed to the Mediterranean out of London.John Scott has painted her off Newcastle in 1866, probably on her maiden voyage, and since none of his known works bear a later date than this, it may be assumed that this was one of the artist's final ship portraits.

JOHN BROGDEN 1866-1881 Iron O.N. 51118 548g 373n 162.2 x 27.3 x 15.5 feet 1872: 719g 373n 199.5 27.4 x 15.6 feet 80 HP. 1872: C. 2-cyl. (26, 50 x 24 inches) by J. and W. Dudgeon, London; 95 NHP. 3.11.1865: Keel laid. 18.4.1866: Launched by Charles Mitchell and Co., Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Yard No. 140). 6.6.1866: Completed. 1866: Registered in the ownership of Alexander Brogden, Swansea*. 1872: Lengthened and re-engined. 1881: Sold to James J. Wallace, London. 1881: Renamed GAINFORD 1882: Sold to Louis Breslauer, London. 30.8.1884: Stranded in Castillos Bay, Uruguay whilst on a voyage from Rio Grande do Sul to Montevideo in ballast. 11.1885: Salvage attempts abandoned. 1887: Register closed (deleted from MNL and LR). Registration: Swansea 1866 Swansea 1872 London 1881 Tonnages: 548g 373n 1866 Sources: PRdatabase186768 MNL 1871: Alexander Brogden, Holme Island, Lancashire LR 1877: Jno. Brogden and Sons, Portcawl, Glamorgan. Ballast: Double bottom Trades: DV71: Lon.