Hellyer & Sons
{{Short description|Family of ships figurehead carvers}}
The Hellyers were an esteemed family of wood carvers based in Portsmouth and London during the nineteenth century.
Overview
Contracted to Portsmouth Dockyard from 1851, the Hellyers specialised in the carving of ships’ figureheads for the Royal Navy from their two workshops until the cessation of business in 1901.
Edward Hellyer
Edward Hellyer, the son of shipwright, Phillip Hellyer, was apprenticed as a carver to an Edward Balter in Rotherhithe, Surrey in 1773 according to the Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1771–1773.{{Cite web |title=UK, Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1710–1811 – Ancestry |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/1851/?geo_a=r&geo_s=us&geo_t=uk&geo_v=2.0.0&o_iid=41013&o_lid=41013&o_sch=Web+Property |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.ancestry.co.uk}}
He went on to establish the family business, Hellyer & Son (later James Hellyer & Son and Hellyer & Sons), working as a 'ship carver' for the Royal Navy. During this time he designed and carved numerous figureheads including:
James Edward Hellyer (Snr.)
James Edward Hellyer Snr headed the family business following the retirement of his father, Edward. Employed beneath him were his two sons, James and Frederick Hellyer, and later his Grandson, James Edward Hellyer Jnr.{{Cite web |title=James Edward Hellyer Snr – Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951 |url=https://www.sculpture.gla.ac.uk/mapping/public/view/person.php?id=ann_1286887508 |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.sculpture.gla.ac.uk}}File:Estimate of Work Hellyer & Sons.jpgJames Edward Hellyer also held the esteemed title of Master Carver at Portsmouth Dockyard.
He is also believed to have carved a statue of George III that originally stood in Jubilee Terrace, Portsmouth. Figurehead commissions were not always guaranteed, so it was not uncommon for the Hellyers to work on other projects or indeed other ships carvings.
He is also linked to an Isaac Hellyer of Weymouth; working as a statuary and stonemason.
James Edward Hellyer is known to have designed and carved figureheads for the following vessels:
James Hellyer
Joining the family business underneath his father, James Hellyer Snr, James is presumed to have run the London side of the firm with his brother, Frederick, with both recorded has living in Essex.{{Cite web |title=James Hellyer – Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951 |url=https://www.sculpture.gla.ac.uk/mapping/public/view/person.php?id=ann_1286898754 |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.sculpture.gla.ac.uk}}
Their close proximity to London enabled them to establish a second workshop in Blackwall, increasing their chances of securing more contracts owed largely to the fact that their London presence kept costs down for the Admiralty who did not have to factor in the cost of transporting a figurehead from further afield to its ship in the capital.{{Cite book |last=Pulvertaft |first=David |title=The Warship Figureheads of Portsmouth |publisher=The History Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0752450766 |edition=Illustrated |location=UK |pages=26}}
There are no records suggesting when James ceased working in London, but he is recorded in the 1871 Census as living and working in Hampshire.{{Cite web |title=James Hellyer - Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951 |url=https://www.sculpture.gla.ac.uk/mapping/public/view/person.php?id=ann_1286898754 |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.sculpture.gla.ac.uk}}
Frederick Hellyer and son, James Edward Hellyer Jnr
Frederick is believed to have continued with the London side of the business until his retirement with records showing he died in Lewisham in 1906.{{Cite web |title=Frederick Hellyer – Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951 |url=https://www.sculpture.gla.ac.uk/mapping/public/view/person.php?id=ann_1286848197 |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.sculpture.gla.ac.uk}}
It is uncertain how long his son, James Edward Jnr, worked for the family firm. The details of his occupation given in both the 1901 and 1911 Census Returns are ambiguous and suggest he may already have been working on his own by this stage.{{Cite web |title=Frederick Hellyer – Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951 |url=https://www.sculpture.gla.ac.uk/mapping/public/view/person.php?id=ann_1286848197 |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.sculpture.gla.ac.uk}}
The Great Exhibition
In 1851, Hellyer & Sons exhibited a group of 17 figureheads on a pedestal at The Great Exhibition of the Works of the Industry of All Nations in Hyde Park.{{Cite web |title=The Great Exhibition 1851 |url=https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Great-Exhibition-of-1851/ |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=Historic UK |language=en-GB}} Attended by numerous prominent and famous people such as Charles Darwin, Samuel Colt, and Charlotte Brontë, it was an invaluable opportunity to showcase their craftsmanship and business acumen.
Naval Figureheads
Other figureheads designed and carved by the Hellyers include:
Competition
Competition among carvers was often encouraged by the Surveyor of the Navy as it helped to keep overall costs down. For several decades, the Hellyers competed with the Dickersons of Devonport; the family's biggest rivals. It became commonplace for the Hellyers and the Dickersons to compete for the same figurehead commissions.{{Cite book |last=Pulvertaft |first=David |title=The Warship Figureheads of Portsmouth |publisher=The History Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0752450766 |edition=Illustrated |location=UK |pages=26}}
On several occasions, original Dickerson figureheads – perhaps damaged or decayed – were replaced by new Hellyer designs. And with a London firm they often found themselves in favour for contracts, with the dual locations often assisting in cutting transportation costs of figureheads to their intended ships.
The Hellyers were also willing to compete globally for commissions; in the summer of 1844, when work was scarce, the company wrote to the Surveyor of the Navy to request the placing of an order for the carved work of for the ships being built at Bombay Dockyard. Successful in their request, the Hellyers were granted permission to submit designs for HM Ships Madras, Malacca, Zebra and Goshawk – 'observing that they are to be made characteristic of the country in which they are building.'{{Cite book |last=Pulvertaft |first=David |title=The Warship Figureheads of Portsmouth |publisher=The History Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0752450766 |edition=Illustrated |location=UK |pages=84}}