Photograph, Four Men in a Boat, One in a Diving Suit

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

51538

Title

A sepia photograph of four men in a small rowing boat, one man, Mr McRobbie, is in a diving suit

Description

A sepia photograph of four men in a small rowing boat, one man, Mr McRobbie, is in a diving suit. One man sits at the head of the boat with one ore to row the boat. In the centre of the boat is a steering wheel.

Date

1885

Location

Queensferry Museum

Copyright

The City of Edinburgh Council Museums and Galleries

This evocative photograph was taken around 1885, during the construction of the Forth Bridge. The wooden dinghy pictured was typical of the boats used to ferry bridge workers, or Briggers, to and from their worksites in the Firth of Forth. In the photograph, a man called Edward McRobbie can be seen facing the camera, wearing a diving suit, but without the helmet.

Deep sea divers like Edward undertook incredibly dangerous work, diving down into the depths of the Forth to check on the bridge’s foundations. He always carried a knife with him in case he became tangled underwater and needed to free himself quickly. His air supply came from a manually-operated tank kept onboard the boat, connected to his helmet by a long rubber tube.

One day, Edward lost his knife, but continued to look for it every two years whilst doing checks on the bridge. He was lucky enough to find it again about seven years later in the mud at the bottom of the Firth of Forth.

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Related subjects

Places > Edinburgh areas > Queensferry

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Transport > Infrastructure > Bridges

Transport > Infrastructure > Railway bridges

Transport > Water > Boats

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Photograph, four men in a boat, one in a diving suit