Straits Settlements

The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.

Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867. The colony was dissolved in 1946 as part of the British reorganisation of its South-East Asian dependencies following the end of the Second World War.

The Straits Settlements consisted of the four individual settlements of Malacca, Dinding, Penang (also known as Prince of Wales Island), Singapore (with Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands). The island of Labuan, off the coast of Borneo, was also incorporated into the colony with effect from 1 January 1907, becoming a separate settlement within it in 1912. With the exception of Singapore, Christmas Island, and the Cocos Islands, these territories now form part of Malaysia. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry visited the territories on his 1927 voyage to the Far East. Lowry refers to the territories in his short story 'On Board The West Hardaway': "The West Hardaway reached the Straits Settlements and unloaded some of her cargo in Penang, leaning with quiet gratitude against the wharf, sea-weary after her long journey." (Pg. 29). Lowry also refers to a stamp from territory in his short story 'Lunar Caustic'; "Here he bought a packet of stamps with little reproductions of tigers on them from the Straits Settlements" (Pg 304). Later, Lowry referred twice to the territory in his short story 'Elephant and Colosseum';  "and in Ark of Singapore he has reached back to this early experience, in 1927, on a sailing ship, with a deck cargo of lions, tigers, and elephants from the Straits Settlements bound for the Dublin Zoo." (Pg. 166); .......only several ports later homebound, had loaded that freight as mentioned of heterogeneous wild animals at a Straits Settlements port, that is to say, it was not Malaya at all but Siam..." (Pg. 219)

Port Swettenham

A town and the main gateway by sea into Malaysia. Colonially known as Port Swettenham now Port Klang, it is also the location of the largest and busiest port in the country. It is located about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southwest of the town of Klang, and 38 kilometres (24 mi) southwest of Kuala Lumpur.

Lowry visited the port on the outward bound voyage of Pyrrhus arriving June 11th 1927 and leaving the next day. Lowry returned to the port on the inward bound voyage arriving and leaving on August 24th 1927.

Lowry used the name of the port for the title of a short story published in Experiment 5 February 1930. Lowry set scenes in the port centred around the death of the pigeon adopted by Norman, a crew member. He later changed the port in the short story 'On Board West Hardaway' to Penang and later again to Tsjang Tsjang (Dairen) in his novel Ultramarine. In the 1940 version of Under The Volcano, the story reverts back to Port Swettenham (Pg. 54-55).

Direct references to the port include; "Damn all Janes in Swettenham. It's only Norman's Mickey-" 'On Board West Hardaway' (Pg. 32) and  Lowry refers 3 times to the port in his first novel Ultramarine; "I am on a ship, I am going to Japan - or aren't I?" then he lists all the places Dana is due to visit including Port Swettenham (Ultramarine Pg. 18); "Why,! I went a shore at Penang. And in Singapore and Kowloon and in Port Swettenham too!" (Pg. 58) and "Yes, and Swettenham was a hell of a place for mozzies too." (Pg. 177).

Swansea Jail

Swansea Prison is located in the Sandfields area of Swansea, Wales. Built between 1845 and 1861 to replace former prison accommodation at Swansea Castle. Both male and female inmates were incarcerated there until 1922, at which point all females were transferred to Cardiff Prison.

Lowry refers to the jail in his short story "On Board the West Hardaway'; The bird was a gray carrier pigeon, tired and hungry. It had round its leg a message from a Swansea jail, of a reprieve. In 1927, Lowry may have heard  of some members of the Theosophical Society in Wales joined a campaign to secure signatures for the reprieve of Doris Williams who was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing her illegitimate child after a second trial. The reprieve was eventually granted.

West Hardaway

West Henshaw

Lowry originally used the name of the ship in an early short story 'On Board the West Hardaway' which was an based on his 1927 voyage to the Far East. The ship re-appears in his first novel Ultramarine; "He watched the oil tanker come right in— she was an American— West Hardaway, Portland, Ore." (Pg. 152)

The West Hardaway was a 5,702 tons steam ship built in March 1919 by Columbia River Shipbuilding Corp, Portland for US Maritime Commission, Washington DC, later laid up as part of the reserve fleet. Owned by Isthmian SS Co, New York during WW2. Sunk by U-502 (Jürgen von Rosenstiel) in 1942 en route Baltimore, Maryland - Hampton Roads - Trinidad - Table Bay - Suez with 7000 tons of war supplies and coal.

At 20.15 hours on 15 Jun, 1942, the unescorted West Hardaway (Master Karl W. Jaenicke) was attacked with a spread of three torpedoes from U-502 while steaming on a zigzag course at 6 knots about 30 miles west of Grenada. One torpedo passed ahead, another astern and the third struck on starboard bow in the #1 hold. Distress signals were sent and the gunners fired five shots at a "slick". The ten officers, 27 crewmen and 13 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, four 20mm and two .30cal guns) abandoned ship in four lifeboats and four rafts, but after 20 minutes the gun crew, the second mate and two crewmen reboarded the vessel. The gunners fired another round at the "slick", but the ship was then hit in the #2 hold by another torpedo and sank about one hour later. All hands survived and made landfall on 17 June at Margarita Island, Venezuela and were three days later landed at Trinidad by the Venezuelan steam merchant. Uboat.net

Note: West Henshaw - same design as West Hardaway but built at Duthie & Co., J. F.Seattle WA.