Port Dunedin’s bell has found its
final resting place outside the Members Lounge at Coleman
Street HQ following its return from the Guild House, now
the Oakland Grange Residential Home, in Littlehampton.
Adam Cromarty and Port Dunedin bellwith painting of M.V.
Port Dunedin
After a history that spans almost eight decades, the bell
of Port Line’s first motorship was in 1979 donated
to the Guild House by Mrs Doreen Cromarty in memory of
her late husband, William Robert Cromarty, Engineer Superintendent
of Port Line, following his death that same year.
The ship’s bell held special sentiment for them both,
for it was whilst working as Third Engineer onboard the
ship during a visit to New Zealand that Robert first met
his future wife.
Robert Cromarty’s son Adam, who, with his son Duncan,
officially unveiled the bell and presented a painting of
the 7500gt Port Dunedin at the Institute in December 2003,
spoke of his father’s commitment to both marine engineering
and to the Institute, of which he joined in June 1927.
Guild Trustees and Guests - 2 December
2003
L to R: Jim Parker, Peter Low, Karen Starr,
Nicole Miller, Brian McDearmid, Eric Pidgeon, Jolyon Sloggett,
David
Long, Bob Anderson, David Dowse, Cliff Woodhead, Bill
Findlay, Peter Carr, David Cusdin, Penny eggebrecht,
Eddy Blackie, Adam Cromarty and Duncan Cromarty.
Speaking in front of a number of IMarEST members, Guild
of Benevolence Chairman David Cusdin and Chief Executive
of Oakland Grange Penny Eggebrecht, Adam said: ‘It
gives me great pleasure to be here today to unveil this
bell. My father saw both sides of a marine engineer’s
career, having worked as a marine engineer at sea and ashore,
and he was of strong conviction that the Institute should
devote itself to the marine engineer.’ Adam suggested
that his father, who became an Honorary Life Member in
1977, would be very pleased at the direction the IMarEST
has taken.
In September last year, several past and present members
of the Guild Committee visited Oakland Grange to replace
the Port Dunedin bell with a new ship’s bell, together
with a plaque commemorating the Guild’s involvement
with the building. The bell had been on loan to the old
Guild House until the last resident from ‘Guild House
days’ had left.
L to R: Adam Cromarty, John McNaught,
Penny Eggebrecht, Duncan Cromarty and David Cusdin
David Cusdin said ‘This is the last stop for the
bell, and ends the 46-year association of the Guild with
the old Guild House.’
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