Captain Thomas Hood Bentley, 1845-1905
Master Mariner, Shipwright and Marine Surveyor
(written by his grandson Thomas Hall Bentley)

Captain Bentley was a Londoner, born within the sound of Bow Bells. His father, George, a lighterman, died when Grandpa was very young, and he was indentured as a trainee shipwright at the age of 14. Harsh training conditions applied. At the age of 18 (1863) he won a rowing trophy on the Thames.

In his early thirties he left for the Far East, and captained a ship trading between Taiwan and China. He then took a position as superintendent of a ship building and repair docks in Hong Kong, and after several years moved to Taiwan where he bought coal mines and resumed captaincy of a trading vessel. As a result of a skirmish between France and China when his house was shelled (by the French), he sold his interests and returned to England. He received a written commendation from the admiral commanding the French navy for his work as a ship’s pilot, in positioning the forces to greatest advantage.

Whilst in England he designed and supervised the construction of his large sailing ship, the “Earl Cadogan”. The ship was 237 feet 3 inches long and weighed 1434 tons (gross). It was launched in June 1892. Grandpa, his wife (a school teacher from Somerset), Dad as a pre-teen and his little sister Elsie, together with a governess, sailed the world for the next few years. It was a trading vessel and went wherever cargoes required. There is a ship’s document showing the route as London, Buenos Aires, Calcutta, Sydney.

The bank crash in England in the mid-nineties severely reduced his wealth and caused him to sell the ship and emigrate to Australia, where he set up business as a marine surveyor and ship’s pilot. He was based at Sydney (102 Kurraba Rd., Neutral Bay).

Of course, I never saw him - but I understand that he was a very likeable chap (my mother’s words) and very competent. He was an avid stamp collector, and when in foreign ports used to visit other ships to swap stamps. His collection dated from the first year stamps were issued. He owned large tracts of harbour land, but of course sold too soon.