Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A Dream Of Tahiti

Gauguin's House


In the 1920s my great aunt Dorothy (Dolly) Myhill of Fundenhall, Norfolk ran off to Tahiti with the artist William Alistair MacDonald. Examples of his Watercolours are included in this posting. Although he was already married it appears they went through some sort of marriage ceremony either in France or on Tahiti itself.They only stayed together for a short time. Certainly after they had "split up" she was given a passport in the name of MacDonald.

I am desperate to find out more information about this episode and would be grateful if anyone can supply me with any details. Any details at all

In particular I am looking for passenger lists of the french ship El Kantara in 1923. Investigation has shown that great aunt did not leave for Tahiti from Great Britain so we can only presume she left for the Society Islands from Marseilles.
Pictured
Above. Family legend says this is the house they lived in and that it was one of the two on Tahiti that had previously belonged to Gaugain.
Below. El Kantara docked in Papeete in July 1923. This was the first time she had arrived in Tahiti. Up until then all ships to Tahiti had routed via New Zealand
.


El Kantara

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