The Colonial Mast Trade: A British Perspective Fundraiser to Benefit Tate House Museum Tate House Museum is hosting a fundraiser on the afternoon of September 29, 2024 from 2:30-5:30 pm to benefit education and preservation projects. The event features high tea and an illustrated lecture by UK Arboriculturist Clive Mayhew titled “Building British Ships with American Timber,” which will provide context to George Tate's role as mast agent in 18th century Portland.
Mr. Mayhew’s millennium-spanning, global telling of British tree harvesting reaches from ancient Mesopotamia to Maine and from Portsmouth, NH to Portsmouth, England, as well as a myriad of places in between. His talk will include a chapter of this global story that is largely forgotten in Britain, the contribution made by American forests to the British navy in the golden age of sail. As Britain's navy grew larger and individual ships within it grew bigger, the demand for home grown timber began to outstrip supply. In response, the navy began to look across the oceans in search of new forests to address the shortfall. Supplies of American timber and masts kept the British navy afloat, quite literally, for the best part of two hundred years. This commercial venture formed the foundation of transatlantic trading links between America and Europe still in existence today.
Mr. Mayhew lives in East Sussex, south of London, and his professional experience as an arboriculturist will bring a unique perspective to Maine audiences interested in the colonial period. He has worked in UK arboriculture since the early 1990s, as a practitioner, local government officer, and independent consultant. He is a long-standing advocate of custodial arboriculture, seeing tree professionals as fleeting caretakers of the landscapes in their care. His research combines archaeology, geology, art, photography, and written records to reach a more holistic understanding of the factors that shape individual trees, the landscapes they inhabit, and the people who work them.
In describing the event, Tate House Museum’s Executive Director Holly K. Hurd says “This is a rare opportunity to hear a British timber expert describe the colonial mast trade from a new perspective, one we are not as familiar with in Maine. Clive’s visit here will allow us to share and connect the stories we tell about the economies of the mast trade from both sides of the pond.”
Tate House Museum supporters are also invited to purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win a facsimile of a rare antiquarian map from Tate House Museum’s collections; a beautifully-framed 1720s view of the harbor of Casco Bay by cartographer Cyprian Southack. Raffle winners need not be present at the event to win.
The fundraiser will take place at The Woodland Club, 39 Woods Road in Falmouth, with registration starting at 2:30 pm, High Tea 3:00- 4:00 pm, Clive Mayhew lecture from 4:00-5:00 pm, and questions, closing remarks, and raffle drawing from 5:00-5:30 pm. Fundraiser tickets are limited and offered at $75 per person and can be accessed at tatehouse.org while availability lasts. Raffle tickets are for sale online until 2:30 pm on Sept 29 and at the event until the winning ticket is drawn ~5 pm. Parking is readily available and free.
FMI: contact Holly K Hurd
hkhurd@tatehouse.org
207-774-6177
Tate House Museum
1267 Westbrook Street
Portland, ME 04102
