History – Ship’s bell donated

Early last month, the Warkworth Museum received the gift of a beautifully restored ship’s bell from the bulk cement carrier, John Wilson. The ship was named for Nathaniel Wilson’s brother John, who was one of the proprietors of Wilson’s NZ Portland Cement Company. A small ceremony was held at the museum with manager Victoria Joule, president Brenda Yoxall and a local representative of the Wilson family, Jill Harvey, there to receive the gift from three of John Wilson’s descendants – Susan Ewart, who had the bell restored, her sister Heather Charles and cousin Cathy Wilson-Fry. While at the museum, the cousins enjoyed the Wilson Cement Exhibition and a look behind the scenes. Then, with their new-found Warkworth cousin, they saw Riverina, Nathaniel’s old house and enjoyed a picnic in the grounds of the historic Wilson Cement Works.

The 81-metre steel vessel John Wilson was built in Leith, Scotland, in 1961, by Henry Robb and sailed out to New Zealand, where it carried cement for Wilson’s Portland Cement Co. of Whangarei. In 1974, it was sold to Tarakohe Shipping Co, part of Golden Bay Cement Co., which merged with Wilsons in 1983.

The vessel was sold and broken up for scrap by Pacific Steel in December 1984. In 1985, the bell was given to Susan Ewart, great-granddaughter of John Wilson.

The ship’s bell is a strong symbol linked to the maritime world. On board ships, the bell was traditionally used to ring the change of watch and especially to warn other ships in foggy weather. The bell was always compulsory on ships over 20 metres, an obligation present in the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea. In foggy weather, the sound carries well and the bell was used as a warning to other vessels.

Wilson’s Cement owned a number of vessels over the years including Ronaki, an auxiliary ketch in the early 1900s and the steamers Mahurangi and Herekino around the 1920s. In 1958, a 350-tonne coastal cement carrier was built in Holland for Wilson’s Portland Cement Ltd., to carry bagged cement from Whangarei to Auckland, Tauranga, Gisborne and Napier. This ship was named Nathaniel Wilson after the original company’s founder. It was sold to an Australian company in 1974.

The John Wilson bell, generously restored and gifted by Susan Ewart, is now on display in the Wilson Cement Works exhibition at the Warkworth Museum.