Ralph Cruikshanks by Ralph Hedley (style of), South Shields Museum & Art Gallery
Ralph Hedley (style of) (1848-1913)
Ralph Cruikshanks, 1903
Oil on canvas
A well-known and popular local character, Cruikshanks was a ferryman for 43 years. On his retirement, he set up as a picture frame gilder working at his house in Thomas Street, South Shields. Cruikshanks is remembered particularly for befriending ‘Wandering Willie’, a much-loved ferry dog. Willie was a sheep-dog who lost his master when they were moving lambs from the Cheviots to the Cleveland Hills. For months he lingered by the ferry, ‘setting his teeth against the kindest efforts to win him from despair’. Willie never gave up looking for his owner, but eventually came to accept the kindness of the ferryman, who fed and looked after him for the rest of his life.
Ralph Hedley was a popular and influential artist, woodcarver and illustrator who often depicted scenes of everyday life on Tyneside. For a time he was Vice-President of the South Shields Art Club.
