Montague Dawson R.S.M.A., F.R.S.A.

Anonymous sale, Coeur d'Alene Art Auction, 30 July 2005, lot 125;

Where acquired.

R.Ranson, The Maritime Paintings of Montague Dawson, Newton Abott, 1993, p. 66-67, reproduced.

The Nonsuch was the ketch (a two masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast) that first sailed into Canada’s Hudson Bay in 1668-1669 under sea captain Zachariah Gilliam. It was the first trading voyage for what then became the Hudson Bay Company, which received ins charter from Charles II in May 1670 and still exists to this day.

Originally built as a merchant ship in 1650, the boat became the Royal Navy ketch HMS Nonsuch and was bought by wealthy knighted timber merchant from Wapping Sir William Warren in 1667. At the time of its construction, the ship was considered smaller than many others but was specifically chosen because of its relatively small size of 54 feet in length as it could be sailed up-river and taken out of water so the thick ice of the bay wouldn’t crush her.

To celebrate the Hudson Bay Company’s tercentenary in 1970, a replica of the Nonsuch was commissioned using tools and materials used at the time of its original construction. The ship was very ornate and carvings took months to complete. Like the original, she was armed and carried six two-pounder muzzle loading smoothbore guns.

Today, the Nonsuch replica can be admired at the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg.