Black and white photographs of the crew and Westinghouse family members of “Southern Cross” in Victoria BC in 1940. The backs have been stamped with the date that they were printed September 11, 1940.
The photos are labeled by Agnes Westinghouse on the back as Victoria 1940. Information provided by the donor includes a newspaper blurb that the yacht “may be seen again in BC waters if a proposed northern development scheme is given government approval. Southern Cross…made a wartime visit to Vancouver in 1940”.
Southern Cross was a Swedish yacht owned by Axel Wenner-Gren, and was one of the fifth or sixth largest private motor yacht in the world at the time. She was previously owned by Howard Hughes and was built in 1930 for Lord Inchcape who died in 1932. The figurehead was made in the likeness of Lord Inchcape's daughter, Elsie Mackay, who disappeared whilst attempting to fly the Atlantic in 1928.