The Captain’s and the “Mrs.” Stateroom:
Selections from She Was a Sister Sailor (1992; pages 5-6) by Joan Druett:
“Understandably, the wives were interested in the quarters where they would be living for years on end, and there was no reason to think that Mary Brewster would be any different in this. So what were her accommodations like? The captain had his own stateroom aft, usually on the starboard side , and his wife, of course shared this with him…. By legend this stateroom boasted a large ‘swinging’ bed *, suspended on stone-weighted gimbals, which kept pace with the rolling of the ship….” (First photograph below, looking toward the bow, on the starboard side).
“…A short passage off this stateroom led to the captain’s ’head’ or water closet (toilet), which usually had a washstand and locker.’….”
Photo looking toward the stern (and head); on the starboard side
* Please NOTE, the Morgan’s gimbaled bed dates from 1864. Perhaps updated for Lydia Landers when she went to sea with her husband, Captain Thomas C. Landers; master of the Morgan from 1863 – 1867.
Photographs of the captain’s stateroom taken by the author of this blog, aboard the Charles W. Morgan (on display at Mystic Seaport: Museum of America and the Sea; Mystic, CT).
