Circa. 1919 antique American binnacle by KELVIN & WILFRID O. WHITE CO., with the original 7" Kelvin & White Co. compass.
The brass maker's nameplate (see detailed images) sums up the company's capabilities as a maker of "NAUTICAL INSTRUMENTS" and "ADJUSTERS of SHIPS COMPASSES", with operations in "BOSTON' & "NEW YORK".
The serial number “141”, stamped on the maker's nameplate, suggests that this was an early example of the company's production in Boston, although the surviving records do not presently allow the serial number to be dated precisely.
The binnacle is fitted with it's original Kelvin & White Co. liquid filled compass. The port-side (red), and starboard-side (green) iron Kelvin Spheres are there to provide magnetic compensation on steel hulled ships. The interior of the binnacle's pedestal (see detailed image) was used to house cylindrical compensating magnets (not fitted). These magnets, in association with the Kelvin Spheres, would be used by compass adjusters like Wilfrid O. White to eliminate the magnetic effects of surrounding steel structures on the compass.
The brass tube at the rear is to house navigation charts.
A later (brass) electrical junction box is attached the the Port-side of the binnacle pedestal to power the light globe inside.
History
This antique binnacle has a surprising Australian connection. The man after whom the KELVIN & WILFRID O. WHITE Company was named, Wilfrid (Riv) Osbourne White, was born in Williamstown, a major ship building dockyard in the State of Victoria, in 1878. It is said that he was descended from English shipbuilders, going back to the 17th century.
Ca. 1898. At the age of twenty, Wilfrid O. travelled to the United States where he met his future wife, 16 year old Ruth Eldridge. She was the eldest daughter of George W. Eldridge, publisher of the Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book, which became an indispensable book to all who sailed the Atlantic Coast from New York, east.
Ca. 1900. By all accounts, at the age of twenty-two, after a couple of years in America, Wifrid O. returned to Australia. "Ruth was 16 and enamored of 22-year-old Riv who was sailing across the Atlantic around the Cape of Good Hope back to Australia. Eventually, he came back to marry her". That quote is from a 2009 obituary for Wilfrid and Ruth's youngest daughter, Isabel, who had written a book in 2004, titled "Riv and Ruth, a Vineyard Saga of Love and Vocation", which was based on letters between her parents, Wilfrid (Riv) and Ruth. [1]
Not long after he returned to his home town of Williamstown, in Australia, Wilfrid O. travelled to Glasgow, Scotland, to undertake a year of study with William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, who had been working on marine compass innovations, leading to many patents. In 1900, Lord Kelvin resigned from his Glasgow University role as Professor and Chair of the Department of Natural Philosophy, and joined in partnership with optician and instrument maker James White (1824-1884) to establish Kelvin & James White Ltd..
In 1902, with the knowledge he had gained while studying under Lord Kelvin, Wilfrid O. returned to America and worked as a clerk at 152 State Street, Boston MA. On November 8, 1904, he married Ruth Eldridge. His occupation was recorded as "compass adjuster" on the marriage certificate, and he was living at 33 Grampian Way, Boston MA. Ruth was living with her parents on the island of Vineyard Haven, MA. [2]
By 1905, Wilfrid O. had moved into business premises at 152 State Street, Boston, and the married couple had moved to Newton Highlands, to start a family. [7]
In 1913, six years after Lord Kelvin's death, Kelvin's nephew, James Thomson Bottomley, established Kelvin, Bottomley and Baird Ltd. in Glasgow, Scotland. [8]
By 1914, Wilfrid's nautical instruments business had moved to 156 State Street, Boston. Wilfrid's father-in-law, George W. Eldridge retired that year also, and Wilfrid O. took on the role of publishing the Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book. [6]
By 1916, Wilfrid's business had moved to 131 State Street, and the White family was living at West Newton, MA. [3]
By 1919, Kelvin & Wilfrid O. White Co. had been established and was operating from the Richards Building at 112 State Street, Boston [4]. The factory was in East Cambridge, almost certainly at 25 Thorndike Street, as recorded in the 1920 Cambridge Directory [5]. So, it's highly likely that 1919 is the year this binnacle was manufactured. By 1920, Kelvin & Wilfrid O. White Co. was acting as a United States agent for Kelvin, Bottomley & Baird Ltd., and the White family had moved to Woburn, Cambridge MA. [5]
As the Boston-based Kelvin & Wilfrid O. White Company grew, they also opened premises in New York.
The binnacles manufactured by Kelvin & Wilfrid O. White Co., in their Thorndike Street factory, were fitted with Kelvin & White Co. compasses.
[1] Obituary-Isabel-w-west-dies-age-97
[2] Marriage certificate
[3] 1916_Boston_Directory
[4] 2003_Richards_Building_Study_Report
[5] 1920_Cambridge_Directory
[6] Eldridge-family-celebrates-150-years-maritime-publishing
[7] 1905 Boston Directory
[8] https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/exhibns/Kelvin/miscellany.html
