S.S. Great Britain

Its Galley and its Food

Abstract

The Great Western Steamship Company’s S.S. Great Britain Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was the greatest ship in the world when launched in 1843, revolutionary in many aspects of its construction and technology. After ninety years at sea and abandoned as a hulk, it was eventually repatriated to its home port by the S.S. Great Britain Project Ltd. As its restoration proceeded, it was necessary to study previously unconsidered aspects of its fixtures and use in order to accurately reinstate its long-lost interiors. The author was asked to help in 2004, when Shane Casey, the Trust’s curator, collected details of all the surviving documentary evidence. From these tantalizing, sparse yet revealing sources, along with measured drawings of contemporary fixtures and fittings surviving in private houses, and on-site meetings, designs were prepared for the restored historic galley area. The research undertaken for this project forms the basis of this paper, giving an insight into the galley design and catering of mid nineteenth-century passenger ships.