'Shrine of Manly Virtues': Gender, Empire, Anti
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URI [dataset] University of Southampton Faculty of Arts and Humanities Department of History The ‘shrine of manly virtues’: Gender, Empire, Anti-Socialism, and the Restoration of H.M.S. Victory, 1922-1930. by Sarah Frances Westbury ORCID ID 0000-0002-9000-4245 Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2019 University of Southampton Abstract Faculty of Arts and Humanities Department of History Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The ‘shrine of manly virtues’: Gender, Empire, Anti-Socialism, and the Restoration of H.M.S. Victory, 1922-1930 by Sarah Frances Westbury In 1922, the Society for Nautical Research launched an appeal for funds to restore H.M.S. Victory. Their ‘Save the Victory’ publicity appeal was concerned with celebrating the ship as a ‘shrine of manly virtues’: a monument to Nelson, the Royal Navy, and to the latter’s role in expanding, and defending the British Empire.1 It was a monument, as well, to the white ‘Anglo-Saxon’ race. This thesis explores the fundamental roles which political, racial, and gender ideologies played in the ship’s 1920s preservation. The men co-ordinating the Victory’s restoration were generally political conservatives, anxious about the future of Britain’s navy following the Great War. In this thesis, I show that their fears were also greatly exacerbated by the steady rise of popular socialism, internationalism and the Labour party. I argue, as well, that the logic by which these men believed the Victory could further their anti-socialist cause was centred on ideologies of race, and of masculinity: that Admiral Nelson was an exemplar of white ‘Anglo-Saxon’ virtues, and that encouraging Britons to cultivate these virtues within themselves would lead them to reject ‘alien’ left wing principles. It explores how these racialised gender ideologies spread into the wider interactions these men had with supporters, as well as in the decisions they made around curating the ship, the visitor experience, and the ship’s preservation itself. And in so doing it shines light on the impact which imperialist masculinities had on both heritage preservation and popular anti-socialism within interwar Britain. This thesis also suggests that we need to build a more nuanced picture of heritage preservation in interwar Britain. Existing scholarship has almost always focussed on Britain’s anti- restoration campaigners, and has also paid limited attention to maritime heritage. But when we begin to study historic ships like the Victory in this wider context, we begin to see a very different picture. 1 'H.M.S. Victory. Restoration Work Started at Portsmouth', Portsmouth Evening News, 1 June 1923, SNR 7/2, SNR Records, Caird Library, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Table of Contents Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ i Table of Figures ............................................................................................................... v Research Thesis: Declaration of Authorship ................................................................... vii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ ix Definitions and Abbreviations ........................................................................................ xi Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 i.i Historiography ............................................................................................................ 4 i.ii Methodology: historical approaches ....................................................................... 15 i.iii Sources ..................................................................................................................... 20 i.iv Structure ................................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 1 Educating Citizens: Anti-Socialism and the ‘Save the Victory’ Appeal .........27 1.1 Admiral Sturdee and anti-socialist paranoia ............................................................ 31 1.2 Political education and imperialist responsibility .................................................... 35 1.3 ‘Internationalism is the reverse of patriotism’ ........................................................ 43 1.4 ‘Some inspiration about our history’: empire and the Left ..................................... 50 1.5 State education, secularism, and the ‘snowball’ effect ........................................... 59 1.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 67 Chapter 2 Admiral Nelson, Race, and the Politics of Heroic Masculinity .....................69 2.1 Hero-worship and imperialist education ................................................................. 71 2.2 Admiral Nelson and the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ race ............................................................. 77 2.3 Modest heroism and collective duty ........................................................................ 82 i Table of Contents 2.4 ‘All sons and daughters of the Empire’ .................................................................... 88 2.5 Memorials, race, and the British shipping industry ................................................. 96 2.6 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 102 Chapter 3 Rational Sentiment and Humble Patriotism ............................................. 105 3.1 ‘Kiss me, Hardy’: gender, emotions, and exploring public response to the Victory’s restoration. ............................................................................................................ 106 3.2 Love, sentimentality, and rational patriotism ....................................................... 114 3.3 Philanthropy, volunteerism, and ‘humble’ patriotism .......................................... 122 3.4 The boundaries of rational patriotism: the case of Beatrice Suckling ................... 129 3.5 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 134 Chapter 4 A ‘Tiresome’ Woman in ‘Commerce’: Ethical Collecting and Authenticating Relics ....................................................................................................... 137 4.1 Authenticating prestige: relics, heirlooms and memory ....................................... 139 4.2 Ethical collecting, commerce, and gender ............................................................. 143 4.3 Relic provenance and performative authenticity .................................................. 153 4.4 Empirical evidence and professional identity ........................................................ 156 4.5 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 163 Chapter 5 Restoration and Ideology ......................................................................... 165 5.1 Heritage preservation: restoration and conservation ........................................... 169 5.2 Ideology, use, and the monument ......................................................................... 175 5.3 The restoration in practice: priorities and compromises ...................................... 181 5.4 Records and evidence ............................................................................................ 188 5.5 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 193 ii Table of Contents Chapter 6 ‘Giggling girls flirting in Nelson’s own cabin!’: gendering the H.M.S. Victory visitor experience ..................................................................................... 195 6.1 Creating the pilgrimage .......................................................................................... 197 6.2 Sacrifice, violence, and Nelson’s body ................................................................... 208 6.3 Emma Hamilton and sacrilegious talk .................................................................... 214 6.4 Domestic space, masculinity, and female absence ................................................ 221 6.5 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 231 Conclusion