THE FIGUREHEAD OF THE YACHT GELERT, R.Y.S., CARVED BY JAMES HELLYER OF HELLYER & SON TO THE ORDER OF R. & M. RATSEY'S YARD, WEST COWES, 1867

THE FIGUREHEAD OF THE YACHT GELERT, R.Y.S., CARVED BY JAMES HELLYER OF HELLYER & SON TO THE ORDER OF R. & M. RATSEY'S YARD, WEST COWES, 1867
Realistically carved in lime wood as a full-length crouching wolfhound waiting for a command, his head alert with inset brown glass eyes looking up, mounted on a scrollwork bow section with thole pin and securing holes and finished in contemporary silver-grey polychrome. There are few figureheads know with glass eyes and this is the only one known from the Hellyer carvers.
Dimensions: 17 x 54 x 9in. 
Provenance: Aboard Gelert, 1867-1891; Ratsey's Yard, Isle of Wight, 1891-c.1960s; Digby Coventry (1919-2014), acquired from Ratsey's dispersal sale on closure, c.1960s, and thence by descent.
The Hellyer family of carvers became famous for their carvings used by H.M.S. Warrior and the Cutty Sark, but had been active as mainly Naval Dockyard carvers for about 400 years before these commissions. Listed in contemporary directories as 'designers' as well as carvers, their name is a byword for quality, a fact that is readily confirmed by the exquisite handling of the example offered here. It is comparatively rare to know the name of the vessel a head was intended for and very rare to know the name of its designer and carver, confirmed in this case by an inscription added to the reverse of a contemporary photograph of this head used in the book British Figurehead & Ship Carvers by P.N. Thomas where it is stated to be inscribed By James Hellyer, carver to the Royal Navy.
The reportedly “fine schooner yacht” Gelert was built for Colonel Edward Loyd, a prominent member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, by Messrs. R. & M. Ratsey at West Cowes and launched from their yard by Mrs. Sandford, Colonel Loyd’s cousin, on 18th April 1867. Named for the legendary dog “Gelert” from Welsh folklore, the yacht was registered at 168 tons gross (94 net) and measured 98 feet in length with a 20 foot beam. Sporting the particularly distinctive figurehead being offered here, she attracted attention wherever she went but Loyd soon tired of her and she was laid up in 1870 and replaced with a 92-ton yawl called Day Dream. After ten years of idleness, Gelert was finally sold to Charles Howard, 5th Earl of Wicklow (in 1880) who unfortunately died the following year and was succeeded by his brother Cecil. Cecil Howard, the 6th Earl, like his deceased brother, was also a member of the R.Y.S. and he raced Gelert until 1889 when she was again laid up pending sale.
Late the following year (1890), the Gelert was lying in the Medina River awaiting a buyer when she was spotted by Prince Henry of Battenberg, an enthusiastic yachtsman who was looking to replace his 62-ton yawl Sheila with something larger. Instantly attracted to Gelert’s fine lines, Prince Henry bought her and, on 29th January, 1891, the Isle of Wight newspapers reported that:
“Prince Henry of Battenberg’s recently-purchased schooner, the Gelert, has been re-named the Sheila, after his old yacht, and she has undergone a complete refit at Cowes, which has been finished by placing a new figure-head on the vessel, which takes the form of a bust of Princess Beatrice.”
As stated so clearly in this newsprint, the beautiful figurehead of the dog Gelert had been removed and put into storage where it remained until purchased by the present owner’s grandfather in the 1960s. Replaced by a bust of Princess Beatrice, herein lay the simple reason for the survival of this splendid figurehead in such exceptional condition.
Prince Henry of Battenberg, born in 1858, was a morganatic descendant of the (German) Grand Ducal House of Hesse and was a familiar visitor to England and Queen Victoria’s extended family, so much so that in 1884 he became engaged to Princess Beatrice, the Queen’s fifth daughter and youngest child. The Queen however, would only approve the marriage provided the young Battenbergs made their home with her and the couple had no option but to agree. Married in 1885, Prince Henry was made Governor of the Isle of Wight in 1889, an event which probably sparked his desire for a larger racing yacht. Sadly, Prince Henry, having finally persuaded the Queen to allow him to go to West Africa to take part in the so-called Ashanti War, died of malaria during the campaign in January 1896. When the news reached the Queen, she is said to have cried out “The sunbeam in our home is GONE!”, and whether this is true or not, the Prince’s beloved yacht Sheila, formerly the handsome Gelert, quietly disappeared from record thereafter.
The Legend of Gelert the Dog by Ben Johnson
One of the best known, and loved, folk-tales in Wales is the story of a faithful hound.
The story goes that in the thirteenth-century, Prince Llywelyn the Great had a palace at Beddgelert in Caernarvonshire, and as the Prince was a keen hunter, he spent much of his time in the surrounding countryside. He had many hunting dogs, but one day when he summoned them as usual with his horn, his favourite dog Gelert didn’t appear, so regretfully Llywelyn had to go hunting without him.
When Llywelyn returned from the hunt, he was greeted by Gelert who came bounding towards him …his jaws dripping with blood.
The Prince was appalled, and a horrible thought came into his mind …was the blood on the dog’s muzzle that of his one-year old son. His worst fears were realised when he saw in the child’s nursery, an upturned cradle, and walls spattered with blood! He searched for the child but there was no sign of him. Llywelyn was convinced that his favourite hound had killed his son.
Mad with grief he took his sword and plunged it into Gelert’s heart.
As the dog howled in his death agony, Llywelyn heard a child’s cry coming from underneath the upturned cradle. It was his son, unharmed!
Beside the child was an enormous wolf, dead, killed by the brave Gelert.
Reference: British Figurehead & Sip Carvers, by P.N. Thomas, Published by WAINE RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS,1995 England pg. 38. This page has a B&W period photograph of Gilert is the famed Helleyer Family studio. The page also describes the history of the Hellyer family of carvers. They were the carvers to the admiralty and their work dates back 400 years. The firm became even more famous after they completed the warrior figurehead for the ship "Cutty Sark"
38 British Figurehead & Ship Carvers
Ralph Hedley was also an outstanding artist and it is for this that he is best known. When
died he left behind many sketch books but none of the sketches show his carved work.
The Hellyer Family (3 8). The name Hellyer is the best known of the figurehead caf\
mainly because it was a Hellyer who carved the figureheads of Warrior and Cutty Sark. Th
activities go back nearly 400 years but they do not appear as ship carvers until 1799 when
began to do work for the Admiralty. They originated in the Southampton area, and establi
themselves at Cosham, later opening branches in London and Newcastle. No shipyard records ha
survived of their work for London yards but fortunately we have information from other sour
One item only was reported in the press. In 1850 Robinson & Russell of Millwall built a schoo
yacht called Titania with a bust of the Fairy Queen herself as a figurehead, modelled by the ernin
sculptor James Bell and carved by one of the Hellyer family. In an entry in the Admiralty letter b
it is recorded that the Hellyers "worked well" with Richard & Henry Green, shipbuilders. Alex
Hall of Aberdeen sent orders to Hellyer and Browning in 183 7 and 1840 to cut figureheads for -
smallish vessels. Orlando 157/37 and Commodore 149137 had "male busts" for which Hall's
them £3.13 .6 each, while Catherine 246/37 and Ythan 84137 had "female busts" which cost £4.and
£3 .7.6. No other carved work was fitted on the ships. In 1850/51 George Hellyer went u
Aberdeen and lodged there while carving for the tea clipper Stornoway 595/50 and John TG.}
787/51 . For Stornoway Hellyer was responsible only for the secondary carving worth £5.10.0, \
J. & J. Hay included the figurehead in their bill of £17.0.0. The figurehead of John Taylor
Hellyer's work and cost £10.0.0. In 1858, after he had returned to London, he cut the figurehea -another
tea clipper, Ziba 497/58. He was paid £10.10.0 for his efforts, but the vessel must have
very plain as the remaining carving work was done by George Wishart and George Hughes, add· ~
mere £7.9. 8 to her cost. In 1869 George Hellyer was on the move once more, this time to Glasg
where he took up residence in a block maker's shop in Govan. In all the books dealing with C
Sark credit for the carving of the figurehead is given to Frederick Hellyer which leaves us wonde
what George Hellyer was doing in Glasgow. Did he in fact carve the figurehead of Cutty Sark u ~
the eagle eye of Captain George Moodie who was overseeing the construction of the vessel or
he merely executing the decorative carving ? While he was up there he completed a small job -
Scott's ofBowling valued at £6.0.0. Later Scotts of Greenock sent down to London for carved \ -
for Nestor 2100/80, a small contract worth £11. 7.6.
Hellyer Bros., who were Arthur Henry Hellyer and James Edward Hellyer, establish
branch in South Shields in 1867, and this was commemorated in 1884 with a paragraph in the b
describing local businesses(39). Included in their patrons were Readhead & Sons, Ltd, who g
them orders over the years 1876 to 1901 worth a steady £150 per annum. Between 1872 and l
the Laing yard placed orders for carved work the most expensive being for the steamship Estab
38. This dog figurehead came _
the schooner yacht Gelert i
and represents the favourite
hound of Dr. Parkes. On the ba
the photograph is the inscri
"By James Hellyer, carver 10
Royal Navy."