Cornwall Ontario Canada Australian Convict Ship Barque Success 1923 Real Photo Postcard
The ship pictured is the "Convict Ship Success," a vessel that gained notoriety as a touring museum in North America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally the French frigate *La Ville de Caen*, launched in 1801, it was captured by the British in 1801 and renamed HMS *Success*. While it did serve briefly as a prison hulk in England, its later identity as a historic Australian convict transport was largely a fabrication for exhibition purposes, designed to sensationalize its past for paying audiences.
By 1923, when this photograph was taken in Cornwall, the *Success* had been extensively modified to resemble a grim prison ship, complete with iron cages and wax figures depicting convict life, traveling through canals and rivers across the United States and Canada. Its claim of being 135 years old at this time (suggesting a 1788 build) was part of its marketing as "the oldest ship afloat," even though its actual age was around 122 years. The ship offered a popular, albeit historically inaccurate, glimpse into penal history for a curious public.
By 1923, when this photograph was taken in Cornwall, the *Success* had been extensively modified to resemble a grim prison ship, complete with iron cages and wax figures depicting convict life, traveling through canals and rivers across the United States and Canada. Its claim of being 135 years old at this time (suggesting a 1788 build) was part of its marketing as "the oldest ship afloat," even though its actual age was around 122 years. The ship offered a popular, albeit historically inaccurate, glimpse into penal history for a curious public.
