Beschreibung:

JOSEPH SEMPLE (IRISH, FL. 1863-78) The Cunard Liner S.S. 'Gallia' underway Initialled 'JES' (lower right) Oil on Canvas 24 x 36in. (61 x 91.5cm.) The Cunard liner Gallia, 4,809 tons gross, was built by J. & G. Thomson on the Clyde and launched on 12 November 1879. Measuring 430 feet in length with a 44½ foot beam, she was fitted out to carry 300 First and 1,200 Steerage Class passengers and could steam comfortably at 13 knots. Intended for Cunard's Liverpool to New York service, she sailed this route until 1886 when Boston became her American entry port. In 1896 she spent six months on a Spanish charter during which she was temporarily renamed Dom Alvado de Basan, and shortly afterwards Cunard sold her to D. & C. MacIver for £21,250. They operated her on behalf of the Beaver Line - which soon passed into Elder Dempster ownership - and early in 1899 she was sold again, this time to the Allan Line. On her maiden Liverpool to Montreal voyage for them, she ran aground near Sorel Point, Quebec, on 18 May 1899 and, although salvaged, was not considered worth repairing and was broken up in 1900.