The George Coull collection of maritime photos was generously donated to Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre by Mr. Coull during his lifetime but was so large it had to be transported from Aberdeen to Scarborough in two vehicles.
George Coull became associated with Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre when vice chairman George Westwood procured the collection having been associated with him for a number of years through the mutual interest of fishing boat photos. However it was George Scales who was the common denominator in the procurement of the collection for he and George Coull had been exchanging maritime photos for decades.
When George Scales passed away George Westwood procured the George Scales collection to be donated to Scarborough Maritime Heritage centre and when it was suggested to George Coull that his collection could be kept alongside the George Scales collection he accepted without hesitation and the collection was brought to Scarborough from the Kincorth area of Aberdeen.
George Coull was a native of Aberdeen and worked practically all his life in a ship repair yard in the Torrey district of Aberdeen and it was from his place of work that many of his photos were taken with a Russian made 35mm SLR Zenith. From the shipyard and other vantage points around the quaysides he would photograph all manner of shipping in transit to and from the port of Aberdeen but steam trawlers were his real passion.
When George Coull became associated with George Scales of Scarborough together they set up a network of like minded people throughout Britain who shared the hobby of ship photography and would exchange hard copy prints by post. Sadly the digital age of photography and email communications preceded both George Coull and George Scales which could have enabled massive financial savings and the two collection may have been considerably larger.
Both men are now gone but their legacy will serve for decades to come as volunteers at the Heritage Centre are painstakingly digitally copying every image. This is no mean feat as the George Coull collection is believed to number 30000 photographs.
Photo of George and his collection here:
