Jennison Coach - the "Wildeshott" Caravan

[Don Ricardo]

Jennison Coach - the "Wildeshott" caravan

Manufactured by Jennison Caravan Cruisers Pty Ltd
292-6 Military Road, Cremorne NSW

Further information about the history of Jennison Caravan Cruisers can be found here

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Jennison has provided the following photos of a Wildeshott caravan from the photograph collection of his grandfather, John Jennison. The Wildeshott caravan was apparently owned by a Mr and Mrs Cole, who may have been friends or clients (or both) of John Jennison.

(The following information about the Wildeshott being imported into Australia aboard the Zealandia has proved to be partiallly incorrect - see following replies. However, I have not made a correction at this point because otherwise the posts below would have no context. Don Ricardo, 13/4/2008)
The Wildeshott was imported from overseas aboard the TSS Zealandia and was unloaded in Australia on 8 February 1939. It is not known if the Wildeshott was imported by, or on behalf of the Coles, or whether they purchased it after its arrival.

The following shots show the van being unloaded at the wharf:


Comment on back of photograph: "The Wildeshott caravan hovering over the hold of T.S.S. ZEALANDIA on 8/2/39"


Comment on back of photograph: "The Wildeshott leaving the wharf on 8/2/39"

The following pics show some of the Cole's camping trips with the Wildeshott:


Comment on back of photograph: " The Wildeshott in Sydney"


Comment on back of photograph: "Mrs Cole in doorway of Wildeshott caravan"

Comment on back of photograph: "Wildeshott caravan under an oak growing in Berima NSW - Mrs Cole sitting in doorway"


Comment on back of photograph: "The Wildeshott caravan under oak tree growing in Berima NSW with Mrs Cole looking out of window"

Comment on back of photograph: "The Wildeshott caravan at Rules Pt with canvas annex up and Mrs Cole inside"

Source: Photographs and information posted on behalf of Jennison

[Don Ricardo]

Hi everyone,

There are a number of unanswered questions about the pics of the Wildeshott caravan in John Jennison's collection of photographs. Two questions concern the materials used to build it and its country of manufacture.

Materials used: The Wildeshott has curved edges, both at each corner of the side walls and on the roof. These edges are unusual for a caravan built in the 1930's, which tended to use walls and roofs which met at 90 degrees and used beading to seal the edges. In many respects the Wildeshott resembles some of the early Caraparks built in the 40's, which used aluminium to achieve the curved edges. Was the Wildeshott an early example of a caravan using aluminium or other metal sheeting for its external walls? Or is it possible to get enough curvature in marine ply to achieve the same result?

Comments or thoughts on this are welcome.

Country of manufacture: It is unknown at this stage where the Wildeshott was built, or from which country it was imported. However, I have done some research on the history of the TSS Zealandia, thinking that might provide some clues. (Incidentally 'TSS' stands for Twin Screw Steamship.)

The following was obtained from a website on the history of the Clydebank shipyards in Scotland. I have included the full history of the ship because I think it is quite interesting in itself.



"The passenger ship TSS Zealandia, built for the Australian shipping company Huddart Parker at John Brown & Co's Clydebank Shipyard, during sea trials in the Firth of Clyde in 1910.

"Zealandia was initially chartered to the Union Steam Ship Co of New Zealand for service on the Wellington - Rarotonga - Papeete - Vancouver route, before being returned to her owners in 1913. During the First World War she was used as a troopship. Between 1919 and 1939 she was employed in the Australian coastal passenger service between Sydney and Fremantle, and on routes between Australia and New Zealand.

"When the Second World War broke out, Zealandia was once again used as a troopship. She undertook several hazardous missions as the Japanese advanced towards Australia. In February 1942, she arrived in Darwin Harbour from Sydney carrying a cargo of guns, ammunition, and an anti-tank company. She was caught in the open whilst unloading by a Japanese air raid and sunk with the loss of three lives."
(Source of photo and history: www.theclydebankstory.com/image.php?inum=TCSM00146)

As noted above, in the 20's and 30's the Zealandia plied the Sydney/Fremantle and Australia/New Zealand routes. This suggested to me that the Wildeshott may have been imported from New Zealand, so I emailed two of our NZ V V forum contributors Jenny and Dusty, as well as a contact in the VVCNZ. None of them have heard of Wildeshott caravans. However, Jenny has commented that 'Wildeshott' sounds German or South African.

At this point we seem to be no closer to knowing the origins of the Wildeshott. If anyone has ideas about what to try next, please feel welcome to suggest them.

Don Ricardo

[Jennison]

G,day all, I have just received an email from the Aust Nat maritime Museum that during Feb 1939 the Zealandia was on the Sydney/ Hobart run, arriving in Sydney on the 6th Feb from Tasmania! The plot thickens! Jennison

[Don Ricardo]

Comment from Mark T in a PM:

they made plenty of fighter aeroplanes out of ali in 1939, so I guess ali would be a fair bet .....

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

Jennison has asked me to post the following email he received about the Zealandia from the Public Enquiries Librarian at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney:

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"Re your email enquiry of April 10, requesting information about the vessel Zealandia.

"Zealandia official number 120764
This vessel was a twin screw steamship of 6683 tons, built by J. Brown & Co. at Clydebank in 1910. According to this vessel's entry in the 1939-40 edition of Lloyd's register of shipping this vessel was owned by Huddart Parker Ltd., and registered in the port of Melbourne.
In February 1939 this vessel was employed on the interstate run between Sydney and Hobart only, its movements at the time your photographs were taken were as follows:
1 February 1939 left Sydney for Hobart
3 February 1939 arrived in Hobart
6 February 1939 arrived in Sydney from Hobart
8 February 1939 left Sydney for Hobart

"It is unlikely that you will locate a passenger list for this voyage, only international passenger lists are held by National Archives of Australia: www.naa.gov.au/collection/recordsearch.aspx.

"The Sydney Morning Herald might have published the names of persons arriving on this vessel and this newspaper is available on microfilm at the State Library of New South Wales. see the following link for details: www.sl.nsw.gov.au/using/index.html

"Good luck with your search."

---

The intriguing thing about this information is that the Zealandia departed from Sydney for Hobart on 8 February 1939, the day the Wildeshott photos were taken. This probably indicates that the photos are of the Wildeshott being loaded on to the Zealandia, not off it as we had previously assumed. This actually fits with John Jennison's comment on the back of the second photo above: "The Wildeshott leaving the wharf on 8/2/39". In other words it is a photo of the caravan being loaded from the wharf onto the ship.

So did the Wildeshott go to Tasmania and stay there, or did it come back? This information suggests that the photos of the Coles out camping with the Wildeshott very possibly pre-date the caravan going to Tasmania (ie pre-1939). So how long ago did caravans start being built in aluminium? Any guesses?

Thanks for sharing your email with us Jennison. The mystery deepens but also becomes ever more intriguing!

Don Ricardo

[tinnie]

Presumably then, the Coles were going to Tasmania on 08/02/39. Perhaps to do some touring??? So then were the photos of the Wildeshott in Sydney and in Berima taken before or after this time??

Hang on....can anyone date the registration number? FN-251. Firefighter where are you.....

gristy

[firefighter]

Hey Gristy

trust you to ask about the no plate on the wildeshott
I looked at that the other day and though I would keep my nose out of out of it ........but seeing you asked .........

the series on the wildeshott started in may 1937 finishing 1951
starting at AA .000 finishing at Z Z .999
white legend on black background
with NSW on the top of the plate
excluding I & Q

wildeshotts plate FM 251 ........ guess 1938 early 39
what do you reckin gristy
f/f ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[tinnie]

Hi FF,
Bit hard to tell isnt it. If the sequence started in May 1937, and went sequentially theough every combination, then AA would have 1000 combos, AB would have 1000, and so on. For each starting letter there would have been 26000 number plates issued.
So by my calcs, FN 251 would have been the 143,251th vehicle rego from May 1937 until??.... Does anyone know haw many vehicles were registered per annum in NSW in 1937 or 1938?
I would say it is likely to have been registered just prior to the date it was loaded at the wharf. This means it was probably constructed in 1938. Perhaps.....
Cheers, Gristy

[Don Ricardo]

Thanks for posting the number plate info Firefighter, and thanks for asking the question Gristy. That's really useful info, and shows the value (again) of the V V forum where we can all contribute our knowledge and wisdom.

Based on Firefighter's info I drew a similar conclusion to you Gristy, ie the Wildeshott was probably registered only shortly before it was loaded on to the Zealandia. However, whether it was built in 1938 depends on whether or not it was registered very soon after it was constructed. In fact it may have been around for a while before it was registered - particularly if it came from overseas.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

NZ contributor to the forum Jenny has pointed out that there are some similarities between the Wildeshott and some USA caravans of the 1930's, for example this 1937 Pierce-Arrow Travelodge Model B:





Or what about this 1938 Travelo:



Interestingly, the caption on the Travelo photo indicates that it has masonite walls and a canvas roof. So it is possible to achieve the curved walls and roof that are seen on the Wildeshott without using aluminium or other metal sheeting.

One of the differences is of course is that the door of the Wildeshott is on the left-hand side, while the door of US caravans is on the right. I would think that this indicates that the Wildeshott has a British Empire (Commonwealth) origin, and excludes not only the USA, but Germany, etc.

There are also a lot of similarities in styling, etc between the Wildeshott and Carapark aluminium caravans of the 40's and 50's, such as this van which was photographed by the Kaybees in December 2006:



Does anyone know when Carapark (or Caravanpark as it was called originally) commenced building aluminium caravans, and whether they started with a different name - Wildeshott for example...?

Don Ricardo

[trodler]

Hi don
Carapark changed their name about the early to mid 50 s and it was originally called
Caravan Park Pty Ltd.

Cheers.
Trodler.

[neilncheryl]

Hi Don
Just a bit of trivia for you
I think it was about 1968 (may have been earlier) when Carapark supplied some vans to Brisbane City Council as Mobile lunchrooms for the on site workmen. They were around 17 feet long, similar shape to the bottom photos (above) and set up with table and chairs inside.
Last of these were auctioned off in early nineties
Neil

[Jennison]

G'day all,
I have had a couple of w/shott pics sharpened up. The results and what they show give cause for more investigation. It appears the wildeshott may have been made by JAJ with the front label/writing reading "Jennison Coach". Possibly a special order/build?
Donricardo will be posting the sharper pics and my "CSI" mate is going to try for further improvements to the photo with his work computer. Jeff

[Don Ricardo]

Hi everyone,

Following are the photos of the Wildeshott which have been sharpened up by Jennison's friend using his 'CSI' skills, as mentioned in the post above:









The lettering on the back of the caravan as it hovers over the hold of the Zealandia is most intriguing. How do you read it?

Don Ricardo

[Geoff & Jude]

hi don

you asked "The lettering on the back of the caravan as it hovers over the hold of the Zealandia is most intriguing. How do you read it?"

i went tinto photoshop and fiddled around with the photo and i reckon it says "jennison coach"



not totally sure, but the first letters look to be 'coa', the second last looks like the first 'c' and the last letter looks like the 'h' in wildeshott .

geoff 'n jude

[Jennison]

Hey Geoff & jude, Jackpot!! That's what donricardo and I reckon, and you've done even better with the photoshop. Well done and thanks as per my earlier comments - some sort of special order or build. I'm starting to think that mr and mrs Cole will be the key. Perhaps donricardo, they lived in Berrima ? regards Jennison

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Geoff 'n Jude,

Nice work!

Looks like Jennison and I will need to do a major re-write of the Wildeshott history posts based on the information that has gradually come to light! The early guesses and suppositions were apparently somewhat askew. But then that's what makes history interesting.

I still want to know what or where 'Wildeshott' comes from though... The fact that it's in inverted commas on the side of the van suggests that it is a model name or maybe the Cole's pet name for their van.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

I was perusing a post from Cobber regarding caravans from the first decade of the 1900's and was struck by the similarity between this caravan:

Apr 18, 2011 16:35:38 GMT 10 cobber said:

...and the Wildeshott caravan that is the subject of this thread:



We have never worked out the origins of the Wildeshott van, and there are some differences between the latter and the van in the pic posted by Cobber. But..there are also quite a lot of similarities between the two vans in terms of style and construction. Is it possible there is a connection between the two?

To get us a step further, can anyone identify the make and year of the vehicle in Cobber's photo? That will give us the earliest possible date the photo could have been taken...

Don Ricardo

[kaybee]

Hi Don Ricardo , I can help with the car ID.... it's a '34 Chev Tourer , cheers, Colin.

[Don Ricardo]

Thanks for the ID of the vehicle in the photo, Kaybee.

So, that means that the photo was taken in 1934 or later, and to my eye the vehicle doesn't look exactly new. In fact the van and the vehicle almost look abandoned, so 'later' is probably the operative word.

At least some of the photos of the Wildeshott were taken in 1939, so it looks as if the two caravans were around in the same period.

Hopefully somebody will come on the forum one day and tell us they know the history of the Wildeshott (and the other van as well).

Don Ricarddo

[Gypsy Bruce]

Hi Don,
Great to come across this forum. And particularly the references to the Zealandia and photos of unloading the caravan from the Zealandia.
I have a strong connection to the Zealandia. My great grandfather supervised the building of this ship and others back in the UK as the suoervising engineer for Huddart Parker and Co. I have a lot of info and documents about the Zealandia from his records. He used to oversee the building of ship, their testing, and usually accompanied them home to Melbourne where he was based. Some of the time his wife and boy travelled with him and lived in Scotland and Melbourne: a pretty amazing job and lifestyle!!
I read the caravan identification info with interest. I own a Gypsy Gem caravan from about 1951. It would be good to find out more about her.
Do you have any more info about the Zealandia- caravan connection?
Cheers, Bruce.

[Jennison]

There's a name I haven't heard in a while ...the wildeshott caravan.
I've got some stuff on zealandia that I researched at the time. I had the sailing dates info and/or manifest for the day she departed Sydney somewhere and some other articles
Jenno

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Brucec,

It was great to read your post about your great grandfather's connection to the TSS Zealandia. Apologies for not replying sooner. I was away for a few weeks when you posted, and am just catching up on things now.

Unfortunately we haven't been able to progress any further on the link between the Zealandia and the Wildeshott caravan beyond what has been recorded on this thread. Forum member Jennison is the one who has been able to dig up most of the information about the Wildeshott and the Zealandia, because the Wildeshott had some connection to his grandfather who built Jennison caravans.

I also read with interest about your 1951 Gypsy Gem. Although Gypsy was building caravans as early as the 40's, we haven't seen many examples of some of the earlier vans. So if you'd like to tell us a bit more about your van and show us some photos, I'm sure lots of people on the forum would be keen to hear more. There are instructions on how to post photos on the forum in the 'Forum Guidelines & Helpful Hints' section of the forum. The best way is to do it via Photobucket, which is an online photo storage website.

Have you seen the thread on the history of Gypsy caravans in the 'Down History Lane' section. You might find that interesting. You can find it by looking at the index at the top of the section.

Best wishes,

Don Ricardo

[Gypsy Bruce]

Hi Don,
thanks very much for your reply. Sorry about my delay in responding. I have had a better look at my Gypsy, and this forum etc, I think it is more like a 1954 or 55 model. It is a Super Gem (with aluminum windows and Alply finish), and is in as-original condition, plus deterioration of course. With a dust out and a clean up and some basic work it should be OK to restore or even use on the road. I bought it at an auction about 20 years ago as a play-house for my kids, but mostly because I just loved the look and shape of it. My now grown up son loves it, and early cars, so it will be a father and son project.
It looks as if it was originally two tone with a cream top half and pale blue on the bottom. Paint is very deteriorated, but Alply is good. It would be good to get a feel for the paint colours and arrangement. It still has original metho stove and icebox, laminex, and water pump/ sink etc. Not that I have tried to use the stove! It is missing an original door closure, the opening roof hatch,  and  an annexe to clip on to the fixing tabs along the left roof edge. Not sure what those items should look like yet. Does anyone on the forum have a Gypsy Super Gem with the aliminium windows and Alply cladding?
I am trying to put together a people-history of the SS Zealandia. Most shipping histories focus on sort of board-room level stuff, not on the passengers, crew etc, let alone the person who commissioned the ship.
I am searching for Zealandia stories like the Wildeshott one, and would love to include that and the photos in the history too. The ship had an amazing life pre WW1, as a troopship in WW1, as a very popular coastal steamer in the inter-war years and again as a troopship in WW2 beofre she was bombed in the first air raid on Darwin in 1942. Will write a note to Jennison too.
cheers and thanks Bruce
PS would have liked to drop into the Queenscliffe meet tomorrow Sunday but don't think I can get there.

Sept 23, 2016 22:36:51 GMT 10 Don Ricardo said:

Hi Brucec,

It was great to read your post about your great grandfather's connection to the TSS Zealandia. Apologies for not replying sooner. I was away for a few weeks when you posted, and am just catching up on things now.

Unfortunately we haven't been able to progress any further on the link between the Zealandia and the Wildeshott caravan beyond what has been recorded on this thread. Forum member Jennison is the one who has been able to dig up most of the information about the Wildeshott and the Zealandia, because the Wildeshott had some connection to his grandfather who built Jennison caravans.

I also read with interest about your 1951 Gypsy Gem. Although Gypsy was building caravans as early as the 40's, we haven't seen many examples of some of the earlier vans. So if you'd like to tell us a bit more about your van and show us some photos, I'm sure lots of people on the forum would be keen to hear more. There are instructions on how to post photos on the forum in the 'Forum Guidelines & Helpful Hints' section of the forum. The best way is to do it via Photobucket, which is an online photo storage website.

Have you seen the thread on the history of Gypsy caravans in the 'Down History Lane' section. You might find that interesting. You can find it by looking at the index at the top of the section.

Best wishes,

Don Ricardo

[Gypsy Bruce]

Hi there, Jennison.
great to get your reply from a couple of months back, sorry about the delay responding, been a bit hectic and I didn't get back to you.
I'm trying to put a history together about the Zealandia and I hope it can be made up of stories by everyday people, with less focus on the corporate level histories which are more typical of shipping histories. This story of yours and the Wildeshott caravan is a beauty, and I would love to include the story and the photos if you are happy about that. The Zealandia had an amazing history from 1910 to 1942, and it hasn't really been compiled before.
I would love to see any material you have located re the Zealandia. It sounds as if the National Maritime Museum was quite helpful. I am getting some help at the moment from the Historical Society and the Genealogical Society in Darwin.
perhaps we could have a chat about that. cheers Bruce
[e-mail]

Aug 26, 2016 8:05:22 GMT 10 Jennison said:

There's a name I haven't heard in a while ...the wildeshott caravan.
I've got some stuff on zealandia that I researched at the time. I had the sailing dates info and/or manifest for the day she departed Sydney somewhere and some other articles
Jenno