Dorothy Laird PENANG Diaries, memoirs and photographs.

Administrative / biographical background
Dorothy Laird sailed on merchant sailing ships during the 1930s, on the Erikson line, initially as a passenger, before becoming a hand on board. She was eventually promoted to ordinary seaman. These ships, such as the PENANG, were the last sailing vessels to commercially transport cargo, and Laird’s lively account of her days on board shows the profound effect that the seaboard way of life had on her as a young woman. Laird went on to pass her coastal yacht master’s examination, becoming the first woman to do so, though this cannot be verified from records at the National Maritime Museum. Later in life she had a career as a journalist and wrote many books and articles on the Royal family and horseracing.