Leonard Bentley
Charing Cross Pier
An Excel Series postcard from the early 1930s showing the view from Hungerford Bridge looking towards Victoria Embankment, Shell Mex House and the Savoy Hotel. Also shown is the Charing Cross Pier, the ship in the foreground is the Barquentine 'Emma Ernest', she was on the Lloyd's Register from 1876 until 1934. For several years in the early 1930s she was moored at Charing Cross Pier as the Headquarters of "The Honourable Company of Friendly Adventurers", the company was owned and run by a Mrs. Ruth Knowles née Mitchell who was an American national and married to a Master at Tonbridge School, Kent. Mrs. Knowles was the sister of General Billy Mitchell often considered to be the father of the US Air Force and who had the WW2 American bomber the North American B-25 Mitchell named after him. It may have been partly a charitable concern because its intent was to improve international relations by enabling children of various countries to become acquainted, like an early exchange visits scheme. Whilst moored at Charing Cross Pier the ship was known as "The Friend Ship" and was rented out as a party or other events venue, whether this was to provide income for Mrs. Knowles or her company, I have not been able to ascertain. Apparently during the war she found herself in Yugoslavia and joined the Chetniks as a dispatch rider, it is believed that she was the inspiration for the Ingrid Bergman character in the film "The Yellow Rolls Royce".
Charing Cross Pier
An Excel Series postcard from the early 1930s showing the view from Hungerford Bridge looking towards Victoria Embankment, Shell Mex House and the Savoy Hotel. Also shown is the Charing Cross Pier, the ship in the foreground is the Barquentine 'Emma Ernest', she was on the Lloyd's Register from 1876 until 1934. For several years in the early 1930s she was moored at Charing Cross Pier as the Headquarters of "The Honourable Company of Friendly Adventurers", the company was owned and run by a Mrs. Ruth Knowles née Mitchell who was an American national and married to a Master at Tonbridge School, Kent. Mrs. Knowles was the sister of General Billy Mitchell often considered to be the father of the US Air Force and who had the WW2 American bomber the North American B-25 Mitchell named after him. It may have been partly a charitable concern because its intent was to improve international relations by enabling children of various countries to become acquainted, like an early exchange visits scheme. Whilst moored at Charing Cross Pier the ship was known as "The Friend Ship" and was rented out as a party or other events venue, whether this was to provide income for Mrs. Knowles or her company, I have not been able to ascertain. Apparently during the war she found herself in Yugoslavia and joined the Chetniks as a dispatch rider, it is believed that she was the inspiration for the Ingrid Bergman character in the film "The Yellow Rolls Royce".