Westland

Richard Kelly (born Appledore 1857) was master of the Westland for eight years until his death in 1900.
Lloyds "Captains Register" (The Guildhall Library - London) record him making seven voyages to Australia and one to Cape Colony, as captain of the Westland, between 1893 and 1900. (presumably the entry 'Australia' in the register also covered New Zealand.)

Westland was built in 1878 by R. Duncan & Co. of Glasgow and Lloyds Register list her details as follows:
Ship -Iron, 1186 Tons, 222.8 feet long, 35.1 feet breadth, 21 feet depth. She was built for Shaw Saville & Albion.

There is an excellent article about the Westland in "Ships - pictured by J Spurling, storied by Basil Lubbock" (Vol 3, page 57). She was the last sailing ship to be ordered for the Shaw Saville & Albion company and was always considered to be the fastest vessel of their fleet. she was also believed to be the last sailing ship to have been built specifically for carrying passengers out to New Zealand.
In 1904 her rig was reduced to that of a barque in the interests of economy. The picture below is from this latter period of her life. (Although still titled as a ship by the library.)

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mätauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

	Westland (Ship) at Nelson Port

Reference 1/1-000918
Click here to view the Alexander Turnbull Library's image database.

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