Maritime: Rare hardwood ship's wheel with brass mounts, by r...

Hammer

£300

Maritime: Rare hardwood ship's wheel with brass mounts, by repute from HMT Empire Windrush together with Charles Frederick Alexander Seaman's Record Book and Certificates of Discharge who served on Empire Windrush, the provenance letter states that the wheel was located on the Passenger Deck for Passenger Amusement, and did not have any steering function, overall 54cm high

NB: In 1948, Empire Windrush, which was en route from Australia to Britain via the Atlantic, docked in Kingston Harbour, Jamaica, to pick up servicemen who were on leave. The British Nationality Act 1948, giving the status of citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC status) to all British subjects connected with the United Kingdom or a British colony, was going through parliament, and some Caribbean migrants decided to embark "ahead of the game". Prior to 1962, the UK had no immigration control for CUKCs, who could settle indefinitely in the UK without restrictions. The arrival of Empire Windrush was a notable news event. Even when the ship was in the English Channel, the Evening Standard dispatched an aircraft to photograph her from the air, printing the story on the newspaper's front page. The ship docked at the Port of Tilbury, near London, on 21 June 1948 and the 1,027 passengers began disembarking the next day. This was covered by newspaper reporters and by Pathé News newsreel cameras. The name Windrush, as a result, has come to be used as shorthand for West Indian migration and by extension for the beginning of modern British multiracial society.