Richard Green of Blackwall.

Repro ID: PX6590

Description: Richard Green (1803-63), the shipbuilder and shipowner son of George Green and his first wife, the daughter of John Perry. Richard was born in December 1803, and when he entered the family firm it became Green Wigram & Green. After his father's death he continued it with his brother Henry. Green had great business skill and was best known for his development of the last generation of East Indiamen, the so-called 'Blackwall frigates', built at Green's Blackwall yard on the Thames. He also built ships for the Australian trade, especially after the discovery of gold in Port Phillip (later Victoria) in 1851. To these shipowning successes he was beginning to add a China trade dimension at the time of his death. Green was also a noted philanthropist, promoting children's education, improvements in merchant marine conditions and fostering the naval reserve. He established and endowed the Sailors' Home at Poplar and was benefactor to schools and other institutions in east London including the Merchant Seaman's Orphan Asylum, the Dreadnought Seaman's Hospital at Greenwich and the Poplar Hospital.

Creator: J T Linnell; Sir Francis Grant

Date: 1849

Credit line: National Maritime Museum, London