Vernon William MacAndrew
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Vernon William MacAndrew (15 July 1880 – 22 June 1940) was a British yachtsman, shell collector, photographer, and philanthropist. He is best known for his success in the 12-metre yacht racing class in 1937–1938, including winning the King's Cup, given by the King to the winner of the 12 Metre championship [clarification needed] at Cowes in 1938, and for his wartime service in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, during which he was killed when his motor yacht Campeador V was sunk by a mine in 1940.
Early life and background
MacAndrew was born in Mortlake in 1880, to George and Flora MacAndrew, part of the MacAndrew shipping family.[1] He was educated at Sherborne School in Dorset.
In the early 1900s he worked for the MacAndrew family shipping business: Robert Macandrew & Co., in Valencia, Spain, where he lived for several years. He married Mary Kastner in Barcelona in 1912.[2] The MacAndrew family sold the shipping company in 1917, following losses to German submarine attacks.
Following the First World War, Vernon acquired part of the Bighouse estate in Sutherland in 1919, including land along the Halladale River. He used the estate for fishing and shooting during the seasons.[3] By the early 1920s he had made his family home at a large house called Ravensbury, at Warfleet, in Dartmouth, Devon. He and his wife adopted a daughter and named her Marie Cora, she became a regular dinghy sailor in a Dart One Design dinghy.
Yachting career
MacAndrew started sailing in Dartmouth in the late 1920s, competing in the Dart One Design class, organised by the Royal Dart Yacht Club. In 1929 he donated four Dart One Design dinghies to the Royal Dart Yacht Club, and gave another three to the Royal Naval College to be used by the cadets. This all contributed to the growth of the local fleet and regular racing in Dartmouth Harbour. MacAndrew was elected Rear Commodore of Royal Dart Yacht Club in 1936.[4] [5]
He subsequently raced in the West Solent Restricted class, in his yacht Natica, winning many local races organised by the Torbay Yacht club. .[6]
In 1936 he bought a new 12 metre boat Trivia and started in racing in the 1937 season, and was immediately successful: recording eleven firsts, twelve seconds, and six thirds.[7] By the end of the 1937 season, Trivia was the champion 12 Metre yacht, having beaten well known names including Sir Richard Fairey and T.O.M. Sopwith.[8]
MacAndrew and Trivia's success continued in 1938, when Trivia achieved a record of twenty two race wins during Cowes Week.[9][10] As a result MacAndrew won major Cowes Regatta trophies including the King's Cup, two Royal Yacht Squadron Cups, and the Bartlett International Trophy.[9]
By the end of the 1938 season Trivia was the winner of the !2 Meter series, for the second time, again winning against experienced helmsmen and owners[6]
To support his racing, he commissioned a twin-screw motor yacht built at Philip & Son Dartmouth, which served as the parent ship to Trivia during major regattas. He named it Campeador after el Cid, Prince Campeador of Valencia, the King's Champion.[11]
In 1936, MacAndrew started a sail training school for boys at Warfleet House, Dartmouth, which was certified by the Merchant Navy Training Scheme. In 1938 MacAndrew he gave the training school to the Young Men's Christian Association, together with an endowment of £25,000.[1] Although the original Training Ship Warfleet later closed, the assets derived from MacAndrew's gift were subsequently used by the YMCA to buy Fairthorne Manor, and develop it as a watersports centre that is still open today.[12]
Wartime service and death
At the outbreak of the Second World War, MacAndrew offered both his yacht Campeador V , his crew, and his own services to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. While many yacht owners placed their vessels at the disposal of the Admiralty, it was less common for owners to serve actively themselves, and MacAndrew was already 59 years old.
Repainted grey, with a gun forward, and with ASDIC installed, Campeador V became part of the Auxiliary Patrol Service hunting submarines in the Channel. Under the command of Commander Davey R.N., the vessel undertook intensive patrol duties during the early months of the war, and was at sea for 84 of the first 95 days of the war.[13]
MacAndrew served with fellow Royal Dart Yacht Club colleagues, John R. Muir and Charles Turner, all aged over 55. Their service led to recommendations for promotion Lieutenant, which were endorsed by Winston Churchill, who wrote on the recommendation certificate "Promote them, age will be served".[13]
On 22 June 1940, Campeador V struck a German magnetic mine and sank within minutes. Of the crew of twenty-two, only two survived, and MacAndrew was among those who died.[13]
A newspaper obituary described him as an RNVR officer and racing yacht owner and highlighted his pre-war success in the 12-metre class, and his role in promoting small-boat sailing and training young yacht crews in Dartmouth.[1]
Shell collecting
Vernon MacAndrew came from a family of shell collectors: his grandfather Robert MacAndrew was a shell collector, developed dredging techniques for shell collection, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1834; while his uncle James MacAndrew bought and traded shells to build up a large collection before his death in 1915. Vernon MacAndrew organised and led three shell collecting expeditions in the 1920s: two expeditions to the Red Sea in 1922/23 and 1923/24 and an expedition to the Philippines in 1928/29. He added to his own collection by buying his uncle's collection in 1918 and the collection of Mrs de Burgh in 1919. His entire collection, which incorporated the purchased collections, was bequeathed to the British Museum (later the Natural History Museum) after his death, and continues to be highlighted as one of the 11 historic collections that underpin its mollusc collection.[2][14]
Photography
MacAndrew started to take photographs early in his life, from at least 1905 and continued to document his expeditions and travels, and sailing career until he died in 1940. His work was publicly exhibited during his lifetime, and in 1915 he gave a lantern lecture featuring colour photographic views of Spain, the Balearic Islands, botanical subjects, and scenes in Devon and Cornwall; local newspapers stated that the slides had been photographed and developed by MacAndrew himself.[15]
He was elected a member of the Royal Photographic Society in 1936, and exhibited work in the Royal Photographic Society's annual exhibitions. His photographic archive comprises 5,000 glass plate slides, many of them in colour, using early colour development processes including Autochrome. The archive is now held by Dartmouth Museum and has been described as a significant body of early twentieth-century photographic material, with particular strengths in the number of colour slides and the breadth of subjects covered.[16] [17]
Legacy
MacAndrew's wartime service and the loss of Campeador V were recorded in Cecil Hunt's 1941 book The Gallant Little Campeador.
In January 2026, a blue plaque for Vernon MacAndrew was proposed by the Dartmouth and Kingswear Society and Dartmouth Museum for his former residence, Ravensbury House; the proposal was supported by Dartmouth Town Council.[18]
The 1938 King's Cup won by Trivia was sold at auction in 2026, reflecting continued historical interest in his racing career.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Officer Lost in Yacht He Owned". Daily News. London. 25 June 1940.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Charpentier, Laurent (Dec 2023). "Vernon Macandrew. Le yachtman photographe". Le Chasse-Marée (336).
- ↑ "Sale of Halladale Estate". Highland News. 1 March 1919.
- ↑ "Yacht Racing: Gift of Four Dinghies to Royal Dart Yacht Club". Western Morning News. 21 December 1929.
- ↑ "Club History – Royal Dart Yacht Club".
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Mr. V. W. MacAndrew and His Two Yachts". Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. 9 September 1938.
- ↑ "Trivia's 29 Flags: Successful Yacht at Gosport". Portsmouth Evening News. 30 August 1937.
- ↑ "Yachting: Trivia Champion of 12-Metre Class". Torbay Express. 22 September 1937.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "At Home and Abroad: News Items of Topical Interest". Illustrated London News. 13 August 1938.
- ↑ "Royal Southern Club: Last Day of Cowes Week". Hampshire Advertiser. 13 August 1938.
- ↑ "All Out on the Measured Mile". The Sphere. 10 September 1938.
- ↑ Portsmouth Evening News, 23 January 1961.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Hunt, Cecil (1941). The Gallant Little Campeador. Methuen. Search this book on
- ↑ GB Mollusca Types database.
- ↑ "Coloured Photography". Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser. 31 July 1915.
- ↑ Charpentier, Le Chasse-Marée (2023–24).
- ↑ "Newly revealed Vernon MacAndrew photographic archive donated to Dartmouth Museum". British Photo History.
- ↑ "Blue plaque for yachtsman Vernon MacAndrew". Dartmouth Chronicle. 15 March 2026.
Category:1880 births Category:1940 deaths Category:British yachtsmen Category:Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel Category:British photographers Category:British conchologists Category:People from Dartmouth, Devon Category:People educated at Sherborne School
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