Royal Navy officer. Born in Castletownshend, Cork, Ireland 7 Sept 1863. Joined the Royal Navy 15 January 1877 on the training ship HMS 'Britannia', and served on his first tour in the Pacific on HMS 'Shannon' from 11 January 1879 to 19 July 1881 as a surveyor and navigator. Went on to serve on numerous ships and took part in conflicts including the Chilean-Peruvian war (1880), the first Egyptian war (1882), and stationed in China (1884-1888). Also worked for the Navy in the Western Pacific and the Solomon Islands. Somerville was a keen photographer and took photographs while working on the HMS 'Dart' in 1890 in the Pacific. Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 1 October 1886, Commander on 31 December 1901, Captain on 30 June 1908, Rear-Admiral on 1 August 1919, and Vice-Admiral on 1 January 1923. Died 24 March 1936. See Records of the Admiralty, The National Archives (ADM 196/89/28 and ADM 196/42/150). See also Deborah Waite, "Notes and queries, science, and `curios': Lieutenant Boyle Somerville's ethnographic collecting in the Solomon Islands, 1893-1895", 'Jouranl of the Anthropological Society of Oxford", volume 31, number 3, 2000, pages 277-308.
Somerville, Henry Boyle Townshend (Vice-Admiral), 1863-1936
Dack, Frederick, 1871-1947: Pacific journal and photograph album
Date: 1 Jan 1890 - 3 Jan 1891
By: Dack, Frederick, 1871-1947
Reference: MSX-9428
Description: Volume comprised of two separate works - a journal account and a photographic documentation. The first is a written account on 207 pages by the Ordinary Seaman Frederick Dack describing his naval experiences aboard the HMS 'Orlando' and the HMS 'Dart' in 1890-1891. The account commences on 1 January 1890 when Dack, who joined the crew of the HMS 'Orlando' at Sydney after travelling from England on the Orient Line's 'Iberia' the previous year, describes both life on board and on shore at Sydney. Departing from Sydney on 6 January, the account goes on to describe the sighting of Stewart Island and entering Milford Sound on 11 January, arrival at Port Chalmers on 12 January and at Akaroa the following day. The voyage continues to Lyttelton Harbour on 16 January, Wellington Harbour 21 January, White Island on 25 January and Auckland the following day. Preparation and participation in the Auckland Anniversary Regatta is described. The expedition departs from Auckland on 18 February and after calling at Russell in the Bay of Island, heads for Tasmania, arriving at Hobart on 25 February, and from there to Melbourne via Bass Strait on 15 March. Dack served on the HMS 'Orlando' until 8 May 1890 when he joined the crew of the survey ship HMS 'Dart' and left Australia for the Pacific on 22 May 1890. The journal then gives an account of visits to a number of Pacific Islands and closes with a final entry dated 3 January 1891 after the ship has returned to Sydney. The second, commencing backwards from the lower boards of the volume is a photographic work created by the hydrographic surveyor Lieutenant Boyle Somerville aboard the HMS 'Dart'. Photographs depict shipboard life aboard the HMS 'Dart' as well as capturing views and scenes from the lives of the local peoples of Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Norfolk Island, and other Pacific Islands. Also includes a portrait of Victor Doucere and four portraits of unidentified Māori women. Source of title - Supplied by Library Quantity: 1 volume(s). 0.03 Linear Metres. Physical Description: Mss, holograph, printed matter and photographic prints. Volume half-bound in black leather with marbled paper boards, edges and endpapers, 183 leaves of ruled unwatermarked laid paper, 24 x 18 cm; includes 139 photographic prints mounted on 81 pages, with 79 blank pages between the two sections of the volume.
School of Oriental and African Studies, London University : Papers and vocabularies of ...
Date: 1769-1927
By: University of London. School of Oriental and African Studies
Reference: Micro-MS-0423
Description: Source of title - Transcribed Quantity: 1 microfilm reel(s) (ca 400 pages). Physical Description: Negative microfilm