Maritime History and Culture Seminars 2026
Posted: Monday 2nd February 2026
Event dates: various
Location: Online
Organisers: Royal Museums Greenwich
Free talks that cover a range of fascinating subjects, from maritime art and naval strategy to Black History and museum exhibitions.
Find out more about the series Maritime History and Culture Seminars.
Upcoming seminars:
24 February - The Piratical Seizure of the Brig Cyprus.
In 1829, convicts hijacked the brig Cyprus as it was transporting them to the penal colony of Van Dieman's land in Australia. They evaded the Royal Navy, outsmarted the East India Company and, without navigational aids, sailed over 14,000 kilometers to Japan before deliberately sinking the brig off the Chinese coast.
When five of these escaped convicts were apprehended on the streets of London and put on trial for piracy, their daring escape made headlines around the world.
In this talk, Timothy Stone will present new evidence about the piratical seizure of the Cyprus brig, its travels to New Zealand, Japan and China, and current efforts to locate the shipwreck.
24 March - 'Lugger Bort': A journey among seafarers | Royal Museums Greenwich
In this talk, Nerelle Nicol will reflect on 'Lugger Bort', a collaborative social history project revealing the history and stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers in the maritime industries of Far North Queensland.
From the mid-1860s, these maritime industries have been fraught with danger and labour exploitation. Centered around the themes of Industry, Vessels, Working Conditions and Legacy, the project weaves oral histories, archival records, traditional songs and dances, photographs and artefact to illuminate the vital yet often overlooked contributions of these communities to Queensland's economic, social, and cultural development.
21 April - Rethinking Windrush: transatlantic Indo-Caribbean experiences | Royal Museums Greenwich
In this talk, Meena Venkataramanan and Jeevan Kaur Sanghera discuss Indo-Caribbean experiences of the Windrush era and its legacy.
The seminar will introduce the Indo-Caribbean Windrush Oral History Project, which centres Indo-Caribbeans who immigrated to Britain during the Windrush era in the decades following the Second World War and helped reshape Britain into the multicultural society it is today.
5 May - The proof is in the plans: foreign influence on British frigate design | Royal Museums Greenwich
Throughout the 18th century, the European navies developed and advanced their warships. This often happened with inspiration from other navies, and the methods of acquiring foreign shipbuilding knowledge were many: some navies hired foreign shipbuilders or constructors, other preferred to visit foreign dockyards and study shipbuilding and the warships there. Britain, however, harvested their foreign inspiration almost exclusively from studying war prizes. In this talk, Ida Christine Standish will share digital 3D models, created from original 18th-century ship plans, to shine a new light on the foreign influences on British frigate design.
