This sub-collection consists of personal and research papers of the Reverend Francis Clement Prideaux Naish, some relating to his identification of the Burlesdon wreck as the GRACE DIEU.

Some material relating to the missionary work of his father Reverend Francis Clement Naish (1848-1931) at Gravesend and Tilbury can be found under the reference WEL/36/1-3.

Administrative / biographical background
Francis Clement Prideaux Naish was born at Gravesend in 1881. He was educated at Westminster School and Sidney Sussex College at Cambridge. He followed his father Reverend Francis Clement Naish (1848-1931) in joining the Church of England clergy. He was ordained as a deacon at Peterborough in 1904 and later connected with churches in the Paddington area of London. During the First World War, Naish served in the Royal Engineers and reached the rank of captain. For his valuable services he was made a member of the military division of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). At the beginning of 1919 he relinquished his command due to ill health caused by wounds. Naish developed an interest in maritime archaeology and together with his sons became involved in the Society for Nautical Research. While living at Bursleton near Southampton in 1933, he called on the expertise of Roger C. Anderson and others to help him investigate what was believed to be the wreck of an ancient ship in the nearby River Hamble. The group succeeded in excavating the remains and determined they were very likely to be those of the warship GRACE DIEU, built using the clinker method at Southampton in 1418. Naish also studied ships of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, for example writing about the tonnage measurement and dimensions of the GOLDEN HIND. Parallel to this was his interest in making models of historic vessels, and there are several examples of his work in the National Maritime Museum collection. He died at Blackheath in 1961.