Captain George Peacock 1805 - 1883
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George Peacock was born at Regent's House in Starcross, in 1805.
The following is a précis of the short biography on the National Archives website
"
He served on his father's ships in the Mediterranean... and became a
ship's master. He joined the Royal Navy in 1828. He was 2nd master of
H.M. Steamship Echo. In 1840, he left the Navy and was appointed as the
first Commander of the newly constituted Pacific Steam Navigation
Company.
Shortly after leaving the PSNC in 1848, he formed a company to manufacture anti-fouling paint which he had invented.
He became Superintendant of Docks at Southampton. In 1858 he retired to Starcross. "
He commissioned Dixons of Exmouth to build a nautical Victorian folly The Swan of the Exe which was launched in 1860. 4 Cygnets were built. Just one cygnet was used as a tender to the Swan of the Exe. The
other 3 were sold. 2 went to Paignton, and 1 to Bournemouth. (Dunlop,T
internet, accessed Feb 20th 2015) Only the Exe cygnet remains, (unless
anyone knows differently) and she was rescued and preserved by, and is
the pride of, nearby Topsham Museum
The Swan of the Exe burnt out inbetween the 2 World Wars.
The story of The Swan of the Exe has been written by Tony Dunlop on his website Devon Perspectives. The images and the content have generously been made available to all under a creative commons license
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| The Swan of the Exe Image courtesy of Tony Dunlop, http://www.devonperspectives.co.uk/swan_of_the_exe.html |
Further biographical notes, details of his explorations and surveys,
papers relating to Captain Peacock's inventions and ideas, papers
relating to The Swan of the Exe, papers relating to the Exmouth Warren, printed works, photographs and papers relating to the Cookson family are held in the Liverpool Record Office
This is available online by subscription to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Most UK public libraries subscribe to this online, which means that all you need is your library card to access this biography. How to access the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
have kindly sent us a wonderful diagram of The Swan of the Exe, to help us with our project, Recreating The Swan of the Exe and invited us to see the documents they hold about our Captain Peacock. The museum opens again on April 1st.
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