• Title
  Jack Earl papers, photographs and other material, 1930-1994
• Creator
  Jack Earl, 1908-1994
• Call number
  Cataloguing in progress
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  1930-1994
• Type of material
  Graphic Materials, Textual Records, Photographs, Objects
• Reference code
  9631396
• Physical Description
  49 boxes of textual material, photographic prints and objects
  
• ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
  
  Jack Earl (1908-1994), sailor and marine artist of Sydney. He is notable for his contributions to the sport of sailing, in particular his 1947 voyage in the Kathleen Gillett, which became the second Australian yacht to circumnavigate the world.
  
  An accomplished commercial artist, Jack Earl documented the voyage in a series of illustrated logbooks which he sent home to his wife Kathleen when the ship was in port. Stories of the Kathleen Gillett’s voyage were also published monthly in Seacraft magazine in articles written by first mate Mick Morris and illustrated by Jack. He additionally subsidised the costs of the voyage by selling paintings along the way. Jack continued to paint for the rest of his life, becoming a sought after marine artist. He worked on commission only, for clients who allowed him a great deal of creative freedom. He was known for the meticulous research that went into his paintings.
  
  Named after his wife Kathleen, the Kathleen Gillett was built in Sydney between 1933 and 1939 by Charles Larsen, who worked from Colin Archer drawings. Rigged in 1941, the boat was home to the couple and their children during the war years and was also used for NSW coastal patrol. After being sold by Jack in the 1950s, Kathleen Gillett was used for island trade in Torres Strait and crocodile-hunting expeditions around Bougainville and the Solomon Islands. In 1987 the ketch, was located at Guam and purchased by the Norwegian Government as a Bicentennial Gift to the people of Australia. Kathleen was shipped to Sydney free of charge by Zim Shipping Australasia Pty Ltd, for restoration by Norwegian-descended boat builder Carl Halvorsen. The work was based on photographs and conversations with Jack Earl, and plans drawn up by Alan Payne and Partners.
  
  Reference:
  Library correspondence file
  Australian National Maritime Museum. "Kathleen Gillett". Accessed 23 July 2024. https://www.sea.museum/whats-on/our-fleet/kathleen-gillett
• Collection history
  By descent from Jack Earl to his grandchildren
• Scope and Content
  This collection comprising letters, photographs, objects, preparatory drawings, paintings and objects, documents Jack Earl’s life from childhood until right up to his death. It provides an insight into Earl’s relationships with his friends, family and the Sydney sailing community and shows how he financed his adventures on the sea through his commercial art.
• System of arrangement
  This collection is arranged into seven series by format.
• Access Conditions
  
  Unprocessed collection
• Subject
  Sailors--Australia--Archives.
  Marine artists--Australia--Archives.
  
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE16030601

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