Nancy

Current boat name

Nancy

Boat class

7577

Function

Service

Type

Length (m / ft)

6.48 / 21ft 3in

Beam (m / ft)

1.72 / 5ft 8in

Leeward

Keel

Masts

None

Rig type

None

Propulsion

Oar

Designer

Traditional

Date of build

1873 c

Place of build

Gravesend

Present use

Museum/NMMC

NANCY was probably built in 1873 by Warner Bros of Gravesend, Kent. She was a type of work boat used by professional watermen on the Thames from Gravesend to the Upper Pool near Tower Bridge. As a watermen's skiff she would have been used for a variety of work such as carrying passengers and cargo to and from ships, and in helping to berth ships on moorings. Her gear includes a hook and grass line which suggests that she was used at times by watermen from the lower reaches of the river to hook on to a larger vessel as it came up the estuary in the hope of securing the job of mooring in the docks or to a bouy. Once hooked on, she would be towed upstream by the larger vessel.This possibilty is supported by the fact that NANCY was built 'Gravesend fashion' with 7 strakes per side to cope with estuary conditions. Up-river boats that worked in more sheltered reaches between Greenwich and Charlton normally had 5 or 6 strakes. Skiffs of the estuary type were known locally as Gravesend wherries. NANCY was owned and worked throughout her life by the Sargent family. In 1914 she assisted in the rescue of many lives from the GSNC ship ORIEL which sank in collision with the CORINTHIAN off Charlton. She was restored to original condition in the 1950's by Mr Fred Garret and Mr E Rickwood of Charlton and presented to NMM by Captain Tom Sargent in 1970. October 2007 (Archive) Other reading: Anderson J Anchor and Hope 1980: McKee E Working Boats of Britain 1983