History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network

James Dooley's Violin

Sailors have always turned their hand to crafts to while away the long hours at sea, and those working on cableships are no exception. Most of the crafts tend towards nautical themes; carved shells and model ships are typical examples. But James Dooley, who sailed on the British Post Office cableship HMTS Iris (2), worked instead on violins, and made the one shown here on board ship some time in 1941.

Mat Stephens, the present custodian of the violin, notes that there is a handwritten label visible through one of the F-holes:

Made by J.W. Dooley
on HMTS Iris 1941
witness E Danbury Q.M.4

Dooley was a known violin maker; his entry in Contemporary Violin Makers by Cyril Woodcock (1965) reads as follows:

DOOLEY, James W.
Born at Casleford, Yorkshire, 1910. Moved to Dover at the age of 15 years and commenced to make violins a year later and has continued ever since despite spells in the Royal Tank Corps and Merchant Navy which he left in 1946...<[a few lines regarding violin design]...One violin completed in Glasgow in 1949 is used with great success by a professional player with the B.B.C. Scottish Orchestra, and Mr. Dooley dedicated this instrument to his father. It was made over a considerable period whilst he was still at sea....

James Dooley is also mentioned in Scottish Violin Makers by David Rattray (2006), which refers to him as being a regular visitor to a Glasgow maker's shop, and gives his life span as 1910-1998. The Dictionary of British Violin and Bow Makers by Dennis G. Plowright (1994), states that Dooley lived in Glasgow in his later years.

Mat Stephens would appreciate hearing from anyone with further information on James Dooley and his service on HMTS Iris (2); please contact Mat through the Atlantic Cable website.

Violin images copyright © 2006 Mat Stephens

In March 2011, Jim Coulson's daughter Mary sent this photograph (Jim is standing, second from the left):

The photograph is undated, and Jim Coulson's service records were lost in the fire on CS Ocean Layer in 1959, but Mary notes that it must have been taken on HMTS Iris (2) in the early 1940s as her sister, born in 1943, was named for the ship.

Markings on the back of the photograph refer to the Illustrated, a magazine published by Odhams in London. Mat Stephens has a copy of the May 30, 1942 issue, which features an article on HMTS Iris and includes this photograph.

Copyright © 2011 FTL Design

Last revised: 7 March, 2011

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